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Their works, although connected in many fundamental ways, differ considerably in both style and substance. Plato wrote several dozen philosophical dialogues—arguments in the form of conversations, usually with Socrates as a participant—and a few letters. Though the early dialogues deal mainly with methods of acquiring knowledge, and most of the last ones with justice and practical ethics, his most famous works expressed a synoptic view of ethics, metaphysics, reason, knowledge, and human life. Predominant ideas include the notion that knowledge gained through the senses always remains confused and impure, and that the contemplative soul that turns away from the world can acquire "true" knowledge. The soul alone can have knowledge of the Forms, the real essences of things, of which the world we see is but an imperfect copy. Such knowledge has ethical as well as scientific import. One can view Plato, with qualification, as an idealist and a rationalist.

After the 1980s, Cretan folk music steadily declined in mainstream popularity, eventually retreating almost entirely to the underground. Prominent performers include Dimitrios Vakakis, Nectarios Samolis, George Lekakis, telios Bikakis, Georgios Tsantakis, Nikos Eliakis, Michalis Tzouganakis and Elias Horeftakis

Greece, as a member of the European Union, strived to reduce its budget deficit and inflation rate in order to meet the prerequisites for the Economic and Monetary Union. Although growth remained above the convergence program guidelines, high budget deficits and deficient infrastructure continued to dampen the economy's long-term potential growth rate.

The Greeks did not view coin design as a major art form. Nevertheless, the durability and abundance of coins have designated them as one of the most important sources of knowledge about Greek aesthetics. Coins were invented in Lydia during the 7th century BC, but were first extensively used by the Greeks, who set the canon of coin design which has been followed ever since.

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.

One of the successes of recent Greek economic policy has been the reduction of inflation rates. For more than 20 years, inflation hovered in the double digits, but a combination of fiscal consolidation, wage restraint, and strong drachma policies resulted in lowered inflation. Inflation fell to 2.0% by mid-1999. High interest rates have been historicallz a significant problem. The government's strong drachma policy and Public Sector Borrowing Requirement (PSBR) made the lowering of interest rates difficult, but progress was made in 1997-99 and rates gradually declined in line with inflation.

One minority possesses special rights (deriving mainly from the Treaty of Lausanne): the Muslim minority of Thrace.

Famous Greek musicians include Nikos Skalkottas, Dimitri Mitropoulos, Maria Callas, Manos Hadjidakis, Mikis Theodorakis, Vangelis, Demis Roussos and Nana Mouskouri.

Every Greek town of any size also had a palaestra or a gymnasium. These were essentially enclosed spaces, open to the sky and lined with shaded colonnades, used for athletic contests and exercise: they were the social centres for male citizens. Greek towns also needed at least one bouleuterion or council chamber, a large square building which served as both a meeting place for the town council (boule) and as a court house. Because the Greeks did not use arches or domes, they could not build large rooms with unsupported rooves: the bouleuterion thus had rows of internal columns to hold the roof up. No examples of these buildings survive.

During years of Nazi occupation thousands of Greeks died in direct combat, in concentration camps or of starvation. The occupiers murdered the greater part of the Jewish community despite efforts by the Greek Orthodox Church and many Christian Greeks to shelter Jews.The economy languished in tatters. After liberation Greece experienced an equally bitter civil war — between communists and royalists -- that lasted until 1949.

Thales of Miletus is regarded by many as the father of science; he was the first Greek philosopher to seek to explain the physical world in terms of natural rather than supernatural causes. Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician who is known as the "father of numbers"; it is believed that he had the pioneering insight into the numerical ratios that determine the musical scale, and the Pythagorean theorem is commonly attributed to him. Diophantus of Alexandria is sometimes called the "father of algebra", and much of modern geometry is based on the work of Euclid. Eratosthenes was one of the first scientific geographers, calculating the circumference of the earth and making the first maps based on scientific principles. Hipparchus is considered to be the greatest astronomical observer of the ancient world, and was probably the first to develop an accurate method of predicting solar eclipses. Aristarchus was the first known astronomer to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system, though the geocentric model of Ptolemy was more commonly accepted until the sixteenth century. Ptolemy also contributed much to cartography and to the science of optics. Archimedes was the first to calculate the value of p and the first to calculate a geometric series; he also was the first mathematical physicist, discovered the law of buoyancy, and invented the irrigation device known as Archimedes' screw.

The Greek media, collectively, is a very influential institution — usually aggressive, sensationalist, and frequently irresponsible with regard to content. Most of the media are owned by businessmen with extensive commercial interests in other sectors of the economy. They use their newspapers, magazines, and radio and TV channels to promote their commercial enterprises as well as to seek political influence.

Major challenges remaining include the reduction of unemployment and further restructuring of the economy, including privatising several state enterprises, undertaking social security reforms, overhauling the tax system, and minimising bureaucratic inefficiencies. Forecasts predicted economic growth of 4 - 4.5 % in 2004. Reducing the government deficit also remains a major challenge, as it is currently running at nearly twice the Eurozone target (of 3% of GDP). The new conservative government revealed to Eurostat that the previous figures supplied, on which was the basis of Greek entry into the Eurozone, were incorrect.

The Greek economy is growing fast after the implementation of stabilization policies in recent years. Greece remains a net importer of industrial and capital goods, foodstuffs, and petroleum. Leading exports are manufactured goods, food and beverages, petroleum products, cement, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals.