Ancient Greece Terms

     Today in class we learned about terms and life in ancient Greece. We learned that an agora was a central public space for gatherings, assemblies, and a  marketplace. A polis is political entities ruled by their bodies of citizens. The year 508 B.C. was very important to the ancient Greeks because it was the year when they were first introduced to democracy. This was also the first time people revolted against their ruler. Socrates was a Greek philosopher who was responsible for the fundamentals of modern western philosophy. Socrates fought in the Peloponnesian war, met with young students, helped the creation of the scientific method, and he was a stone mason. Socrates was killed by drinking poison hemlock, after he was convicted of impiety. The jury had 500 people and the guilty vs. non-guilty was 279-221. Socrates had the chance to escape his execution, but stayed loyal to the Athenian democracy and took his punishment. Socrates also created the Socratic method which is cooperative arguments based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking. Athens attracted brilliant thinkers who shared their knowledge which made the people question their traditional teachings. The ancient Greeks meaning of idiot is a selfish person who participated in private affairs and who lacked professional skill. The meaning later changed to someone with bad judgment.