The cradle in which the roots of Western philosophy grew is undoubtedly ancient Greece. The expeditious growth of Greek civilization and culture in the 6th century BCE was nothing short of a period of profound expansion for the human race. While the time is dated back so many centuries the location where the very first philosophical thinkers appeared could be marked at the colony of Miletus – which was established near the coast of modern Turkey. Through discussions, these philosophical notions were passed across borders and generations until they reach Athens.
Athens was the ideal land for thinkers and created history with some of the most influential philosophers – Socrates, his pupil Plato and Aristotle. Their theories and texts laid the groundwork for a collection of four main schools of thought that are dominant in philosophy – The Cynics, Skeptics, Epicureans, and the Stoics. The golden era of philosophy where it flourished and thrived the most was the reign of Alexander the Great. In later years, due to conflict and power struggles the era soon came to its end, when Greece was overtaken by the continuously growing Roman Empire in 323 BCE.
