ABSTRACT
Greek philosophy shows the influence of ideas current in early Greek culture. Beginning in the eighth century BC, the Greeks established colonies in the area of the Mediterranean, including parts of Italy and North Africa. The worldly and optimistic approach of the Ionians was not common to all of Greece. The Ionian culture contributed significantly to philosophy through providing the freedom and openness in which scientific speculation and metaphysical thought could develop. The Ionians also held some significant ideas about life and the world that influenced the development of philosophical beliefs. In particular, notions that were related to the mythology or folklore of Ionia influenced philosophical views. The freedom of Ionia facilitated the development of scientific curiosity and philosophy, and ideas of the Ionian culture were often expressed, in less mythological ways, in subsequent philosophies. The concepts of Orphism greatly influenced the Pythagoreans and Plato, and through them centuries of thought.
