| This presentation
will highlight the contribution of ancient Greece
and Rome to the humanistic tradition and our western
world. The role played by these civilizations
had a monumental effect on the life style, thinking
and value systems of later civilizations including
the present day western world.
Analysis
For clarity and ease of understanding this presentation
will divide the subjects of discussion under suitable
titles.
Arts
Greek artists introduced mimesis (imitation of
nature) as the cornerstone of art. The portrayal
of the nude human figure in Greek art reflects
these word of philosopher Protagoras "Man
is the measure of all things,". Western world
owes many of its architecture features like the
building design, structural elements, decorative
motifs etc. to the Greek architecture. Athenian
artists introduced an abstract style of painted
pottery the precision harmony of which was characterized
in all the Greek art. Tradition of oral poetry
(Ionia) was also a Greek phenomenon.
Greeks also built religious sanctuaries (sites
for temples and other buildings devoted to the
gods) such as Olympia. People came for offering
dedications to their gods and also to compete
in the Olympic games, which tradition says began
in 776 BC. Everyone knows the origin of the modern
Olympic games. The Greeks made monumental buildings
such as Delphi, Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon
in Athens that inspire even today’s architecture.
Toady’s western art reflects the lifelike
style of the ancient Roman art.
The Roman Empire too undertook vast building projects.
They made roads and bridges; enormous baths and
aqueducts, temples and theaters, as well as entire
towns in the North African desert that marked
Rome’s power at that time.
The Roman invented the Latin language. So many
languages toady, Polish, Turkish, and Vietnamese,
to name a few use the Roman alphabet and therefore
owe their origin to the Latin language.
Theatre
“TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO, two thousand
years before Shakespeare, Western theatre was
born in Athens, Greece. Between 600 and 200 BC,
the ancient Athenians created a theatre culture
whose form, technique and terminology have lasted
two millennia, and produced plays that are still
among the greatest works in theatre”. (ELAC
Guide to Greek Theatre 2004)
The cult that worshipped Dionysus, the god of
human and agricultural fertility involved intoxication,
orgies, human and animal sacrifices, and hysterical
rampages by women. Pisistratus, the ruler of Athens
replaced Dionysian Festivals with drama competitions,
which drew as many as 30,000 spectators. Tragedies,
designed to show the right and wrong paths in
life, then became popular. Theatre was an outcome
of flowering of ideas like democracy, philosophy,
mathematics, science and art. Obviously the modern
world owes a great deal to what happened hundred
of years before the birth of Christ.
Theatre was important in the lives of Romans
as well. The emperors wanted people to be engrossed
with entertainment so they would not plot against
them. Ideas were borrowed from the Greek theatre.
Emperor Nero used the theatre to sing and no one
left till he was finished. (Roman Theatre Index
2004)
Law
The Roman legal system and governmental structure
has always been highly regarded and still is the
basis of continental governmental structure and
law. Emperors Gaius and Flavian codified the Roman
law, which is still followed in most European
legal systems. In this system, all laws are listed
by crimes in one or more books. Common Law is
but a variation of this code. Precedents and previous
rulings form the basis of judgments then and the
same is the system now. Latin language is so much
intertwined in the American legal structure. (Roman
Legal System 2004)
Ancient Greek courts were cheap and run by amateurs.
Trials were completed on the same day. The Greek
ancient homicide court, called Areiopagos, was
made up of magistrates (archons) who conducted
preliminary hearings. They had a board of eleven
members called the Eleven, which supervised prisoners
and executions. They had the right to arrest any
criminals and execute criminal if he was caught
in the act. (Ancient Greek Legal System 2004)
Mathematics and science
Before Greece the mathematics centered on a collection
of conclusions based on observation. By contrast
the Greeks Thales of Miletus and Pythagoras of
Sámos developed a system of deductive proof.
This break through established conclusions exclusively
by deductive reasoning based on explicitly stated
axioms. The Greeks also invented a number system
based on alphabet.
Pythagoras contended that it was necessary to
study numbers to understand the world. His disciples
highlighted his discoveries about number theory
and geometry. Whole numbers were represented by
using arrangements of dots or pebbles and classified
these numbers according to the shapes produced.
For instance 3,6, could form a triangle and were
called triangular numbers and 4, 9,16 were called
square numbers because the pebbles could be arranged
as squares. Number 2 suggested diversity and opinion.
Four represented justice because it was the product
of equals 2x2. Even today square shooter is used
to refer to indicate a fair and impartial person.
The geometrical arrangements led to the discovery
of properties of the whole numbers.
Democritus, put forward the theory that all matter
is made up of atoms. Hippocrates discovered how
to construct a square equal in area to a given
circle. Eudoxus produced astronomical theory to
account for observed planetary motions. Another
Greek Euclid deduced some 500 theorems comprising
all the important results of Greek mathematics.
Eratosthenes devised a calendar that called for
an extra day every fourth year. Archimedes produced
theorems on complicated areas and volumes. Hipparchus
was able to calculate the distance from Earth
to the Moon. Archimedes discovered the principle
that a body immersed in water is buoyed up by
a force equal to the weight of the water displaced.
Romans did not achieve much significant mathematical
discoveries, as they wanted to apply mathematics
to useful tasks rather than study pure mathematics.
Democracy
In the second half of the 6th century a mild tyranny
took over, but by century's end Athenians had
established a limited democracy (representative
government). Greeks of the Classical Age usually
were not ruled by kings. Greece is accepted as
the first pseudo-democratic state in history.
Most cities and towns gave every free man one
voice, one vote on all matters that concerned
the citizens. Greece was not ruled from the top
down and can rightly be said to be the pioneers
and originators of the concept of democratic rule.
(Greece 2004)
Similarly founders of the U.S. government borrowed
from the Roman republic model. (Illustrated History
of the Roman Empire 2004)
Free Market Economic System
Democracy meant dispersal of power. And as there
was no concentration of power every individual
man was able to develop his own interests. Because
of this such eminent figures as Thales, Aristotle,
Plato, and Pythagoras had to travel all over the
ancient world by their own means. They used their
enterprise and earned money and generated business
and trade this way. Hence, the Greeks were the
first free market society where market forces
influenced economic development. The Greek empire’s
concepts of freedom and individuality reached
its heights before the rise of the Roman Empire.
(Greece 2004)
Religion
Greeks had no official religion as such and indulged
in what is known as paganism. So did the Romans.
Roman gods and goddesses were influenced by the
Greek colonies of southern Italy. Most religious
rituals involved some kind of sacrifice. There
was confusion because of one deity having several
names or sex. (Illustrated History of the Roman
Empire 2004)
Civilizations after the Greeks were also based
on centralized rule. This trend lasted right until
the Medici's started banking in Venice, Italy.
The Greek god of the skies Zeus had a counterpart
in the Roman god Jupiter, while Hera, the wife
of Zeus and queen of the gods, became the Roman
goddess Juno. Aphrodite, the goddess of love,
was called Venus by Romans. Similarly Greek god
of war, Ares, was called Mars by the Romans
Philosophy
“In his use of critical reasoning, by his
unwavering commitment to truth, and through the
vivid example of his own life, fifth-century Athenian
Socrates set the standard for all subsequent Western
philosophy.” Socrates devoted his later
life to the development of moral character. When
presented with a plan to escape from jail he argues
that an individual citizen—even when the
victim of unjust treatment—can never be
justified in refusing to obey the laws of the
state. (Philosophy Pages Socrates 2004)
The Greek philosophical though has left its indelible
prints on modern philosophy. The cradle of civilization
has provided some of the most noblest and cherished
ideas. Our present day society owes much to Socrates,
Plato and other contemporaries. They gave us so
many ideas that have introduced elements like
justice, equality, decency, obedience, discipline,
fair-play etc, in our daily lives. They introduced
philosophical ideas that were epoch-making.
Summary/Conclusions
All over the world, and particularly in the west,
people still enjoy ancient Greek plays. These
plays draw packed houses every day. Western world
still leans on the ideas of ancient Greek philosophers,
and incorporate features of ancient Greek architecture
into the designs of new buildings. Modern democratic
nations have borrowed from the fundamental political
principles to ancient Greece, the birthplace of
democracy.
Greece, the cradle of Western civilization, identified
the West as a region (where they lived) as distinct
from civilizations in Egypt, Babylonia, and Phoenicia.
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