The Greatness Of The Greeks

      Why were the Greeks able to accomplish so much during the Classical Age? The answer to this question is not such a mystery. The system of farming, with slaves and tenants doing the work, and the mercantile interests of many Greeks, produced both wealth and leisure time. This in turn gave freedom and time to many individuals for other areas of human interest - literature, philosophy, music, and art. As a consequence, a very large portion of the male population of Greece had the freedom and encouragement to exercise their natural talents and curiosity. Imagine what might have been accomplished had all Greeks - men and women, slaves, and foreigners  been given the same opportunities!
      It is hard to imagine Western civilization without its foundations in ancient Greece:
-Thought: When it came time to build on the accomplishment of other cultures, the Greeks used careful, rational thought, to which they added their natural curiosity. This used of logical thinking may partly be credited to the political system. In small city-states, power derived from being persuasive in public argument, and persuasiveness depends in part on rational, logical thought.
-Language: Thousands of words used in English and other European languages are derived from ancient Greek, for example: technology, history, evangelist, cyberspace, titan, euthanasia, genetics, photography, economy, and microscope.
-Politics: The study of government was first begun by Plato and Aristotle. The very word "politics" is derived from ancient Greek, from polis, the word for a Greek city-state. Many of the words we use to describe our various political systems also come from Greek words: democracy, monarchy, tyranny, aristocracy, and so on. The concept of democracy too its first breath in ancient Greece, albeit in a somewhat different, more limited form compared to what we know today.
-Philosophy: It has been said that all later philosophy is merely footnotes to Plato. This is an exaggeration, of course, but it points clearly to the importance of Plato and other Greek philosophers. Not only did these thinkers give rise to the field of philosophy as we know it, but they also introduced many of the philosophical questions that have occupied human minds since.
-Art and Architecture: Beginning in the fifteenth century CE in Europe, both sculptors and painters were strongly influenced by Classical art. Using Greek art as a model, problems in creating the human figure were solved, and techniques in foreshortening, light and colour and perspective were employed just as the ancient Greeks had done. In architecture of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there was a strong revival of Classical art called Neo-classicism. The architectural styles of government buildings, banks, art museums, train stations, and stately mansions imitated those of Classical Greece.
-Myth and Literature: Besides the myths and literature of the ancient Greeks that we still read today, there are a great many allusions to Greek myth and literature in our modern world. Sports teams are called Trojans, Spartans, or Argonauts; adventurous travels are called odyssesy; and the space program that landed the first human on the moon was called Apollo.

Writing: ECHOES from the past published by McGraw-Hill Ryderson Ltd.