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As with pottery, the Greeks did not produce sculpture merely for artistic display. Statues were commissioned either by aristocratic individuals or by the state, and used for public memorials, as offerings to temples, oracles and sanctuaries (as is frequently shown by inscriptions on the statues), or as markers for graves. In the Archaic period, statues were never intended to be representations of actual individuals. They were depictions of an ideal — beauty, piety, honour or sacrifice. They were always depictions of young men, ranging in age from adolescence to early maturity, even when placed on the graves of (presumably) elderly citizens. Kouroi were all stylistically similar. Gradations in the social importance of the person commissioning the statue were indicated by size rather than artistic innovation.

The Greek Orthodox Church is under the protection of the State, which pays the clergy's salaries, and Orthodox Christianity is the "prevailing" religion of Greece according to the Constitution. The Greek Orthodox Church is self-governing but under the spiritual guidance of the Ecumenical Patriarch in Constantinople.

Music was an important part of education in ancient Greece, and boys were taught music starting at age six. Greek musical literacy created a flowering of development; Greek music theory included the Greek musical modes, which eventually became the basis for Western religious music and classical music.

The Muslim minority, concentrated in Thrace, was given legal status by provisions of the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 and is Greece's only officially recognized religious minority.

Greece is located at the junction of three continents: Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece's foreign policy, despite its joining NATO in 1952 and its accession to the European Community in 1981, has remained focused on the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean region.

The number of Greek students studying at European institutions is increasing along with EU support for educational exchange. In addition, nearly 5,000 Greeks are studying in the United States, about half of whom are in graduate school. Greek per capita student representation in the U.S. is the highest of any European country.

Thales may or may not have ever written books. It is certain, however, that Aristotle did not have access to any work of Thales, and was writing from secondary sources of his own. While Thales' historical importance is unquestioned, this introduces a good deal of uncertainty into our understanding of him.

It is certain that Greek philosophy, particularly Platonism, contributed to the early development of Christianity, which spread to Greece in the first century A.D. After the legalisation of Christianity by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 313, the Christian faith became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, of which Greece was a part. In the Great Schism of 1054, the Eastern and Western churches split, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity remains the predominant religion in Greece until this day. Since 1833, the Orthodox Church of Greece has remained an autocephalous church within the Eastern Orthodox Communion. The majority of modern Greeks (95 to 98 percent) remain at least nominally members of the Orthodox church.

Crete is an island that is a part of Greece. The lıra is the dominant folk instrument on the island; it is a three-stringed fiddle similar to the Turkish kemençe. It is often accompanied by laoúto, which is similar to both an oud and a mandolin. Kosta Moundakis is the most renowned player of the lıra.

The president is elected by parliament to a five-year term and can be reelected once. The president has the power to declare war and to conclude agreements of peace, alliance, and participate in international organizations; upon the request of the government a three-fifths parliamentary majority is required to ratify such actions, agreements, or treaties. The president also can exercise certain emergency powers, which must be countersigned by the appropriate cabinet minister. Changes to the constitution in 1986 limited the president's political powers. As a result, the president may not dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, suspend certain articles of the constitution, or declare a state of siege. To call a referendum, he must obtain approval from parliament.