Ancient Greece questions

Pedanius Dioscorides (40 – 90 AD) was a Greek physician, pharmacologist, botanist, and author of De Materia Medica - a 5-volume Greek encyclopedia about herbal medicine and related medicinal substances (a pharmacopeia), that was widely read for more than 1,500 years. He was employed as a physician in the Roman army.

The ancient Greeks believed that amethyst was a very strong antidote against drunkenness. They would wear jewelry decorated with the stone and drink from goblets carved out of large crystals in a bid to protect themselves from intoxication. There are several myths and legends that all have variations on the theme of amethyst gaining its color from the wine of the gods (in one story Bacchus himself pours wine over a white stone), both leading to the creation of amethyst. The stone, therefore, had an association with the power and protection of the gods.

Hades in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea. Other names: Aides (meaning, like Hades, the unseen), Pluto (the rich one), Ditis Pater (all meaning the rich one), Orcus (killer), etc. He is the "one of many names".

The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient Greek analogue computer and orrery used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes decades in advance. It could also be used to track the four-year cycle of athletic games which was similar to an Olympiad, the cycle of the ancient Olympic Games.

Arete of Cyrene (fl. 5th–4th century BC) was a Cyrenaic philosopher who lived in Cyrene, Libya. She was the daughter of Aristippus of Cyrene. Life and teachings Arete learned philosophy from her father, Aristippus, who had himself learned philosophy from Socrates.

In Greek mythology, Danaids were the 50 daughters of Danaus. They were to marry the 50 sons of Danaus' twin brother Aegyptus, a mythical king of Egypt. All but one of them killed their husbands on their wedding night, and are condemned to spend eternity carrying water in a sieve or perforated device.

The obol was a form of ancient Greek currency and weight. Obols were used from early times. In Classical Athens, obols were traded as silver coins. Three obols was a standard rate for prostitutes.

Oedipus Rex, also known by its Greek title, Oedipus Tyrannus, or Oedipus the King, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Greeks, the title was simply Oedipus (Οἰδίπους), as it is referred to by Aristotle in the Poetics. It is thought to have been renamed Oedipus Tyrannus to distinguish it from another of Sophocles' plays, Oedipus at Colonus.

As the title suggests, the work is a historical account of the Peloponnesian War. It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian historian who also happened to serve as an Athenian general during the war. His account of the conflict is widely considered to be a classic, and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history.

Socrates (c. 470 – 399 BC) was a classical Greek (Athenian) philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher, of the Western ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, he made no writings, and is known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers writing after his lifetime, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon.