A street corner in Athens at sunset Photo: Yang Xue/CSST

Athens, the capital and largest city of Greece, is both the cradle of Western civilization and a symbol of the fusion between the classical and the modern. With thousands of years of history, the city attracts people worldwide with its rich cultural heritage. In Athens, every ancient site tells a story that spans from ancient Greece to contemporary Europe. 

Classical studies, which focus on the collation and research of ancient Greek texts and the preservation and development of ancient Greek civilization, is regarded as a discipline of great importance by Western countries today. The international academic community widely acknowledges the Athenian city-state system as a pivotal foundation of Western classical scholarship. With Athens at its heart, ancient Greek civilization extended its influence across the European continent, laying the groundwork for the evolution of European civilization and propelling the development of Western culture.

Three sages of ancient Greece

Over its long history, ancient Greek civilization evolved distinct characteristics and identities, with Athens, the ancient city-state, witnessing the birth of great sages. The “Axial Age” (c. 800–200 BCE) of ancient Greece saw a plethora of renowned works in philosophy, art, drama, and poetry emerging amidst a vibrant intellectual climate. The three sages of ancient Greece—Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle—laid the path for rationalism, thus profoundly influencing the trajectory of Western culture’s evolution. Works such as Plato’s The Republic, Xenophon’s Memorabilia, Aristotle’s Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics, and Politics have been passed down to this day, not only inspiring later generations but also offering a profound historical perspective for understanding the modern world.

Today, the logos and spirit contained in the philosophies of these three sages of ancient Greece continue to be studied and revered by the international academic community. They are regarded as practitioners of thought rather than mere theorists. Their conjectures of human origins, contemplation of laws governing all things, and theoretical explorations on the nature of the universe form the genesis of Western “cosmology.”

Hans van Ess, Vice President of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, shared that “Socrates is considered to be the first sage from ancient Greece who sought universal truth, opposed relativism, and tried to define things. Also, the focus of Socrates’ thought shifted from studying natural rules in his early period to examining issues at the individual and societal levels—in other words, from early natural philosophy to practical philosophy.”

Like Confucius, who spoke but did not write, Socrates left no written words; his thoughts and deeds were primarily passed down through the writings of his students, such as Plato and Xenophon. In Plato’s Apology, Socrates likens himself to a “gadfly,” sent by the gods to rouse the city of Athens, which he compares to “a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very size, and requires to be stirred into life.” He further states, “I am that gadfly which God has given the state and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you.” His famous assertion in Apology “For I was conscious that I knew nothing at all...” is still widely recited today. 

Socrates engaged in debates with many sophists of his time on a range of philosophical issues concerning ethics, morality, education, and politics. Moreover, in Plato’s Protagoras, he explored the idea of virtue, ultimately concluding that virtue is knowledge. In contemporary Western thought, Socrates is increasingly regarded as a symbol of freedom, rationality, and the defense of faith.

Plato, another prominent ancient Greek philosopher, was born into a noble Athenian family. During his youth, he became profoundly influenced by Socrates’ teachings and became his disciples. The trial and execution of Socrates deeply affected Plato, prompting him to pursue philosophical issues with greater vigor. Through works like The Republic, Plato expanded upon Socratic thought. British mathematician and philosopher Alfred North Whitehead once remarked that “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists in a series of footnotes to Plato.” Within Plato’s philosophical system, the theory of Forms and his solution to the problem of universals are particularly renowned.

Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle was born in 384 BCE. At the age of 17, Aristotle entered Plato’s Academy in Athens, where he studied for 20 years. He later established the Lyceum in Athens and founded the Peripatetic School. In the first chapter of Capital, Volume I, Karl Marx designates Aristotle as “the great thinker,” acknowledging his pioneering insights across a wide variety of “forms, whether of thought, society, or Nature, and amongst them also the form of value.” Aristotle’s scholarly contributions encompassed metaphysics, psychology, logic, ethics, and beyond. He moved away from Plato’s idealism, concentrating instead on the observation and analysis of concrete realities.

Greek ideas shaping western academia

The development of the Athenian city-state system and its democratic practices became a model for ancient Greek democracy. Concurrently, the expansion of trade and agriculture bolstered urban economies, creating a fertile environment for cultural, artistic, and scientific innovation, as well as the rise of many schools of philosophy, such as the Sophists and Stoics, fostering social stability.

Jens Braarvig, Director and Professor at the Norwegian Institute of Philology, explained, “Ancient Greek philosophers particularly emphasized individual dignity and social value, and took the pursuit of wisdom, order, virtue and other ethical principles as the fundamental elements of philosophy. These moral concepts and standards are still relevant today.” 

Today, the extensive body of ancient Greek texts available to the public are regarded as Western “classics” and are considered invaluable cultural heritage. In the 9th or 8th century BCE, the poet Homer refined and compiled short songs into two epic poems with cohesive narratives and uniform style—Iliad and Odyssey, collectively known as the “Homeric Epics.” Written in dactylic hexameter, these works represent the zenith of ancient Greek oral literature and are hailed as the earliest literary masterpieces in Europe. The “Homeric Epics” have profoundly shaped Western literary styles from ancient Greece onward, and continue to hold important research value in social history, geography, archaeology, and folklore.

Furthermore, works of Greek historians like Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon offer rich insights into moral dilemmas, serving as invaluable source texts for Western classical studies and greatly influencing later humanistic thought.

According to van Ess, ancient Greek thought placed a strong emphasis on science, logic, and reasoning, delving into the relevant causes behind a variety of natural phenomena. Athens was renowned for fostering free debate among intellectuals, with a rich cultural atmosphere that permeated its streets, nurturing philosophers with exceptional critical thinking skills. This emphasis profoundly influenced Western civilization as it gradually emerged, particularly its focus on science and technology. Today’s Western academia places a strong emphasis on knowledge derived from observation, memory, experience, and everyday use of reason—a tradition that dates back to the classical period of Athens.

Van Ess continues by saying that “the thought of modern Western philosophers such as Kant and Wittgenstein also drew elements from ancient Greece. Their mode of thinking was famous for its rationality and meticulousness, and their way of expounding the philosophical system was systematic, clear, and logical.”

Strategically positioned and blessed with exceptional natural advantages, Athens stood at the center of the Mediterranean world. This vantage point enabled the city-state to assimilate and integrate the best elements from civilizations like Egypt, Babylon, and Phoenicia. As Athens engaged with other early civilizations, classical Greece’s cultural achievements flourished further still. Through Alexander the Great’s empire, Greek civilization spread across Asia, Africa, Europe, broadening its influence and dissemination.

During the European Renaissance, ancient Greek civilization experienced a rebirth and revitalization. As van Ess notes, “it marked a prelude to modern European history, and the European culture, economy, science and other sectors boomed. A symbol of ancient Greek civilization, Athenian art inspired the artistic creation of the Renaissance.”

Braarvig explains that since the 19th century, the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers have been widely translated and disseminated across the German, English, and French-speaking worlds. Many Western scholars began to edit and collate the texts systematically, translating them into various modern languages. To date, numerous books on Greek thought, in both separate and complete editions, have been published. In this process, modern scholars have entered the realm of Greek classicism and engaged in emotionally resonant dialogues with ancient Greek philosophers.

Creative hub of knowledge and culture

Athens’ humanistic ethos and educational system have long been admired worldwide. Among the many city-states of ancient Greece, Athens held a leading position, with its permissive cultural atmosphere offering access to education to many. This solidified Athens’ status as the academic center of Greece and laid the foundation for the European educational system.

Andreas Germanos Karydas, Research Director at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics of the National Center for Scientific Research “Demokritos,” believes that Athens is a “living laboratory” and should be seen as a bridge between antiquity and the modern world. Ancient sites and monuments like the Acropolis, the Parthenon, the Agora, and the Theater of Dionysus offer direct exposure to the architectural, political, and cultural achievements of ancient Athens. Athens’ landscape, together with its world-class museums (e.g., the Acropolis Museum, National Archaeological Museum), archives, and libraries, creates an integrated environment not only for classical studies, but also for archaeological fieldwork. The city attracts international scholars and institutions to explore the evolution of Western civilization and its intersections with other cultures. 

As van Ess stated, Greek classicism is not exclusive to Europe and the Americas; it is the common heritage of humanity. Ancient Greek civilization not only contributed to the origins of early human civilization but also had a profound influence on the development of other cultures globally. Today, many Western scholars recognize the value of ancient Greek civilization, dedicating themselves to revitalizing and preserving the wisdom, ideals, and ethos that are deeply embedded in history, and to addressing the various challenges faced during the modern transformation of the West.

Edited by REN GUANHONG