Ancient GreeceAncient Greece is a peninsula located off the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and is surrounded by several islands.Ancient Greece consisted of several different types of government. There were two types of city-states: an oligarchy, ruled by a small group of citizens, and a direct democracy ruled by the people. All citizens could make speeches and vote in the Assembly. The Council made up of 500 citizens issued new laws which were discussed in the Assembly. Only citizens could vote, women, foreigners, slaves did not have the right to vote. Religion and myths were very important in the lives of Greek citizens. They used Gods and Goddesses to explain things that happened in science and everyday life. They built temples to honor their Gods and Goddesses and held the Olympics in honor of the king of the gods Zeus. The Parthenon was a temple built to honor the goddess Athena. People believed that the Gods and Goddess would favor you if you gave them offerings such as gold, silver and the fruit of the harvest. Some of the Gods and Goddesses were Zeus king of the gods, Athena goddess of wisdom, war and the city, Apollo, god of the sun, light, truth, music and prophecy, Hades brother of Zeus and king of the underworld and of the afterlife, and Poseidon, ruler of the seas. All the gods and goddesses lived on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. The Greeks had many occupations, traders, merchants, architects, philosophers, playwrights, sculptors, doctors, poets, astronomers and physicists; every citizen protected the city-state. Every citizen had the duty to defend the state as a hoplite, which is a heavily equipped warrior. They operated in a large rectangular formation of thousands of men all of equal rank. The Greeks influenced the way we live today. Educated Greeks wanted explanations for the world and things around them. they made observations and developed theories. These people were known as philosophers, meaning "the love of wisdom." Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were famous philosophers. Hippocrates is known as the father of medicine; today doctors take the Hippocratic Oath", named after him, which requires them to act ethically and morally. Anaxagras, an astronomer explained that a solar eclipse is caused by the moon passing between the earth and the sun blocking the light of the sun .