Athens

The current capital of the Greek state, Athens was seen as the cultural centre of the world such as philosophy. Athens is also known for its particular type of direct democracy, and the location where the bulk of our surviving literature written by Athenians and other writers.

This means that our knowledge on the religious, political and social customs of this city-state from origins to empire and then to downfall is almost unparalleled in the Greek world.

Antiquity
Solon is visiting Egypt and discussing with Egyptian priests who is older. The priests think that the Athenians and by extension the Greeks have souls that are young. There is knowledge in them passed down through the ages because of the many different catastrophes that have hit the Greek people in particular flood and fire. This has meant that they have had to learn everything anew such as writing whilst the Egyptians have been able to preserve everything in writing in the temples. The priests however do call the Athenians the bravest in war and most well-ordered in all other ways.

Autochthony/ Pure-bloodness
Thucydides looking at other reasons for the Athenian myth of autochthony. Rationalizes it to the fact that Attic soil is poor. This meant that there was no internal or external conflicts. Furthermore, when conflict in other cities caused their most powerful man to be exiled, they came to Athens for safety.

Athenian citizen was tied to pure-bloodness. Pericles saw himself as a fool after the loss of his two sons for only allow somebody to be called an Athenian citizen with only one parent who is an Athenian citizen.

Creusa a princess of Athens, is married to a foreigner as a war-bride. The marriage has been childless thus far so they go to the oracle who gives them the son of Creusa and Apollo by pretending he is Xuthus’ son. Creusa tries to kill him to ensure that a child of Athenian blood inherits Athens. He is then proven to be her son by Athena and told what his future is to demonstrate the importance of Athens in the Greek world and also demonstrates how xenophobic a society can be.

The Athenians are descendants of the Pelasgians, they did not travel anywhere. The language came about when Athenians and Pelasgians mingled, changed the language. Over the time, Athenians changed their language to Hellenes.

Athenian legend of Creusa mentioned in the origin of Rome. Roman response to Hellenism possibly or the intermingling of the two to make Romans appear the cultural founder as well as the Imperial founder.

Plato uses the form of an Athenian funeral oration to praise the Athenians for their authochthony. He makes reference to having ancestors that are not foreign and from the land who he describes as their mother as an "excellence of birth." Due to this, Athens deserves to be praised throughout mankind making note of the myth of Athena and Posedion fighting for the patronage of the city and as such her people are well nourished

Customs
They are in the West, they have a a large enough army to do a lot of damage to the Medes and they have the silver mines in Larium "a flowing spring of silver, a treasury from the earth." They use spears and shields. They are no slaves of no mortals.

Empire
Athenians were busy with colonisation after the Trojan War. The colonies were seen as extensions of the Athenians.

Life-style
Athenians first to succumb to the new lifestyle and give up the life of weapons in favour of a more luxurious and looser life. Also mention of the generational patterns of the Athenians. The older generation were the last to give up this luxurious.

The Athenians were obsessed with the public image of the city so much that they were more powerful and wealthier than was actually the truth. [Thucydides 1.10.2 = RECW 2.3 pg.19]

To Athenians, what is important is freedom not gold and jewel. Furthermore, they are bound by piety and duty to destroy the Persians after they razed the city of the Athens.

Athens in the centre of the world and the pre-eminent of intelligence and literature. It caused to have Hellenes to mean more about culture than sharing of blood.

Mythology
Story of the Athenian sisters Philomela and Procne. Procne was married to Tereus who raped her sister, Philomela. Cleitophon is talking to Leucippe about a painting showing three birds as the three were turned into birds.

Religion
Athenians tried to demonstrate themselves as pious by the purification of Delos of those buried on the island on the advice of Apollo.

Attic pitchers known as "chous" are called thus because they are sold at the Athenian festival Choes, which is the Anthesteria, the Athenian festival of wine and the dead.

The Medes are punished for their impious acts in Athens. Zerxes is blinded by false hope and hubris because he plundered the images of the gods, burnt their temples, altars were annihilated and the shrines of the God were hurled down from their foundations.

Symmachus asserts that Dionysus and the god of the Jews are one and the same. First thing he states that he is an Athenian so he will answer the question.

Trade
Phoenician merchants sell to the Ethiopians Attic pottery and pitchers known as chous.