Did you know that the classical Greek philosophers were the earliest people to believe that the earth was a sphere? Among them was Aristotle, the personal mentor of Alexander the Great, the man famous for conquering the whole (known) world.

Classical Greece is a period of only 200 years, but it is filled with exciting events that shaped the political thought of modern Western civilization. In these 200 years, the idea of democracy was born and developed, although their concept of democracy was much different than in modern times. Through the development of the polis, the ancient Greek society developed into its recognizable form of those with political rights and those without them.

And although Greece was able to develop its culture during this period, its territory was ravaged by many conflicts. They started as an uprising to bring down tyrants and oligarchs and as a defensive effort to fend off the Persian Empire. With aspirations to add Greece to its multi-ethnic empire, the Persian kings constantly attacked, prompting Greece to unite. But once the threat of conquest passed, the Greeks turned against each other and fought wars to determine which polis should become the predominant one.

You will find details such as:

• The structure of poleis and their politics
• Women's rights, or the lack of them
• Oligarchy, tyranny, and democracy through the lens of the ancient world
• How Greek poleis won their autonomy
• Why Athens rose to power
• How the Greeks educated their young
• How tragedy and comedy shaped popular opinion
• Why Sparta and Athens fought the Peloponnesian War
• How a kingdom in the north, Macedon, came to dominate the whole of Greece
• The conquest of Alexander the Great

Listen to the history of Classical Greece, and let your mind rediscover the past of a civilization that shaped modern Western political thought.