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Athens (Greek: Αθήνα/Athina, Katharevousa: Αθήναι/Athinai), the capital and largest city in Greece, dominates the Attica periphery: as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history spans at least 3,000 years.In ancient Greek, the name of Athens was αἱ Ἀθῆναι Greek pronunciation: [hai̯ atʰɛ̂ːnaj], related tο ἡ Ἀθηνᾶ [hɛː atʰɛːnâː] and its dialectal variant ἡ Ἀθήνη [hɛː atʰɛ̌ːnɛː], the Attic and Ionic names respectively of the goddess Athena, the goddess of disciplined war and wisdom.