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How The Greek Agora Changed The World
Live Science ^ | 3-17-2008 | Heather Whipps

Posted on 03/24/2008 3:34:30 PM PDT by blam

How the Greek Agora Changed the World

By Heather Whipps, LiveScience's History Columnist

posted: 17 March 2008 08:15 am ET

It was the heart of the city – where ordinary citizens bought and sold goods, politics were discussed and ideas were passed among great minds like Aristotle and Plato.

Who knows where we'd be without the "agoras" of ancient Greece. Lacking the concept of democracy, perhaps, or the formula for the length of the sides of a triangle (young math students, rejoice!). Modern doctors might not have anything to mutter as an oath.

What went on at the agora went beyond the simple daily transactions of the market. The conversations that happened there and the ideas that they bore continue to affect us to this day, from the way scientists carry out their work to how we pass our laws.

The heart of public life

Nearly every city of ancient Greece had an agora – meaning meeting place – by about 600 B.C., when the classical period of Greek civilization began to flourish. Usually located near the center of town, the agora was easily accessible to every citizen, with a large central square for market stalls bound by public buildings.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: afrocentric; afrocentrism; afrocentrist; agora; godsgravesglyphs; greece; greeks; world

1 posted on 03/24/2008 3:34:31 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam

Perhaps you should ping Jim Robinson and have him rename the site “Free Agora”. (-:


2 posted on 03/24/2008 3:36:06 PM PDT by PeterFinn (I am not voting for McCain. No way, no how.)
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To: SunkenCiv

The 'School of Athens' fresco by Raphael, housed in the Vatican, is meant to represent the Greek agora and all the great minds that passed through it. Credit: Heather Whipps

3 posted on 03/24/2008 3:37:24 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam

The Athens Agora. The temple to the right is the Hephaisteon which for many years was an Orthodox Christian Church. Arguably, it is the best preserved temple in Greece. The other contender is the Temple of Apollo at Bassae.


4 posted on 03/24/2008 3:51:23 PM PDT by Kolokotronis (Christ is Risen, and you, o death, are annihilated!)
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To: blam

It all started long before the Greek agora. Even backward African tribes had their open area with the huts around it for that socialization, long before the Greeks were civilized.


5 posted on 03/24/2008 4:06:07 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: blam

So agoraphobia is...?


6 posted on 03/24/2008 5:17:29 PM PDT by Excellence (Bacon Bits Make Great Confetti)
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To: expatpat

it is actually more sophisticated a concept and exchange of ideas than just an open area around huts.

I have seen many of the ancient locals and their agoras. I have even seen their weekly “agora” where farmers bring their wares.

It is just as much a polical as commercial discourse.


7 posted on 03/24/2008 6:09:50 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: blam
The Geek Al Gora !



8 posted on 03/24/2008 6:15:15 PM PDT by ARE SOLE (Agents Ramos and Campean are in prison at this very moment.. (A "Concerned Citizen".)
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To: longtermmemmory

You don’t think the African natives used to gather in the central area and discuss the climate and other political issues?


9 posted on 03/24/2008 6:30:18 PM PDT by expatpat
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To: blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 24Karet; 3AngelaD; 49th; ...

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·

 
Gods
Graves
Glyphs
Thanks Blam.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
 

· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology magazine · Biblical Archaeology Society ·
· Mirabilis · Texas AM Anthropology News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo ·
· History or Science & Nature Podcasts · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·


10 posted on 03/24/2008 7:37:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/______________________Profile updated Saturday, March 1, 2008)
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To: Excellence
Fear of places where people are.


11 posted on 03/24/2008 8:35:54 PM PDT by bannie (clintons CHEAT! It's their only weapon.)
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To: blam

Civilization btt.


12 posted on 03/24/2008 8:41:25 PM PDT by Ciexyz
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To: expatpat

That’s what they did indeed. But it didn’t lead anywhere. That’s the difference.


13 posted on 03/25/2008 6:02:36 AM PDT by aristotleman (...in wolves's clothing)
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To: Kolokotronis

Ooh! Desktop background booty!


14 posted on 03/25/2008 6:50:32 AM PDT by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast (VA is for lovers, but PA is the Saudi Arabia of coal.)
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To: expatpat

never said they would not.

However I think the Hellenic model is a bit differnt in that it was not “just a spot” but an actual archetected location with that intention from the start.

For example to the right of the picture above near the plaka is a water clock mechanism (I have actually been there and there is an excellent History Channel documentary covering it) which told time for the whole area.

It was more than just a “village” level of transactions and discourse, it was a commercial draw for surrounding villages. Its creation is akin to our modern day creation of supermalls with clubs and theaters.

either way its is all good.


15 posted on 03/25/2008 10:08:38 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: longtermmemmory
but an actual archetected location with that intention from the start.

Later, of course, but the agora began as a place for the surrounding farmers to sell their food to the town-dwellers. The same set-up has been used all over the world, for many centuries. I will grant you that the Greeks made good use of it for politics, but I'm sure other cultures had the same thing. The Romans copied the Forum from the Greek agora, but the Greeks probably copied it from somebody else.

16 posted on 03/25/2008 11:55:03 AM PDT by expatpat
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To: expatpat

on that you could argue the central location in a cave by the cave dwellers was an “agora”.

but as the article indicates and more than a few papers on the subject, the exchange of ideas is the major inovation. It was not just a place to dump out your veggies and sell them and discuss “ows da weather” in polite conversation.

It was the functional equivalent of their FreeRepublic with a store feature.


17 posted on 03/25/2008 2:45:38 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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