Ancient Greece (1) We cannot refer to the history of ancient Greece as something unified, because ancient Greeks did not have a national identity, in the contemporary sense of this word. Greece consisted of numerous cities-states, which were often in the state of war with each other. However, it is possible to define the historical origins of ancient Greeks. Many historians suggest that these origins can be traced back to Minoan civilization, which flourished from approximately 2700 to 1450 BC on the island of Crete. However, it appears that this civilization did not have anything in common with ancient Greece, except for the fact that it used to exist on the same territory. Minoans were the nation of merchants, while ancient Greeks were the nation of soldiers, philosophers and artists. The Mycenaean civilization, on the territory of modern Greece, had reached the peak of its development at about 1900 B.C.
Approximately 1000 BC, the waves of Nordic invaders, commonly referred to as Dorians, began to arrive to Greece from the North. They did not assimilate with the local population. It is during the period of Dorian domination in Greece that the Greek city-states were able to produce a classical concept of democracy and to define universal principles of social, scientific and artistic finesse, which are still being used as standards in Western society. The Classical or Golden Age extends from 800 BC to 400 BC. This period in Greek history is associated with originating the concept of Olympic Games, Athenian wars with Persia, Leonidas heroic stance of 300 men against hordes of invaders from the East and with military confrontation between Greek cities, commonly known as Peloponnesian wars. It is during this period the Athens Parthenon was built.
The Essay on Ancient Greek
... 31. The three major periods of ancient Greek were Archaic Period, Classical Period, Hellenistic Period. 32. Briefly gice one ... self-sufficiency. 27. During the Hellenistic civilization, the Skeptics philosophy agreed with the ... the Golden Age of Athens ( Classical Greece, 5th century B. C. ) theater, philosophy, ... warriors, and the city-states or polis emerged. 4. A typical Greek city-state would have ...
From 400 BC onwards, Greeks were slowly beginning to get rid of their regional secularism. This process culminated in the time when conquests of Alexander the Great enabled Greeks to think of themselves as unified nation. Even though that Alexander was of Macedonian origin, he was able to exploit Greeks sense of cultural superiority to accomplish his conquests. This time is being commonly referred to as Hellenistic period in Grecian history. By 2rd century BC, Greeks were being peacefully assimilated into Roman Empire, with Romans accepting Greek culture as their own. By this time, they were rapidly loosing their racial homogeneity, which resulted in fact that by the beginning of new era, Greeks were being turned into the multicultural ethnos.
This coincided with the decline of ancient Greek civilization, as we know it. (2) Ancient Grecian culture was being based on the idea that peoples physical strength, beauty and intelligence were closely linked together. Greeks thought of them as deriving out of each other. They were aware that peoples mental and physical qualities are genetically predetermined, this is why in Sparta, the government actively practiced eugenics to increase the biological quality of its people. Ancient Greeks revered physical beauty. Their sculptures that survived up until these days, reveal that Greeks possessed a complete understanding of what constitutes the female and male bodies perfect proportions, because they thought of them as indication of physical health.
This came as result of Grecian society not being affected by degenerative social of religious doctrines. It is almost impossible to come up even with a brief survey of Greeks accomplishments in the fields of philosophy, dramaturgy, art and science, because Grecian cultural legacy is overwhelmingly extensive. The names of Homer and Hesiod will go down in history as founders of classical poetic forms. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle established a principle of scientific inquiry in philosophy, which is still serves as the cornerstone of Western philosophical quest. Plato has laid down a ground for European metaphysical idealism. His concept of thing in itself is still being used in many philosophical doctrines.
The Essay on Time People Figures Alcohol
It can be argued that since the 1920's society in America has been in a state of moral decay. Many say that this decay has much to do with materialism and the acceptance of moral decay that began in the 1920's. Because of things like organized crime, social corruption and growing materialism there was a sudden "drop" in society. Since the 1920's there had been a drop in the way society would view ...
Aristotle was the first thinker to formulate a comprehensive vision of the state as integral entity. Aesop and Aeschylus are credited with designing the most important principles of theatrical performance. Every dramaturgical play of modern days is directly related to how these two individuals envisioned the social role of theatre. (3) Ancient Greeks are the ones who designed the concept of democracy as the most effective doctrine of political governance. From the years 460 BC to 429 BC, Athens and many other Grecian cities went through what is now known as its Golden Age. Athens was under the leadership of an immensely popular leader named Pericles. He introduced laws that enabled ordinary citizens to elect citys officials and to define Athens international policies.
However, it is often forgotten today that in 451 BC, Pericles enacted a law limiting Athenian citizenship by biological descent. Thus, it appears that ancient Greeks were well aware of dangers of racial mixing. It is by no accident that the period of Golden Age in Greece is associated with the time when Sparta and Athens were actively striving to maintain the biological quality of its people on appropriate level. Grecian society was based on patriarchal principle. Women were not allowed to cast votes. However, this does not suggest that women in Greece were being affected by male chauvinism to the degree, which was common in other countries at the time. In fact, most of women did not even have to perform household duties, in traditional sense of this word.
This is because ancient Greeks were actively using slave labor. In Sparta, women could actually rise to the position of social prominence, for as long as they proved themselves as being physically and mentally fit. As whole, Grecian society was very tolerant towards different religious doctrines that were thriving at the time. Greeks were polytheists. They considered themselves as being descendent from Gods, which explains why they did not consider other religions as such that posed danger to their mentality, because they were above the Asiatic monotheism. It is only when foreign religion was being closely associated with geopolitical dangers that Greeks would embark on rooting it out.
The Term Paper on Life in Ancient Greece 2
Life in Ancient Greece The life of the past was indeed quite different from life as we see and perceive it today. People were thinking differently, the cultures and behaviours were also different. However if we examine any time span we might find that still most of the people on the planet Earth, no matter what are the historical contexts and prepositions that surround them, are concerned with ...
The most important psychological trait of ancient Greeks was their willingness to sacrifice for the sake of freedom. They were the people who simply could not tolerate tyranny, even if it was not affecting them personally. Spartans, for example, could not even be conquered in principle, because freedom and death in combat was the sense of their lives. This is why Greeks always used to think of themselves as being absolutely different from everybody else. They rightfully considered Greece as being only the source of light and hope in the sea of despotism and corruption. (4) The spiritual influence of ancient Greece on Western civilization cannot be overestimated.
The term Renaissance literally translates as revival, which corresponds to the revival of ancient Grecian values. Throughout the centuries, people were trying to refine the essence of Greeks mentality. European most influential philosophers were being instinctively drawn to ancient Greece, because they considered it as the perfect model-state, where citizens were able to enjoy living to the full extent, while benefiting society, as whole. The reason why spiritual legacy of ancient Greeks did not lose its value in our day is simple it emphasizes on the fact that equality can only be established among truly equal. This is why; the concept of multiculturalism is doomed to failure. At the same time, ancient Greeks proved that human strive towards the idea of physical and mental harmony cannot be limited by considerations of conventional morality.
Bibliography:
Culture of Greece. 2007. Wikipedia.
13 May. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Greece Daily Life in Ancient Greece. 2003. Donn Class. 13 May. 2007. http://members.aol.com/Donnclass/Greeklife.html Minoan Civilization.
2007. Wikipedia. 13 May. 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minoan_civilization The Hellenes – Classical Greece. Chapter 10. March of the Titans the History of White Race. 1999. Stormfront.Org.
13 May. 2007. http://www.stormfront.org/whitehistory/hwr10.htm Outline: Historical overview Culture Politics and peoples daily life Conclusion.
