Greeks made many long lasting contributions to the Western Civilization. Not only in art and architecture, but in math, science, and philosophy also. The Greeks influenced many civilizations that developed after them. Societies today also have taken some aspects and ideas of the Greek government. Socrates stated the quote in document one. Socrates lived from about 470 to about 399B. C. The quote this man said suggested that he believed in order to understand life a person must ask questions. He says, it is the way to help others seek truth and self-knowledge.
Document two is also a quote. This quotation is from Aristotle, who lived in Greece from 384 to 322B. C. He believed that the power of reason is what made human beings superior from other living things. Both of these men contributed to Western Civilizations because their theories and beliefs carried on through other civilizations and societies. Today we call Socrates method of question and answering the Socrates Method. Document three shows an excerpt from Pericles Funeral Oration, given to the Athenians in about 430B. C.
Pericles is describing a democratic type of government in the paragraph. He expects for all men to participate in government because they all have an equal opportunity to do so. He believed that all men had the right to take part in government even if you were rich or poor. In his speech, Pericles praised the Athenian government, he said the government is in the hands of the whole people. Also, that everyone is equal before the laws. Pericles government had a direct democracy in which a large number of male citizens took part of.
This type of democracy is used today. All men have an equal opportunity to participate in government and get a pension in return. Although we do not have a direct democracy, which is a system of government when citizens directly take part in the government, we have representatives who represent our ideas and suggestions for the citizens. Even thought the government was supposed to be fair, document six shows how beliefs can conflict with laws. The quotation from this document is stated from a woman named Antigone.
She is torn between following the laws of the king and not bury her brother or obeying the gods and give her brother a proper burial. Back in the time of the Greeks, gods played an important part of everyday life. This often conflicted with the laws and the ruling of the king. Today the government is made so that these sorts of occurrences do not happen. We learned from the Greeks mistakes so today there is a separation between religion and government. Today these things try to be prevented. Document four is an excerpt from the Hippocratic oath.
Hippocrates created this oath. In this oath Hippocrates promises to take care of his patients to the best of his ability and not to harm them in any way even if they ask him too. This physicians oath is still used today with all doctors. They have to recite the oath and make the same promises Hippocrates did. Western civilizations also use the advancements the Greeks had in mathematics. An important mathematician by the name of Euclid wrote The Elements in about 300B. C. His work impacted the basis of geometry. We use this type of math today to solve everyday problems.
Another mathematician from Greek times was Pythagoras. This man invented the Pythagorean theorem. This formula is used to calculate the relationships between sides of a triangle. This formula has been used since Pythagoras invented it and is still being used today. The Parthenon in document seven was a very artistic building built for the Greek god Athena. It had many tall columns, an engraved pediment, and a perfectly rectangular base. This building was supposed to represent balance, simplicity, order, and beauty.
People today replicated these ides to make long lasting buildings such as the Parthenon. For instance the Lincoln Memorial is almost identical to the Greek Parthenon. The statue in document eight is called The Discus Thrower, it represents an Olympic event. This statue showed that the Greeks sculpted real human features on their art. Although the sculptures were real, they were idealistic which meant that they were the most perfect Greeks. People today also like to show the best aspects of themselves in art. We show idealism just like the Greeks did.
The Greeks Olympics showed that they had an interest in physical activity. We still hold these Olympic events today. We celebrate athletes just as the Greeks did. After all these ideas, inventions, beliefs, and traditions had been set in stone, the people today expand on all these ideas and make them more affective. Even though they might have changed a little bit they are all still the basic things we got from the Greeks. The Greeks have contributed many things to modern society. They opened doors to bigger and better things, which are still, be improved or advanced.
