- Aesop: created fables that taught a moral lesson
- Anaximander: philosopher; student of astronomy and geography; sun-dial
- Aristarchus: Astronomer who believed that the earth and planets revolved around the sun
- Aristotle: Philosopher; pupil of Plato; developed scientific method
- Cleisthenes: Athenian leader who was thought to be the founder of democracy
- Euclid: mathematician; used logic to do geometry and created basic principles of geometry
- Herodotus: "Father of history"; explored the known world
- Hippocrates: "Father of medicine"; developed principles of modern medicine; "Hippocratic Oath"
- Pericles: Athenian leader who brought democracy to Athens; constructed the Parthenon
- Plato: Philosopher and student of Sacrates; wrote a book called the Republic
- Pythagorus: philosopher and mathematician who discovered the Pythagorean theorem
- Socrates: philosopher; searched for ethical knowledge; taught by asking questions