Tourism in Athens - History of Athens (Paperback)

Chapters: History of Athens. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 32. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Athens is one of the oldest named cities in Europe and in the world. It has been continuously inhabited for over 4000 years, becoming the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC; its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of western civilization. During the Middle Ages, the city experienced decline and then recovery under the Byzantine Empire, and was relatively prosperous during the Crusades, benefiting from Italian trade. After a long period of decline under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Athens re-emerged in the 19th century as the capital of the independent Greek state The contest of Athena and Poseidon. West Pediment of the Parthenon.The name of Athens in Ancient Greek was The origin of etymology of the word is Pre-Greek. An etiological myth on how Athens acquired this name was well known amongst ancient Athenians and even became the theme of Parthenon's West pediment sculpture. Both Athena and Poseidon requested to be patrons and give their name to the city, so they competed, offering the city one gift each. Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. Athena created the olive tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. The Athenians under Cecrops accepted the olive tree and named the city after Athena. Athnai is a plural form: the city was called "The Athenses" since it was originally a group of ten cities which Theseus unified into one city. In his dialogs Cratylus, Plato gives the etymology of Athena's name based on the view of the ancient Athenians: Thus for Plato her name was to be derived from Greek theon a (--) or Atheon a () which the Greeks rationalized as from god's (theos) min...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=44164