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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.
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.
Today’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.
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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