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Ioannis Benizelos spent many sleepless nights pacing up and down the hayat of his mansion in 1789. There was a rumor that the plague had returned to Athens. Benizelos knew the disease’s symptoms and terrible consequences, but he had no answer to the most pertinent question: should he panic?

What pastime could engage the resourceful mind of a learned, refined, literate, ambitious, and stylish individual? The erection of the greatest art gallery in Athens. The only problem? Whoever this person was, they forgot to leave us their name.

If Greeks had been told, not long ago, that their skies would become the haven of ring-necked and monk parakeets, the response would have been one of incredulity.

The ancient Greek symposium was primarily a drinking party. Kings and heroes had often enjoyed each other’s company over a few cups of wine during the time of Homer (8th century BCE) but it was only in the 600s BCE that the symposium acquired the form and context we now consider typical.

The quest for youth and beauty is as old as time, and the ancient Greeks had a few things to say on the matter. In the Clouds, Aristophanes has the young Pheidippides visit the school of Socrates in search of an education that will enable him to maintain his extravagant lifestyle

Animals were essential to the ancient Greeks. On a practical level, they were crucial to farm work and food production; they served their masters at war or carried them from place to place.

Ancient Greek parents had the right to expose a newborn child. Poor families with too many children, parents who only wanted sons, or girls who had been raped may not have been inclined to raise the child.

In Homer’s classic epic poem, The Odyssey, Mentor (Greek: Μέντωρ, gen.: Μέντορος), was both friend and counsellor to Odysseus.

Mount Taygetus dominated the skyline of ancient Sparta and inspired fear to any newborn male Spartan. Soon after the birth, the father brought the infant before a group of elders, who closely examined the child.