The early Greeks, who settled on the Greek mainland and the western coast of Asia Minor, thought of themselves as humble successors to their heroic ancestors of the Mycenaean Bronze Age. While their land lacked natural resources, it was ideally situated for trade, and the Greeks soon established colonies throughout the Mediterranean. They lived in independent city-states ( the polis,) bonded across continents by a common language, religion, art and social structure.
From the 8th through the 4th centuries BC, the Greek world established itself as the premier classical society of artisans, architects, and writers of possibly all time. They created statues, pottery, and friezes of unbelievable proportion, style, grace, and beauty. Their architecture continuously achieved the same artistic magnificence with the invention of the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles.
They were the first people to establish the widespread circulation of coinage as the basis for economic growth and trade as Athens became the largest trading center in the ancient world around the 5th century BC. Politically it was a democratically based society with religious beliefs revolving around mythological creatures and god-like heroes. Zeus was the king of their gods and Herakles their legendary human hero. This influence in art, politics, and literature reverberated throughout history and into modern times.
The next major phase, called the Hellenistic period, was ushered in through the conquests of Philip II of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great. Having secured his father's control of Greece, Alexander vastly expanded his kingdom to include Egypt and the Near East, to beyond the Indus River (modern Pakistan). While the political integrity of the empire did not survive the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., its natural impact was far-reaching.
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