Greek Classical Age

The Greek Classical Age (480–323 BCE) produced an extraordinary concentration of intellectual and cultural achievement that has shaped Western civilization for 2,500 years. In Athens, democracy was invented (Cleisthenes, 507 BCE), philosophy developed (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle), tragedy and comedy created (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes), history as a discipline founded (Herodotus, Thucydides), and magnificent art and architecture produced (Parthenon). The Persian Wars (490–479 BCE) — particularly the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis — established Athens as the dominant Greek power. The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BCE) then destroyed Athenian power. Alexander the Great's conquests spread Greek culture (Hellenism) across the known world. Greek remains the language of the New Testament, the origin of scientific terminology, and the intellectual foundation of Western education.