The Parthenon

(Ancient Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to

the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their protector. Its
construction began in 447 BC and was completed in 438 BC, although decorations of the
Parthenon continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of
Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the
Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art.
The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and of Athenian
democracy and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of
Culture is currently carrying out a programme of selective restoration and reconstruction
to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.[5]

Alexander III of Macedon

(20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great
(Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki[›] king of Macedon. He is
the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and the creator of one of the largest
empires in ancient history.

Born in Pella in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by the famed philosopher Aristotle. In
336 BC he succeeded his father Philip II of Macedon to the throne after he was
assassinated. Philip had brought most of the city-states of mainland Greece under
Macedonian hegemony, using both military and diplomatic means. Upon Philip's death,
Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He succeeded in being
awarded the generalship of Greece and, with his authority firmly established, launched
the military plans for expansion left by his father. In 334 BC he invaded Persian-ruled
Asia Minor and began a series of campaigns lasting ten years. Alexander broke the power
of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles of Issus and Gaugamela.
Subsequently he overthrew the Persian king Darius III and conquered the entirety of the
Persian Empire.ii[›] The Macedonian Empire now stretched from the Adriatic sea to the
Indus river. Following his desire to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer
Sea", he invaded India in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back by the near-
mutiny of his troops.

Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, before realizing a series of planned campaigns that
would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following Alexander's death a
series of civil wars tore his empire apart which resulted in the formation of a number of
states ruled by the Diadochi - Alexander's surviving generals. Although he is mostly
remembered for his vast conquests, Alexander's lasting legacy was not his reign, but the
cultural diffusion his conquests engendered. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists
and culture in the east resulted in a new Hellenistic culture, aspects of which were still
evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire until the mid-15th century. Alexander
became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and features prominently in
the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against
which generals, even to this day, compare themselves; military academies throughout the
world still teach his tactical exploits.[1] iii[›]

Gilgamesh (a legendary Sumerian king who was the hero of an epic collection of mythic
stories) The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient poem from Mesopotamia and is among the
earliest known works of literature. Scholars believe that it originated as a series of
Sumerian legends and poems about the protagonist of the story, Gilgamesh, which were
fashioned into a longer Akkadian epic much later. The most complete version existing
today is preserved on 12 clay tablets from the library collection of 7th-century BC
Assyrian king Ashurbanipal. It was originally titled He who Saw the Deep (Sha naqba
īmuru) or Surpassing All Other Kings (Shūtur eli sharrī).

Antigone ((Greek mythology) the daughter of King Oedipus who disobeyed her father
and was condemned to death)

Iliad (a Greek epic poem (attributed to Homer) describing the siege of Troy)
The lliad (sometimes referred to as the Song of Ilion or Song of Ilium) is an epic poem in
dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year
siege of Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the
weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the
story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to
many of the Greek legends about the sieg

Socrates (Greek: Σωκράτης, soˈkraːtɛːs, Sōkrátēs; c. 469 BC–399 BC,[1] in English

pronounced /ˈsɒkrətiːz/) was a Classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of
the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the
accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and
Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. Many would claim that
Plato's dialogues are the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to survive from
antiquity.[2]

Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his
contribution to the field of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who also lends his name
to the concepts of Socratic irony and the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains
a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and is a type of pedagogy in which
a series of questions are asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to encourage
fundamental insight into the issue at hand. It is Plato's Socrates that also made important
and lasting contributions to the fields of epistemology and logic, and the influence of his
ideas and approach remains strong in providing a foundation for much western
philosophy that followed.

THe four river-valley civilizations of India, China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia were among
the earliest civilizations in history.

The Indus Valley Civilization (c. 3300–1300 BCE, flowered 2600–1900 BCE) was an
ancient civilization thriving along the Indus River and the Ghaggar-Hakra River in what
is now Pakistan and north-western India. Among other names for this civilization is the
Harappan Civilization, in reference to its first excavated city of Harappa. The Indus
Valley Civilization (IVC) was discovered in the 1920s and is known only from
archaeological excavations, except, possibly, for Sumerian references to Meluhha, which
has been proposed to correspond to the IVC.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_Valle…

The history of China is detailed by historical records dating as far back as 16th century
BC. China is one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations. Turtle shells with
markings reminiscent of ancient Chinese writing from the Shang Dynasty (商朝) have
been carbon dated to around 1500 BC. These records suggest that the origins of Chinese
civilization started with city-states in the Yellow River valley.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Chi…

Mesopotamia refers to the region now occupied by modern Iraq, eastern Syria, and
southern Turkey. The name comes from the Greek words μέσος "between" and ποταμός
"river", referring to the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris (the Arabic term is ‫بين‬
‫ نهرين‬Bayn Nahrain "between two rivers"). The fertile area watered by these two rivers is
known as the "Cradle of Civilization," and it was here that the first literate societies
developed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia

Ancient Egypt was a long-lived ancient civilization geographically located in north-

eastern Africa. It was concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River
reaching its greatest extension during the second millennium BC, which is referred to as
the New Kingdom period. It reached broadly from the Nile Delta in the north, as far south
as Jebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. Extensions to the geographical range of
ancient Egyptian civilisation included, at different times, areas of the southern Levant,
the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastline, the Sinai Peninsula and the Western Desert
(focused on the several oases).
Ancient Egypt developed over at least three and a half millennia. It began with the
incipient unification of Nile Valley polities around 3500 BC and is conventionally
thought to have ended in 30 BC when the early Roman Empire conquered and absorbed
Ptolemaic Egypt as a province. (Though this last did not represent the first period of
foreign domination, the Roman period was to witness a marked, if gradual transformation
in the political and religious life of the Nile Valley, effectively marking the termination
of independent civilisational development).

The Olympic Games begun at Olympia in Greece in 776 BC. The Greek calendar was
based on the Olympiad, the four-year period between games. The games were staged in
the wooded valley of Olympia in Elis. Here the Greeks erected statues and built temples
in a grove dedicated to Zeus, supreme among the gods. The greatest shrine was an ivory
and gold statue of Zeus. Created by the sculptor Phidias, it was considered one of the
Seven Wonders of the World. Scholars have speculated that the games in 776 BC were
not the first games, but rather the first games held after they were organized into festivals
held every four years as a result of a peace agreement between the city-states of Elis and
Pisa. The Eleans traced the founding of the Olympic games to their King Iphitos, who
was told by the Delphi Oracle to plant the olive tree from which the victors' wreaths were
made.

NIKE (or Nicé) was the winged goddess or spirit (daimon) of victory, both in battle and
peaceful competition. When Zeus was gathering allies at the start of the Titan War, Styx
brought her four children, Nike (Victory), Zelos (Rivalry), Kratos (Strength) and Bia
(Force) into the service of the god. Nike was appointed his charioteer, and all four were
appointed as sentinels standing beside the throne of the god. Beyond this Nike never
acquired any distinctive mythology of her ow