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 Pericles: The Inspired Statesman
 Pericles (495-429 BC) was the man responsible for all the glory Athens acquired in the ancient times. An inspired politician, a brave general and a persuastive orator, Pericles led his hometown to the top scale in all domains: military, social, cultural and economic. It was under his guidance that Athens became the greatest naval power all over Greece, that the Acropolis was built and that culture was promoted. A man that marked a whole century with his achivements, as historians today call his era "the golden century of Pericles".
Pericles was born in 495 BC, the son of a brave general and a wealthy mother. Shy in his early years, he grew up to receive the best education and get involved in politics. He took part in many battles and envisioned the domination of Athens over all Greek cities. Pericles remained leader of the town for forty years. Although he was much opposed by his political enemies for public and personal affairs, the truth is that after Pericles was dead, Athens lost its power and never managed to recover from this loss. He was the man who actually created the Athenian empire and destroyed it with his death.
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Plato: The Metaphysic Philosopher
 Plato (428-358 BC) is one of three most famous Athenian philosophers. A student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle, Plato is probably the most inspired and vague of the classical thinkers. His theories were much innovative for his time and influenced a lot modern philosophers. Plato introduced a new political system, where philosophers, as the holders of real truth and knowledge, would rule.
He particularly divided the society, according to the divisions of the soul, in productive, protective and governing castes.
As an opponent of democracy, Plato thinks that ruling a state must not be based on persuassion but on wisdom. Children must be grown up and educated in public institutions run by philosophers, to make them "remember" the truth, because Plato believed that knowledge is not a matter of learning but of rememberance. Giving his theories a metaphysical aspect, Plato believed that there exist two parallel worlds, the real world and the world we live in, which is a reflection of the real world. To explain his theories, Plato left to the eternity a vast collection of his works, that are written in the form of discourses.
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Solon: The Athenian Lawmaker
 Solon (638-558 BC) was an Athenian politician, lawmaker and poet. He came in power in a time when the society of Athens was facing serious social problems and his reforms were crucial not only for solving the problems that time but also for the creation of a new governmental system that would make the fate of the town, democracy. He actually gave political rights to common citizens, not only the noblemen, and enforced trade as the main economic source of the town.
Little about the personal life of Solon is known. We just know that his profession was a merchant and that after establishing his reforms, he left Athens
to travel around the world. Although his political measures lasted for short, Solon had already set the ground for the development of the town which came with Pericles about half a century later. Because of these measures and of his character, the historian Plutarch includes Solon in his list with the ten wisest men of the ancient times.
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Archimedes: The Mathematecian
 Archimedes (287-212 BC) is famous as probably the greatest mathematecian, engineer, inventor and astronomer of the ancient world, a Leonardo da Vinci of his times. He was born in the Greek colony of Syracuse, where he spent most of his life, except when he was studying in Alexandreia Egypt. We don't know much about his life and he probably wasn't that famous in his time. However, when his manuscripts were found and translated in the Medieval times, he attracted the attention of many scientists.
His most famous discovery is the Principle of Archimedes, the centre of hydrostatics, according to which
when an object is immersed in liquid, the amount of liquid displaced is equal to the volume of that object. Archimedes is also famous for measuring the circle and indeed with much accuracy. He would pose himself the strangest problems and then he was looking puzzling his mind to find the solutions. He can be described as a man with inexhaustible imagination and great dedication on his work.
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Hippocrates: The Physician
 Hippocrates (460-377 BC) is the most famous physician of ancient Greece. Developing very innovative theories and practices for his time, Hippocrates combined medical observation and philosophy to cure illnesses.
Son and grandson of physicians, Hippocrates was taught medicine in the Asclepieion of Kos, which was actually a healing centre dedicated to the god of health. There, with his theories, he established the Koan School of Medicine, or Hippocratic School as it is aslo called.
Hippocrates believed that the human body has the power to heal itself. He said that all is a matter of balance between the four elements of the body: blood, black bile, yellow bile and phlegm. Therefore, people get ill in case this balance is interrupted.
To restore this balance, the patient needs total immobilization. Hippocrates didn't use drugs, except for natural extracts and soothing balms. Also, a very important innovation of Hippocrates was that he made his students record in detail all their observations and their medical practices, to leave it as medical cases for the generations to follow, establishing thus clinical medicine.
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