The Golden Age: as sung by Homer -- The family curse: as dramatized by Aeschylus -- The riddle of man: as proposed by Sophocles -- The strife of reason and passion: as represented by Euripides -- The knowledge of self: as sought by Socrates -- The search for substance: as pursued by Plato -- The philosophy of being: as developed by Aristotle -- The good life: as defined by Stoics and Epicureans -- The ideal of freedom: as upheld by Demosthenes.