Major

Contributions
of the & the Notable
Greeks People
Erathosthenes
•Calculated the
circumference of the
Earth to be nearly
250,000 stadia
(25,000 miles).
Euclid
•Father of Geometry
• wrote perhaps the most important
and successful mathematical
textbook of all time, the “Stoicheion”
or “Elements”, which represents the
culmination of the mathematical
revolution which had taken place in
Greece up to that time
Archimedes
• Archimedes is especially important for
his discovery of the relation between
the surface and volume of a sphere
and its circumscribing cylinder (value
of π/pi). He is known for his
formulation of a hydrostatic principle
(known as Archimedes’ principle) and
a device for raising water, still used in
developing countries, known as the
Archimedes screw.
Pythagoras
•Discovered the
incommensurability of
the side and diagonal
of a square; and
•the Pythagorean
theorem for right
triangles
Democritus
• Democritus was a central figure in the
development of the atomic theory of
the universe. He theorized that all
material bodies are made up of
indivisibly small “atoms.” Aristotle
famously rejected atomism in On
Generation and Corruption. Aristotle
refused to believe that the whole of
reality is reducible to a system of
atoms, as Democritus said. As it
turned out, though, Democritus was
right
Hippocrates
• Traditionally regarded as the
father of medicine.
• About 60 medical writings have
survived that bear his name,
most of which were not written by
him. He has been revered for his
ethical standards in medical
practice, mainly for the
Hippocratic Oath, which, it is
suspected, he did not write.
Aristarchus [of
Samos]
•Said that Earth
rotates on its axis
and revolves
around the Sun
•Sun as the center
of the universe
Herodotus
•Greek author of the
first great narrative
history produced in
the ancient world, the
History of the Greco-
Persian Wars
Thucydides
• greatest of ancient Greek
historians and author of the
History of the Peloponnesian
War, which recounts the struggle
between Athens and Sparta in
the 5th century BC.
• His work was the first recorded
political and moral analysis of a
nation’s war policies.
 *3 Greatest tragedians
Aeschylus
•the first of classical
Athens’ great
dramatists, who
raised the emerging
art of tragedy to great
heights of poetry and
theatrical power.
 *3 Greatest tragedians
Sophocles
• one of classical
Athens’ three great
tragic playwrights.
The best known of his
123 dramas is
Oedipus the King.
 *3 Greatest tragedians
Euripides
• last of classical
Athens’s three great
tragic dramatists,
following Aeschylus
and Sophocles.
Aristophanes
• greatest representative of ancient Greek comedy
and the one whose works have been preserved in
greatest quantity. He is the only extant
representative of the Old Comedy—that is, of the
phase of comic dramaturgy (c. 5th century BCE) in
which chorus, mime, and burlesque still played a
considerable part and which was characterized by
bold fantasy, merciless invective and outrageous
satire, unabashedly licentious humour, and a
marked freedom of political criticism. But
Aristophanes belongs to the end of this phase, and,
indeed, his last extant play, which has no choric
element at all, may well be regarded as the only
extant specimen of the short-lived Middle Comedy,
which, before the end of the 4th century BCE, was
to be superseded in turn by the milder and more-
realistic social satire of the New Comedy.
 *3 Greatest Philosophers
Socrates
• Greek philosopher
whose way of life,
character, and thought
exerted a profound
influence on ancient
and modern
philosophy.
 *3 Greatest Philosophers
Plato
• student of Socrates (c. 470–
399 BCE), teacher of Aristotle
(384–322 BCE), and founder
of the Academy, best known
as the author of philosophical
works of unparalleled
influence.
• Wrote the book Timaeus
 *3 Greatest Philosophers
Aristotle
• He was the author of a philosophical and
scientific system that became the
framework and vehicle for both Christian
Scholasticism and medieval Islamic
philosophy. Even after the intellectual
revolutions of the Renaissance, the
Reformation, and the Enlightenment,
Aristotelian concepts remained embedded
in Western thinking.
• Created the Lyceum
• Wrote the books Politics and Nicomachean
Ethics
Pericles
• Athenian statesman largely
responsible for the full
development, in the later 5th
century BCE, of both the Athenian
democracy and the Athenian
empire, making Athens the political
and cultural focus of Greece. His
achievements included the
construction of the Acropolis,
begun in 447.
Cleisthenes
• Cleisthenes also spelled Clisthenes,
(born c. 570 BCE—died c. 508), statesman
regarded as the founder of Athenian
democracy, serving as chief archon
(highest magistrate) of Athens (525–524).
Cleisthenes successfully allied himself with
the popular Assembly against the nobles
(508) and imposed democratic reform.
Perhaps his most important innovation was
the basing of individual political
responsibility on citizenship of a place
rather than on membership in a clan.
Sophists
• Sophist, any of certain
Greek lecturers, writers,
and teachers in the 5th and
4th centuries BCE, most of
whom traveled about the
Greek-speaking world
giving instruction in a wide
range of subjects in return
for fees.
 More Information
Prominent Greek People Contributions
1. Eratosthenes Earth’s circumference

2. Euclid Father of Geometry

3. Archimedes Value of PI

4. Pythagoras Pythagorean Theorem

5. Democritus First Atomic Theory

6. Hippocrates Father of Medicine

7. Aristarchus Sun as the Center of the universe

8. Herodotus Father of History – History of Persian War

9. Thucydides Historian – The Peloponnesian War

10. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides 3 Greatest tragedians

11. Aristophanes Father of Comedy

12. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle 3 Greatest Philosophers

13. Pericles Golden Age of Athens

14. Cleisthenes Father of Athenian Democracy

15. Sophists a paid teacher of philosophy and rhetoric in ancient Greece, associated in popular thought
with moral skepticism and specious reasoning.