The Blind Men and the Elephant
Mughal painting of the blind men and the elephant, from the 1600s AD (now in Walters Art Museum) A story that's a metaphor Once there was an elephant, a tame [...]
Mughal painting of the blind men and the elephant, from the 1600s AD (now in Walters Art Museum) A story that's a metaphor Once there was an elephant, a tame [...]
An Egyptian papyrus from about 100 AD which is a piece of one of Euclid's books Euclid's life and background Nobody knows much about Euclid's life anymore - it is [...]
Ancient Greek science: Greek doctor letting blood out of a patient because he believes in the four humors When did Greek science get started? By about 600 BC, ancient Greek people were getting [...]
Marriage bed (Louvre, Hellenistic period) Plato also suggested a theory about why people fall in love. He has his character Aristophanes tell a story about love. Once upon a [...]
Plato's forms: Two men sacrifice a pig on an altar, preparing to eat the pork. Athens, 400s BC Plato's forms We've already seen that Plato said that chairs have forms. [...]
Who is Plato? Socrates probably taught Plato in this part of Athens, near the Athenian Agora (but the temple wasn't there yet) Plato's rich family The Greek philosopher Plato was [...]
Greek philosophy at a symposium: men talking at a party - Loan Ant.103.18.The Fitzwilliam Museum The beginnings of philosophy In the 500s BC, people all over Europe and Asia became [...]
A young teacher and a student talking about the lesson (Athens, 400s BC) Here are some of the conversations, or dialogues, that Plato wrote down. They are summaries of what [...]
Who was Aristotle? An ancient Egyptian papyrus with a scrap of Aristotle's "Politics" Aristotle's family Aristotle's father was Nicomachus, a doctor who lived near Macedon, in the north of Greece. [...]
Arete in action: Penelope and her slave watch Odysseus kill the suitors Definition of arete: In ancient Greece, arete meant "goodness" or "excellence". It's related to araomai, to pray, and [...]