- Greek war galley
At this point, it is worth pausing to consider in detail the war galley which the Phœnicians had developed and which they handed down to the Greeks at this turning point in the world's history. The bireme and the trireme were adopted by the Greeks, apparently without alteration, save that at Salamis the Greek galleys were said to have been more strongly built and to have presented a lower freeboard than those of the Phœnicians. - Greek merchant ship
Greek merchant ship - Double Pipes
- Greek figures in a solemn dance. From a vase at Berlin
Amongst the earliest representations that are comprehensible, we have certain Egyptian paintings and some of these exhibit postures that evidently had even then a settled meaning, and were a phrase in the sentences of the art. Not only were they settled at such an early period (B.C. 3000) but they appear to have been accepted and handed down to succeeding generations, and what is remarkable in some countries, even to our own times. - Dancing Bacchante
Dancing Bacchante. From a vase in the British Museum. According to some authorities, one of the most primitive of the first class, attributed to Phrygian origin, was the Aloenes, danced to the Phrygian flute by the priests of Cybele in honour of her daughter Ceres. The dances ultimately celebrated in her cult were numerous: such as the Anthema, the Bookolos, the Epicredros, and many others, some rustic for labourers, others of shepherds, etc. Every locality seems to have had a dance of its own. Dances in honour of Venus were common, she was the patroness of proper and decent dancing; on the contrary, those in honour of Dionysius or Bacchus degenerated into revelry and obscenity. - Panathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.C
Panathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.C. - The Gěrănŏs from a vase in the Museo Borbonico, Naples
Grown up men and women did not dance together, but the youth of both sexes joined in the Hormŏs or chain dance and the Gěrănŏs, or crane. The Gěrănŏs, originally from Delos, is said to have been originated by Theseus in memory of his escape from the labyrinth of Crete It was a hand-in-hand dance alternately of males and females. The dance was led by the representative of Theseus playing the lyre. - Plato (from an ancient gem)
PLATO (B.C. 427 -374), whose name is so illustrious in philosophy has directly and indirectly largely influenced the course of intellectual development and scientific thought. Before Plato had become the disciple of Socrates, he had been a student of the philosophY of Heraclitus, one of whose prominent doctrines was that all things are in a state of ceaseless change, so that, for example, no one could ever be twice on the same river, inasmuch as the water is ever changing. About the age of twenty Plato became a disciple of Socrates, and continued so until the death of the latter, nine years afterwards. Plato then visited various countries, as Egypt, Persia, Sicily, and Italy. On returning to Athens he established his renowned school of philosophy amid the groves of Academus, near Athens; and this place has given a common title to schools of art, learning, and science throughout the world. Plato lived to an advanced age and left behind him many writings, now esteemed amongst the most precious legacies that antiquity has bequeathed to us. It was the practice of Socrates to constantly seek for definitions of justice, beauty, and so on, and this of course implied that he thought that in some things at least there was something permanent. Plato managed in his famous doctrine of Ideas to reconcile and combine the conflicting views of Heraclitus and of Socrates. This doctrine gave rise aftenvards to endless disputations, which for the most part diverted men's minds from the observation- of nature. - Hippocrates of Cos
Two other men with names greatly celebrated among the ancients may be referred to here, as representatives of what may be termed the Natural History group of sciences. One of them was a contemporary of Plato, the other was a pupil of Aristotle. The first is the famous physician HIPPOCRATES B.C. 470-375), to whom is attributed the foundation of medicine as a science. The healing of wounds and the cure of diseases is an art, and as such must have been practised in some form at a period coeval with the existence of mankind. The successful practice of this art depends largely upon knowledge of the causes, symptoms, and course of diseases, and upon a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. - Hippocrates of Cos
Hippocrates