Areté

Areté - ancient Greek word

- excellence of any kind
- moral virtue
- fulfillment of purpose or function
- but mostly is the act of living up to one's full potential

- areté involves all of the abilities and potentialities available to humans
- the highest human potential is knowledge
  all others are derived from this
- if areté is knowledge and study
  then the highest human knowledge is knowledge about knowledge itself
  it's what separates us from dawgs

Agora :

Ancient marketplace

The Agora  was a central spot in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. Early in Greek history (18th century–8th century BC), free-born citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the agora also served as a marketplace where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid colonnade.

Polis : 

a city state in ancient Greece, especially as considered in its ideal form for philosophical purposes. It can also mean citizenship and body of citizens. In modern historiography, polis is normally used to indicate the ancient Greek city-stat.

The importance of the year 508BC to the ancient Greeks : 

In 508BC 'democracy' began in Athens. We still use this term today meaning 'ruled by the people'. Male citizens were given the chance to vote in order to decide how the city-state should be run. This is often said to be one of their greatest ideas.

Socrates : 

Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher credited as one of the founders of Western  philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his contemporary Aristophanes. 

The death of Socrates : 

In 399 BC Socrates was executed by the Athenian court on charges of atheism and corrupting the youth. Although his students suggested him escape, he still decided to drink the poison and died because he thought escaping only would profoundly destroyed the authority of the Athens legal, and no one could be a good tutor to teach people.

The Socrates method :

Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic method or method of "elenchus", which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a problem, it would be broken down into a series of questions, the answers to which gradually distill the answer a person would seek. The influence of this approach is most strongly felt today in the use of the scientific method, in which hypothesis is the first stage. The development and practice of this method is one of Socrates' most enduring contributions, and is a key factor in earning his mantle as the father of political philosophy, ethics or moral philosophy, and as a figurehead of all the central themes in Western philosophy.

What the ancient Greeks meant if they called you an idiot :

In ancient Greece, the inventors of democracy set up a law that required every person to vote, regardless of who they voted for. If anyone was found not voting, the person would be publicly marked and labeled an idiot, someone who thought their own personal needs trumped those of the society around them, and over time, the word "idiot" has evolved into today's usage.

The information comes from Wikipedia, Baidupedia, ancient history