Agora

AGORA is one of the five programs within Research4Life, a public-private partnership providing free or low-cost access to scientific and professional knowledge to institutions in lower income countries. AGORA is dedicated to agricultural information. It was launched in 2003 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with Cornell University and publisher partners. Coordinated by the FAO on behalf of its multiple public and private partners, the goal is to support the effective use of agricultural research, education and training by academics, students, practitioners and government personnel with access to high-quality, relevant and timely agricultural information on the internet. AGORA is part of Research4Life, the collective name for five programs – HINARI (focusing on health), AGORA (focusing on agriculture), OARE (focusing on environment), and ARDI (focusing on applied science and technology).

in the foreground. The Temple of Hephaestus is to the left and the Stoa of Attalos to the right. The agora (English: or ; , romanized: , meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the centre of the athletic, artistic, business, social, spiritual, and political life in the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best example.

Origins

's portrait and the emperor being greeted by city's citizens in the Agora during his visit to Laodicea ad Lycum (216/217 AD), in front of a two-columned temple with soldiers lined up on both sides. Early in Greek history (10th–4th centuries BC), free-born citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the agora also served as a marketplace, where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid arcades. This attracted artisans who built workshops nearby. From these twin functions of the agora as a political and a commercial spot came the two Greek verbs , agorázō, "I shop", and , agoreúō, "I speak in public".

Ancient Agora of Athens

The Ancient Agora of Athens was situated beneath the northern slope of the Acropolis. The Ancient Agora was the primary meeting ground for Athenians, where members of democracy congregated affairs of the state, where business was conducted, a place to hang out, and watch performers and listen to famous philosophers. The importance of the Athenian agora revolved around religion. The agora was a very sacred place, in which holiness is laid out in the architecture of the ground upon which it lay. The layout of the agora was centred around the Panathenaic Way, a road that ran through the middle of Athens and to the main gate of the city, Dipylon. This road was considered tremendously sacred, serving as a travel route for the Panathenaic festival, which was held in honour of the goddess Athena every four years. The agora was also famously known for housing the Temple of Hephaestus, the Greek god of metalworking and craftsmen. This temple is still in great condition to this day. Other temples priorly standing in the agora include honour for Zeus, Athena, Apollo, and Ares.

Location and constituents

The agora was usually located in the middle of a city or near the harbour. Agoras were built of colonnades, or rows of long columns, and contained stoae, also known as a long open walkway below the colonnades. They were beautifully decorated with fountains, trees, and statues. When the Athenian agora was rebuilt after the Greco-Persian Wars, colonnades and stoae were not incorporated.

Phobia

The term agoraphobia denotes a phobic condition in which the sufferer becomes anxious in unfamiliar environments – for instance, places where they perceive that they have little control. Such anxiety may be triggered by wide-open spaces, crowds, or public situations, and the psychological term derives from the agora as a large and open gathering place.

References

https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/68303

External links

Official Athenian agora excavations Agora in Athens: photos

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1356566543 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.

Names in other languages