An agora is the market-place of a Greek town, corresponding to the Roman forum. The Agora of Athens is situated in a valley partially enclosed by the Acropolis, Areopagus, Payx, and Museum. Research Agora
Areopagus was the oldest of the Athenian courts of justice, an assembly having a position indeed more august than an ordinary court, and in its best days exercising a general supervision over public morals. It obtained its name from its place of meeting, on the Hill of Ares, near the Acropolis or citadel of Athens. It existed from very remote times, and the crimes tried before it were wilful murder, poisoning, robbery, and arson, while it had under its control also dissoluteness of morals, and innovations in the state and in religion. Its meetings were held in the open air, and its members were selected from those who had held the office of archon. The tribunal latterly lost much of its powers, but it continued to exist in name at least as late as the time of Cicero or later, having had an existence of seven or eight hundred years. Research Areopagus
Karl Wilhem von Heydeck (also known as Heidegger) was a Bavarianlandscape painter. He was born in 1788 at Saaralben in Lorraine and died in 1861. He entered the military academy at Munich in 1801, and rose to the rank of lieutenant-general. He served as a volunteer in the Peninsular campaign, and took an active part in the Greek war of independence. His pictures are numerous, the more important are Tyrolean Wood-cutters, The Lion Gate at Mycenae, The Ascent to the Acropolis, etc. Research Karl Von Heydeck
In Greek mythology Ion was the son of Apollo and the Arthenian princessCreusa, whom Apollo raped on the Acropolis. Creusa abandoned Ion at birth, and Apollo took the child to Delphi, where he was brought up in ignorance of his true parentage. In the meantime, Creusa married King Xuthus. After several childless years, they went to Delphi to ask advice. Apollo told Xuthus that the first person he met on leaving the shrine would be his son - and that person was Ion. Furious that Xuthus was adopting someone she took to be a stranger, Creusa tried to kill Ion, but Apollo appeared and explained the situation. They all went back to Athens and in due course Ion sailed North and became the ancestor of the Ionian nation. Research Ion
The acropolis was the fortified citadel of ancient Greek cities. The Athenian citadel was destroyed by the invading Persians in 480 BC, but Pericles instituted a rebuilding programme. The Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 BC, was a Doric temple containing a gold and ivory statue of Athena. This was followed by the gateway or Propylaea, the temple of AthenaNike (commemorating victory over the Persians), and the Erectheum, which housed the shrines of various cults. Many of the sculptures on the Parthenon were removed by LordElgin between 1801 and 1803 and purchased by the British government in 1816. The right to their possession is disputed between Britain and Greece. Research Acropolis
A citadel was a key feature of a Greek city, being the stronghold around which large communities originally developed. When a city expanded, and a protective encircling wall was built to protect the citizens' houses, the citadel lessened in importance, though it often became a religious centre and housed the public treasury. The acropolis of Athens is the most famous example. Research Citadel
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Agora
