part_of battle of mytilene 
Greece (' ), officially the Hellenic Republic ( Greek : ' ), historically also known as Hellas ("" ), is a ___MASK55___ in southeastern ___MASK24___ . Greece ' s ___MASK52___ is approximately 10 . 955 million as of 2015 . Athens is the nation ' s capital and largest city , followed by Thessaloniki . A ___MASK64___ is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic , political , and cultural center for a country or region , and an important hub for regional or international connections , commerce , and communications . The term is Greek and means the " mother city " of a colony ( in the ancient sense ), that is , the city which sent out settlers . This was later generalized to a city regarded as a center of a specified activity , or any large , important city in a nation . Plato ( Greek : " Plátn ", in Classical Attic ; 428 / 427 or 424 / 423  348 / 347 BCE ) was a philosopher in ___MASK57___ and the founder of the Academy in Athens , the first institution of higher ___MASK35___ in the Western world . He is widely considered the most pivotal figure in the development of ___MASK54___ , especially the Western tradition . Unlike nearly all of his philosophical contemporaries , Plato ' s entire " œuvre " is believed to have survived intact for over 2 , 400 years . A ___MASK59___ - state is a sovereign state that consists of a ___MASK59___ and its dependent territories . Historically , this included cities such as Rome , Athens , Carthage , and the Italian ___MASK59___ - states during the ___MASK65___  but today only a handful of sovereign ___MASK59___ - states exist , with some disagreement as to which are ___MASK59___ - states . A great deal of consensus exists that the term properly applies to Singapore , Monaco , and Vatican City . The Battle of Mytilene was a battle fought in 406 BC between Athens and Sparta . The Spartans were victorious . Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia , is a region in the southeastern ___MASK26___ of the Peloponnese peninsula . Its administrative capital is Sparta . The word " laconic " is derived from the name of the region by analogy  to speak in a concise way , as the Spartans were reputed by the Athenians to do . The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus (" Pelopónnsos "), is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece . It is separated from the central ___MASK26___ of the country by the Gulf of Corinth . During the late Middle Ages and the Ottoman era , the peninsula was known as the Morea , a name still in colloquial use in its demotic form (  ). Attic Greek is the main Greek dialect that was spoken in ancient Attica , which includes Athens . Of the ancient dialects , it is the most similar to later Greek and is the standard form of the ___MASK100___ that is studied in ancient - Greek ___MASK100___ courses . Attic Greek is sometimes included in the Ionic dialect . Together , Attic and Ionic are the primary influences on ___MASK62___ . Sparta ( Doric Greek : ; Attic Greek : ) was a prominent ___MASK59___ - state in ___MASK30___ . In antiquity ___MASK22___ - state was known as Lacedaemon , while the name Sparta referred to its main ___MASK60___ on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia , in south - eastern Peloponnese . Around 650 BC , it rose to become the dominant ___MASK76___ land - power in ___MASK30___ . Athens (" Athína " ) is the capital and largest ___MASK59___ of Greece . Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world ' s oldest cities , with its recorded ___MASK12___ spanning over 3 , 400 years , and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BC . Classical Athens was a powerful ___MASK59___ - state that emerged in conjunction with the seagoing development of the port of Piraeus , which had been a distinct ___MASK59___ prior to its 5th century BC incorporation with Athens . A centre for the arts , learning and philosophy , home of Plato ' s Academy and Aristotle ' s Lyceum , it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy , largely because of its cultural and political impact on the European continent , and in particular the Romans . In modern times , Athens is a large cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic , financial , industrial , maritime , political and cultural life in Greece . In 2015 , Athens was ranked the world ' s 29th richest ___MASK59___ by purchasing power and the 67th most expensive in a UBS study . Attica ( or ; or ) is a historical region that encompasses ___MASK22___ of Athens , the capital of Greece . The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula , which projects into the ___MASK4___ . The modern administrative region of Attica is more extensive than the historical region and includes the Saronic Islands , Cythera , and the municipality of Troizinia on the Peloponnesian mainland . The history of Attica is tightly linked with that of Athens , which , from the classical period , was one of the most important cities in the ancient world . The ___MASK5___ BC started the first ___MASK93___ of 500 BC and ended the last ___MASK93___ of 401 BC . ___MASK54___ ( from Greek , " philosophia ", literally " love of wisdom ") is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence , knowledge , values , reason , mind , and ___MASK100___ . The term was probably coined by Pythagoras ( ___MASK3___ . 570  ___MASK3___ . 495 BC ). Philosophical methods include questioning , critical discussion , rational argument and systematic presentation . Classic philosophical questions include : Is it possible to know anything and to prove it ? What is most real ? However , philosophers might also pose more practical and concrete questions such as : Is there a best way to live ? Is it better to be just or unjust ( if one can get away with it )? Do humans have free will ? ___MASK22___ of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece ( 508  322 BC ) was the major urban center of the notable polis ( city - state ) of the same name , located in Attica , Greece , leading the Delian League in the ___MASK21___ against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras . This system remained remarkably stable , and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years , until 322 BC ( aftermath of Lamian War ). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC , known as the Age of Pericles . Recorded ___MASK12___ or written ___MASK12___ is a historical narrative based on a written record or other documented communication . Recorded ___MASK12___ can be contrasted with other narratives of the past , such as mythological , oral or archeological traditions . Aristotle (" Aristotéls "; 384  322 BC ) was a Greek philosopher and scientist born in ___MASK22___ of Stagira , Chalkidice , on the northern periphery of Classical Greece . His father , Nicomachus , died when Aristotle was a child , whereafter Proxenus of Atarneus became his guardian . At seventeen or eighteen years of age , he joined Plato ' s Academy in Athens and remained there until the age of thirty - seven ( ___MASK3___ . 347 BC ). His writings cover many subjects  including physics , biology , zoology , metaphysics , logic , ethics , aesthetics , poetry , theater , music , rhetoric , linguistics , politics and government  and constitute the first comprehensive system of Western philosophy . Shortly after Plato died , Aristotle left Athens and , at the request of Philip of Macedon , tutored Alexander the Great beginning in 343 BC . In ___MASK2___ , Eurotas was a king of Laconia , the son of King Myles and grandson of Lelex , eponymous ancestor of the Leleges . He had no male heir , but he did have a daughter Sparta and wife Clete . Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon , the son of Taygete , after whom Mount Taygetus is named , and Zeus , according to Pausanias . Lacedaemon married Sparta and renamed the state after his wife . Doric or Dorian was an Ancient Greek dialect . Its variants were spoken in the southern and eastern Peloponnese , as well as in Sicily , Epirus , Macedonia , Southern Italy , Crete , ___MASK23___ , some islands in the southern ___MASK4___ and some cities on the south east coast of Anatolia . Together with Northwest Greek , it forms the " Western group " of classical Greek dialects . By Hellenistic times , under the Achaean League , an Achaean - Doric koiné language appeared , exhibiting many peculiarities common to all Doric dialects , which delayed the spread of the Attic - based Koine Greek to the Peloponnese until the second century BC . ___MASK30___ was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek ___MASK12___ from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th - 9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity ( AD ). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era . Roughly three centuries after the Late ___MASK85___ collapse of Mycenaean Greece , Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC , ushering in the period of Archaic Greece and colonization of the Mediterranean Basin . This was followed by the period of Classical Greece , an era that began with the Greco - Persian Wars , lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC . Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia , Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central ___MASK68___ to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea . The Hellenistic period came to an end with the conquests and annexations of the eastern Mediterranean world by the Roman Republic , which established the Roman province of Macedonia in Roman Greece , and later the province of Achaea during the Roman Empire . Piraeus (" Pireás " , , " Peiraieús ") is a ___MASK88___ ___MASK59___ in the region of Attica , Greece . Piraeus is located within the Athens urban area , southwest from its ___MASK59___ ___MASK71___ ( municipality of Athens ), and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf .