10 most famous Greeks
In the era of his heyday, in antiquity and medieval, Greece gave the world a huge number of philosophers, theologists, artists, commander and leaders. However, modern Greece boasts extraordinary, interesting and famous people.
In this article we will tell about the 10 most famous Greeks in history, in our version.
10th place – Theodoros Zagorakis (1971 – now live)
Famous football player, captain of the national team at Euro 2004, the best tournament player
The midfielder on the nickname "Theo" held a record 120 matches for the Greek national team, scored 3 goals.
In the present star for Zagorakis, 2004 was 2004, when he was the captain of the national team, and the Greek team became European champions. Zagorakis was recognized as the best player of the tournament.
For his career Theo played in the Greek clubs Kavala, Paok and Aek Athens, English Leicester City, Italian Bologna. For the club career he scored 23 goals and spent 497 matches. Zagorakis always knew how to understand partners, give a sharp pass and score at a crucial moment.
An interesting fact that Zagorakis scored one goal for Russia! It happened on April 26, 1995 in the match Greece-Russia, and Zagorakis scored a goal into his gate. Russian national team then won 3: 0.
Zagorakis finished career of professional football player in 2007, and immediately was appointed president of the PAOK Football Club (Thessaloniki, Greece). PAOK club at that time was in a deplorable financial condition. Teodoros Zagorakis was able to bring new investors to raise direct and indirect income. In just 1.5 years he was able to pay off most of the debt. As it turned out, Theodoros Zagorakis is no less talented manager than a football player.
Now Theodoros Zagorakis became a politician, is a representative of the political party New democracy. In May 2014, he was elected to the European Parliament deputy. Who knows, maybe the greatest cases of Zagorakis are still ahead, and we will still have to raise it up in the ranking of the most famous Greeks?
9th place – George Michael (1963-2016)
Pop singer, producer, songwriter
His real name of Georgios Kiriakos Panayota, he since childhood he wanted to become a musician, even performed songs in the subway of London.
In 1981, a duet was formed with Andrew Ridge, the group was called "Wham!". Already in 1983, their first album "Fantastic" took the leading places in the Hit Parades of Great Britain. Hits Duet Wham! sounded across Europe and in the US. Surely, many readers remember: "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go", "Club Tropicana" and "Everything She Wants".
In the 1985th Wham Duet! Already knew even the world even people who are not interested in music. They became the first Western team who drove a tour in China.
Already in 1986, the duo collapsed, George Michael began a solo career, no less successful than the fate of Wham!
George started the Solo-career "Turn from Ace". He sang a duet with a popular Divo Artwork Franklin, their single "I KNEW You Were Waiting" ranked first places in UK Singles Chart and US Billboard Hit Parades.
Next, George made another strong, but the dubious move – the single "I Want Your Sex". Many radio stations began to rank this song due to the "too bold" content. The second single "Faith" turned out to be more successful, he lasted in the first place US Billboard Hot 100 four weeks to a row.
On October 30, 1987, the debut for George Michael (as a Solo-singer) Album "Faith" came out, and again the first places of British and American charts, in the USA in the Chart Billboard 200 album lasted on 1st place 12 weeks. Already in 1989, the Album "Faith" received the Grammy Prize. Final sales – 25 million album instances!
Talking in detail about the following singles, albums and awards George Michael We will not, but simply we give statistics: Sold only 120 million records, of which 80 million George as a solo artist, three awards Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, three American Music Awards , Two grammy.
December 25, 2016 George Michael died from natural reasons, he had heart problems. In the hearts of fans, he will remain forever.
8th place – El Greco (1541-1614)
Great Artist and Sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance
Nickname "El Greco" (.: "Greek") The artist received in Spain, and his present name – Domenicos Teotokopoulos. It is its Greek name and in Greek he signed paintings, he added the word "Christian" in Greek, was proud of his origin from Crete Island.
El Greco was born, grew and learned by art in Crete. In those days, when the Byzantine Empire has already fallen, it was Crete who became the center of Greek art. More in Crete, at the age of 20, he received the title of "Maestro Domenigo", which meant a huge talent, probably El Greco has already managed his workshop.
In 1567 (at 26), he went to Venice, where he studied at local masters. In 1570 moved to Rome. There was no serious career in Rome, the excessive courage of El Greco was prevented here, although this can be called. For example, El Greco sent Pope V offer to paint the Sistine Chapel Michelangelo as "inappropriate modern Catholic thinking". He said about Michelangelo itself: "It was a good man, but did not know how to draw". With this approach, El Greco’s enemies started much faster than money and friends. In 1577, El Greco went to Spain, first in Madrid, then in Toledo.
In Spain, he completed several works for King Philip II, these were paintings for the Church of Santo Domingo El Antigu and the Palace of Escorial. Work strongly did not like Philip II, and then El Greco was content with orders of individuals. In Toledo, he opened the workshop and lived here until the death.
El Greco was not recognized as a great artist in life. Moreover, his style was criticized, because he corresponded to the late Renaissance and early Baroque. About El Greco remembered after 300 years, when, at the turn of the 20th century, art was looking for new forms of expression.
El Greco said: "I draw because the spirits whisper in my head". He created curly and extended forms, unusual perspectives, distorted colors, and all for the sake of expressing emotions on canvas. At the turn of the 20th century, he inspired new directions in painting: cubism, impressionism, abstract painting. His style absorbed Picasso, Cezanne, Van Gogh, Pollock.
El Greco left about 500 paintings. The most famous: "El-expolo", "The Assumption of the Virgin", "Funeral of the Count Organ", "View on Toledo", "Opening of the Fifth Print". We highly recommend looking for the last two, it is very difficult to believe that they are written at the turn of the 17th century.
7th place – Socrates, Plato, Aristotle (470-399 d.N.e, 428-348 d.N.e, 384-322 d.N.NS)
Ancient Greek philosophers
Socrates, Plato and Aristotle’s teachings are a consistent development of philosophical thought, so these three great antiquity thinkers are standing on one step of rating on our list.
Their names know all readers at least from the school year of history, but we think that it is unlikely that someone can remember the basic ideas of their philosophy. And nothing surprising, they had a lot of ideas. Indeed, in those days, almost all scientists were universal, they were engaged in both philosophy and the right, and mathematics, and astronomy, and all other sciences immediately.
The main philosophical idea of Plato consisted in the division of the world of things (our world) and the abstract world of ideas. Our reality is only the projection of the world of ideas. The world of things is changed, the world of ideas is eternal and constant. Thinking and logic – skip to the world of ideas.
The man’s soul on Plato is divided into a reasonable, sensual and ardent parts. Something removed it reminds the division of the personality by Freud. At least Plato evenly divided the conscious and subconscious.
Aristotle in many respects rejected the philosophical ideas of Plato, this turnover, he expressed his famous phrase "Plato to me friend, but truth is more expensive". Aristotle considered the eternal and true matter. Materia gives us all the variety of items in our world. All forms of matter are in harmony and definitely and interaction.
Of course, only a small toliary of ideas from the works of Plato and Aristotle told above. They left hundreds of work. From Plato we left about 250 manuscripts, from Aristotle even more, not exactly calculate. Their scientific works concerned all areas of life of people and society as a whole.
Achievements of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle are huge, but now in everyday life we do not see them directly. Probably for this reason their place in our ranking is not so high.
6th place – Ortassis Aristotle (1906-1975)
Builder super tankers, billionaire
Friends called him "Ari" or "Aristo", and in his friends he had presidents, princes and kings, scientists – the best minds of their time.
Aristotle Oressis Greek by nationality, but was born on the territory of modern Turkey, in the city of Smyrna, now Izmir. Already at the age of 16, Aristotle knew three foreign languages, which later he was very useful.
After the First World Wirn, he was captured by the Turks in 1922. Greeks had to leave the city, Aristotle Ortassis moved to Argentina. He traded tobacco and later became the owner of a small fleet of merchant ships.
All his businessman career, he built this fleet and invests money in various projects around the world.
The Aristotle of Ossisis glorified not even money, and the media for which he "issued" sensation behind the sensation. Aristotle famous as follows:
– He was the first to transfer his merchant fleet for the most profitable flag, his ships began to swim under the flag of Panama. Minimal taxes allowed the Otristis fleet to take the best orders at the price. Now its scheme is used by almost all seaworthy companies. Create at least Greece, thousands of shopping ships float under its flag, although they do not have relation to Greece and the Greeks;
– Contemporaries shocked his christina o yacht 99 meters long. Fashion on the giants yachts in millionaires of modernity went from the Aristotle of Ossis;
– Aristotle became famous for Roman with the opera diva Maria Callas and the subsequent unexpected marriage on Jacqueline Kennedy, the widow of the murdered President John Kennedy;
– In the 50th Obscis arrived in Germany, on the shipyard of the shipyard, Hamburg and Bremen. He ordered the construction of many vessels on shipyards, including 18 supertankers. In fact, Obstess revived the German shipbuilding industry;
– Based and sponsored by Aristotle Fund of Greek culture functioning and now. The Foundation is engaged in programs of cultural and academic exchange between Greece, Argentina, Monaco and the USA.
And this is not a complete list of achievements and events in the life of the Aristotle of Oressis. There is another fact that it is rarely told about it. Aristotle Oressis suffered miastenia. For patients with this disease he icon! He is a living proof that a person with myasthenia can live actively, can succeed.
5th place – Pythagoras (570-490 D.N.NS)
Famous mathematician and mystic
Among Russians, Pythahor is known primarily as a mathematician, we all remember the famous promotion "Pythagoras pants in all directions are equal.
However, Pythagoras was the Greek and the pants did not wear, the Greeks believed their pants a sign of barbarism. Pythagoras was born on the island of Samos in the Aegean Sea. On his island, Pythagoras was engaged in public operation. At the age of 40, he left Samos and moved to the colony Croton in southern Italy.
In Croton, he founded a philosophical school, which is now called "Pythagoreans". Although in our days they would immediately be called "sect".
Pythagoreans deified numbers. They were rather not mathematicians, but numerologists. For example, the number 3 was considered ideal since "he has the beginning and the end". Number 4 was worshiped because of four seasons of the year and four elements. Number 7 was worshiped because of 7 strings on the Lira and the birthday of Apollo celebrated every seventh day of the month. The number "10" was considered ideal, and the Pythagoreans never collected in groups of more than 10 people.
Pythagore is known for its theorem: "The square of hypotenuses in a rectangular triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the cathets". But this pattern for centuries to Pythagora knew in Babylon and India. And not only knew, but actively used in construction. Now scientists will argue, whether Pythagoras opened this pattern himself or after all, spied from scientists from the east. But in any case, it was Pythagoras who presented it to the Western world.
Pythagoras and his contemporary Parmenid challenges the right to be considered the first who guessed that the earth has a spherical form. Pythagoras not only put forward the theory of spherical land, but also divided the whole world into five climatic zones.
And this is not a complete list of scientific achievements of Pythagora. But there is another side of his philosophy – mystical. Pythagoras believed in the resettlement of the souls, and even claimed that he remembers his previous reincarnations. He was engaged in predictions and fortune in numbers.
Pythagoras and Pythagoreans gave an invisible impulse of Greek philosophy and science. They produced a revolution in sculpture, under their influence the sculptors began to apply proportions in their work and geometric calculation. Architects began to apply in the planning of buildings more mathematics, less tradition. Plato’s philosophical views are largely based on the ideas of Pythagora.
4th place – Homer (exactly unknown, about 8-7 centuries d.N.NS)
The author of the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey"
The ancient Greek poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" are the most ancient literary works of Western civilization. They are attributed to the legendary poet Homer.
We don’t know more about the life and work of Homer, except for legends and legends. He just lived until 6th century.N.u, as it is precisely established that "Iliad" and "Odyssey" to the 6th century already existed.
It is possible that Homer never existed at all, and the poems – the work of several authors, or someone simply recorded folk poems.
In some excerpts of the ancient Greek texts, it says that Homer lived in ion that on the coast of the Aegean Sea in Malaya Asia (now the territory of Turkey). Most of the scientists support the opinion that the texts of the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey" were folded in late 8 or early 7th century.N.NS.
"Iliad" tells about the siege of the Greeks of Troy and the conflict of Tsar Agamemnon (the head of the coalition of the Greeks) and the hero of Achilles (the Great Warrior and also the king, but the small tribe "Mirmidonyan"). "Odyssey" tells the history of return from the Trojan war Hero Odyssey, the king of the island of Ithaca, his journey has a long and complete adventure.
Naturally, Homer was not a witness of the events of the Trojan War, which occurred approximately for 5 or 6 centuries before his life. Homer retells the folk tales of the gods and heroes, gathered them all into uniform.
And it does not matter whether such a bard lived and Homer poet, or it is just a collective image of several people. In any case, he is one of the most famous Greeks. The influence of Idiad’s poems and "Odyssey" to European culture is difficult to overestimate.
3rd place – Hippocrat (460-370 d.N.NS)
Father of medicine
Everyone know about the oath of hippocratic, but few of the Russians can tell about the scientific achievements of the hippocrat.
An interesting fact is that by profession Hippocrates was considered not even a doctor, but a physicist. His father Heraklid and his grandfather Hippocrates were physicists, he was hereditary scientists. To not be confused, the grandfather is customary to call Hippocrat I, and the grandson of Hippocrat II.
The main achievement of the hippocrat is that he separated medicine from religion, philosophy and physics. Before him, the Greeks did not know anything about the structure of the human body, as there was a religious ban on the dissection of the skin. Diseases were considered to curse the gods.
Hippocrat explained that the diseases are a consequence of environmental factors, diet and vital habits of the patient. In the work of Fedra, Plato writes that Hippocrates considered the knowledge of the nature of the human body necessary for medicine.
About the life of the hippocracy we know little. The first biographer became Sororan Efesse, who lived in 1-2 centuries, that is, 500 years after the hippocracy. Sorran wrote that Hippocrat was born and rose on the island of Kos, he studied at the grandfather and father at the beginning, then Gerodik from Selimbria.
Hippocrat’s whole life was engaged in medicine, I absorbed knowledge and experience in traveling to Frace, Frakia and the Marmara Sea. He died in the city of Larisa at the age of 83 or 85 years (different sources give different numbers), according to some data, even aged 95 or 100 years.
Medical hypocratic methods were far from modern. Then I have not yet put accurate diagnoses, only common. Specific diseases were just beginning to identify and describe. Treatment was appointed general – recreation and restoration of body forces, diet or starvation, clean water and wine, mixture of honey and vinegar, balms.
The main achievements of the hypocratic are related to the organization of medical practice. He first began to evaluate and lead records of patient life indicators – pulse, skin color, selection. Records began to be used by other doctors, "disease stories" appeared. It was the hippocrat that introduced a clinical examination and observation.
Hippocrates classified diseases on: sharp, epidemic, chronic, endemic. He introduced the concepts: relapse, exacerbation, crisis, resolution, peak, paroxysm and recovery.
Thanks to these achievements, the hypocratic is called "Father of Medicine".
2nd place – Saints Cyril and Methodius (826-869 and 815-885)
Theologians, missionaries, creators of Slavic writing
Two brothers are called the "apostles of Slavic peoples", they had so much influence on the culture of Slavs. The Russian alphabet is based on the Alphabet "Cyrillic", named after St. Cyril.
Although logically, the ancient Slavic alphabet was supposed to be called "Constantinitsa", since almost all his life Saint Cyril was called Konstantin. New name Kirill He accepted 15 days before death, when he was torn to the monks in Rome.
Brothers Konstantin (Future Cyril) and Methodius were born in Greece in the city of Fesaloniki (Thessaloniki). When Konstantin was 14 years old, their father died. The brothers found themselves under the guardianship of the Minister of the Byzantine Empire of Feoktist. Naturally, under such patronage brothers received a great education. Both got sanana immediately after training.
Konstantin knew Arabic and Hebrew, was an excellent theologian. The emperor sent him to Califa Al-Mutavakkil to Arab Khalifat in order to strengthen the relationship between Byzantines and Arabs. The mission was quite successful.
In 860, by decree of Emperor Mikhail III, the brothers went to Khazar Kaganat to incline kagan to Christianity. However, the mission failed, Kagan chose Judaism by state religion.
After returning to Constantinople, Konstantin became a professor at the university, and Methodius Abbat Monastery. It would seem that the brothers did almost on the top of religious power in the Empire. What else to desire?
In 862, the brothers appear a new mission – the main in their lives. Prince Rostislav from Great Moravia (now the Czech Republic) asked the Byzantine Empire on support. Western Slavs at that moment were taken by Christianity, and Rostislav wanted to see in his state Greek missionaries, and not Catholic. Rostislav wanted to be independent of francs. Byzantium did not want to lose a chance to expand its influence in Central Europe.
For this mission, Konstantin and Methodius developed an alphabet of "Glagolitsa", which was translated into the Bible and other texts. The verbs was designed to fit the phonetics of Slavic languages. Later on the basis of the verbs, Cyrillic was created, which has already become the basis of all alphabets of all Slavic languages.
1st place – Alexander Great (356-323 D.N.NS)
King of Macedonia and Greece, one of the most successful conquerors in history
Alexander was born in Pelle, now it is the territory of Greece. His father Filipp II won all Greece and planned a campaign to Persia.
Interesting fact that Philip II did not plan to transfer Throne Alexander. His relationship with the queen Olympiad (Mother Alexander) has long spoiled, and Philip married Eurydice, they had a karanus son, and it was he who was planned to make the king of Macedonia.
However, fate ordered in favor of Alexander. In 336, Philip II was killed by his own bodyguard by Pause. Alexander climbed the throne of Macedonia.
In 334.N.U Aria Alexander entered Maly Asia. According to the legend, Alexander threw a spear in the ground and said: "I accept Asia as a gift from the gods!"Alexander really was a very arrogant person, but only such a person could conquer the Persian Empire.
Only victories followed: in the battle of the river, the Grank, the liberation of the Greek cities of Malaya Asia, the conquest of Palestine and the exciting siege of Tira, Egypt did not resist, there Alexander proclaimed the son of Amon – Living God.
Then Alexander took the center of the Persian Empire. He won the big armies of the king Daria in battles in Isse and Gavgamela, after the last battle Darius fled, but he was killed by his bodyguards. Alexander solemnly entered Babylon.
Next were hiking to the east, on the territory of modern Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Alexander repeated the feat of God of Dionysus, according to the ancient myths that won India. In Bactria (modern Afghanistan), he married a local princess Roxane.
Upon returning from India to Babylon, Alexander began planning a campaign to Arabia, which caused bewilderment in his army, since Arabia was obviously wealthy. Alexander supported and even was an active participant in the process of mixing the cultures of the Greeks and Asians, which caused frank hatred from many Macedons and Greeks.
In early June 323, Alexander drank a lot of wine during a pyr and felt pain. Ten days he lay in the fever and died 10 (according to another version 11) of June. Ancient historians argue that death was natural, but many signs indicate poisoning. And the reasons were – Alexander then did not love the Macedonians, and the Greeks, and Persians.
Alexander Great in Antiquity was a legend, they admired Julius Caesar, the Great Pompei, the emperor August, these great people even made a pilgrimage to the grave of Alexander. Nowadays, Glory Alexandra does not fuss, dozens of films have been taken about it, the latest production "Alexander" 2004 with Colin Farrell in the lead role, the film cost 155 million dollars.
We hope our rating was interesting and informative, read our articles about Greece and Greeks (Links below).
