Control of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus strait was life and death for ancient Athens. Waterways are no less important – and contentious – today.
Articles on Athens
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The Theban Sacred Band – made up of ‘lovers and their loves’ came to be known for their strength, discipline, and ferocity.
What did Thucydides really say on this? And what’s Athens and Sparta got to do with the current state of US-China relations?
Democracy has been with us since it was founded in Athens in the 6th century BCE. Like some of today’s voters, the ancient Greeks were also divided over its merits.
From Athens to the British Empire and on to the US – dominant powers have used might and consent to exert influence.
There are ways your presence – and your money – can provide maximum benefit for local economies.
A 2,500 year old drawing by a Greek shepherd on a hill near Athens may solve the mystery of a large temple on the Acropolis that predates the Parthenon.
The marbles are a physical manifestation of what it meant to be Athenian during the 5th century BC.
Worrying environmental issues dominated the time of William Shakespeare as they do now, from depleted fish stocks and food shortages, to overpopulation and animal exploitation.
A scholar of ancient Greek literature goes back to the account of Greek historian Thucydides on the spread of plague and finds parallels in the American response to the health crisis today.
The story can be traced back many centuries to a time of warfare between Christian European countries and the Muslim Ottoman Empire.
The Athens fires were a dangerous reflection of Atomist philosophies that see the world as exploitable, for sale and open to waste and abuse.
Ancient Athenians and Romans also let shared mass tragedies propel justifications for going to war – even when it wasn’t clear what that violence would solve.
The rituals of ancient Greece – especially public performances of tragic plays – have remarkable resonance with the current moment.
In Athens, Colombo and London, Chinese investment is transforming urban space.
Homer and Aeschylus turned to the divine to write their happy endings. But no gods are conspiring above the US, ready to swoop down and save humankind from itself.
Here’s all the things you need to know about the mighty egg.
In ancient Athens, the richest people paid taxes to support what the residents considered the salvation of the city. These taxes earned them social and political clout more valuable than money.
Shakespeare understood that our fate depends on fostering the humility and empathy that dethrones money and transforms it into something we use to advance the common good.
A historian of ancient Greece looks past a plague and explains how a massive government spending plan went badly awry 2,500 years ago.
Top contributors
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Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis University
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Associate Professor of Greek History, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor of Classics & Ancient History, University of New Brunswick
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Classical Archaeologist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Radboud University
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Professor of Classics, College of the Holy Cross
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Programme Lead Nutrition and Health, Edge Hill University
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Distinguished Professor Emerita, Oregon State University
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Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of Nottingham
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Reader in Renaissance Drama, University of Huddersfield
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Emeritus Professor of Classics, La Trobe University
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Professor of Religious Studies, College of the Holy Cross
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Tomlinson Professor of Shakespeare Studies, McGill University
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Professor of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy, Oregon State University
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Senior Research Associate, Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge
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Professor in Classics, Trinity College Dublin