In southeastern Europe, along the Mediterranean Sea is the mountainous peninsula called Greece. It is a small country (only about 50,000 squares miles in area) and almost the size of New York. Greece is a very beautiful land. The long coast line is so broken that the deep blue sea seems to be everywhere. In the Aegean Sea, the part of the Mediterranean that lies east of Greece, there are many islands. The highest mountain in Greece is Mount Olympus, which rises 9,570 feet above sea level. The ancient Greeks believed that the immortal gods lived on Mount Olympus.
             This is the region where, 2,500 years ago, an independent people created the first democracy in history. Around them in other lands, absolute rulers had built empires and controlled the lives of many people. But in Greece the land was naturally divided into small districts by mountains or sea, therefore geography stood in the way of a central ruler. Small communities grew up in the many separate areas and on the islands. In the communities, each person was valued and thought of as an individual (not as a ruler's subject or as the servant of god. This belief in the importance of the individual person led to the creation of what we call "democracy" and in Greek it is "demokratia".
             In addition to developing democracy, the Greeks' beliefs led them to value individual abilities and achievements. They dared to investigate the physical world and tried to understand the nature of their world and the forces that shaped and controlled it. They opened the way to science, mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and more, by their faith that people could discover the truth y use of their minds. They also produced beautiful art and literature. Through their respect for the individual and the power of the individual's mind, they created one of the greatest forms of entertainment that we still use today and that is drama.
             The Athenians had many festiv...