...The Influence of Ancient Greece on Western Civilization Of all the cultures that have come and gone throughout human history, it was the achievements of ancient Greece that have left the most indelible imprint on Western civilization. In particular, it was greek achievements in the realms of art, democracy, medicine, philosophy and literature that has influenced the modern world the most. It is interesting to note that the loss of Greek thought after Roman civilization inducted a period popularly characterized as the Dark Ages. During this time human life was, in words popularized by Thomas Hobbes, “nasty, brutish and short.” Superstition, disease and a short life span were the hallmark of the age. It is crucial to understand that the middle “dark” ages finally ended with the re-discovery of greek texts to usher in the re-birth of civilization, ie: the Renaissance. It was the Catholic theologian St. Thomas Aquinas that set Western civilization on its current track by reintroducing Greek thinkers to European intellectuals. The popularizing of Greek philosophers renewed Western interest in Greek achievements, specifically within the realms of art, democracy, medicine, literature, and philosophy. While some of these subjects remained underdeveloped in Greek times, such as the discipline of medicine and democracy, others were so advanced as to set a standard to this day in the realm of art, philosophy, and literature. Discussed herein is a brief exploration of those Greek achievements...
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...Warfare occurred throughout the history of ancient Greece, from the Greek Dark Ages on. The Greek 'Dark Age' drew to a close as a significant increase in population allowed urbanized culture to be restored, which led to the rise of the city-states (Poleis). These developments ushered in the Archaic period (800-480 BC). They also restored the capability of organized warfare between these Poleis (as opposed to small-scale raids to acquire livestock and grain, for example). The fractious nature of Ancient Greek society seems to have made continuous conflict on this larger scale inevitable. Along with the rise of the city-state evolved a new style of warfare: the hoplite phalanx. Hoplites were armored infantryman, armed with spear and shield, and the phalanx was a formation of these soldiers with their shields...
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...Outline of Ancient Greece Paper 1. Introduction to Ancient Greece * What is ancient Greece? * How long did Ancient Greece last? * How did Ancient Greece impact western civilization? 2. Archaic period * Duration of the Archaic period * Characteristics of the Archaic period * Impact of the Archaic period on Greece’s culture 3. Classical Greece * Duration of the Classical period * Characteristics of the Classical period * Impact of the Classical period on Greece’s culture 4. Hellenistic Greece * Duration of the Hellenistic period * Characteristics of the Hellenistic period * Impact of the Hellenistic period on Greece’s culture 5. Roman Greece * Transition to Roman Greece * Characteristics of the period under Roman rule * Impact of the Greek culture on Rome 6. Political structure of Ancient Greece 7. Social structure of Ancient Greece 8. War in Ancient Greece 9. Religion in Ancient Greece 10. Impact of Ancient Greece on today Introduction to Ancient Greece I chose to write about Ancient Greece because my heritage is from that area of the world and that makes it very interesting to me. The period of time that ancient Greece covers spans for about one thousand years and includes several stages of cultural, economic, and political development. This period was also very important because many consider it the time when western culture was born and developed. However, before ancient Greece...
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...Alexa Cantu Walters History 4262 Bronze Age Greece 2/24/2014 Analysis Paper #1 Throughout history the views and beliefs of societies and cultures are often reflected in the literature of the time. Homers epic poem, The Iliad is no different, it is a source for us today to obtain an idea of how the people of Ancient Greece thought and lived. The Iliad is more than a poem about the Trojan War; it is a poem about life, death, struggle, and traditions. The Iliad today is knows as the greatest epic in western civilization. Historians know very little about this time in Greek history and even less about its people. The poem is used to explain, how dark-age Greece peoples understood and thought about the collapse of this great civilization before them that left ruins and artifacts all around Greece. I will argue that The Iliad demonstrated that the people in Greece during the dark ages rejected and Trojan system, politically, economically, and socially. I will also argue that the idea of Greek Unity was seen as an important aspect for dark-age Greece. Throughout the Iliad there is a common theme of us v. them, the Greeks v. Trojans, this mindset gives insight into how dark age Greeks see the war. It creates a comparison of differences between the two civilizations. Culturally they are the same believe in the same gods, have the same ideals but something keeps the Trojans from being Greek, from being accepted. Troy represents a prosperous state politically...
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...Ancient Greek civilization is Migrations from the east brought the foundations of new civilizations to the Greek mainland, the island of Crete, and the Cyclades Islands east of the Peloponnesus. The Minoan civilization and the Mycenaean civilization developed distinctive social structures that are documented in archaeological records. The dominant Mycenaean civilization then declined for a 250-year period known as the Dark Age of Greece. Polis were formed in Greece after Dark Ages and by the 8th century B.C.E. a significant process of urbanisation had begun. The polis was an independent political unit with its own foreign policy, coinage, patron deity, and even calendar. Some of the well known and important poleis were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes,...
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...Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity (c. 600 AD). Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in ancient Greece is the period of Classical Greece, which flourished during the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Classical Greece began with the repelling of a Persian invasion by Athenian leadership. Because of conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a powerful influence on the Roman Empire, which carried a version of it to many parts of the Mediterranean Basin and Europe. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered as the cradle of Western civilization. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization. Literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. From about the 9th century BC written records begin to appear. Greece was divided into many small self-governing communities, a pattern largely dictated by Greek geography: every island, valley and plain is cut off from its...
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...Rudy Gabriel Ms. Z Early Civilizations 19 May 2014 The Trojan War The Trojan War is an important turning point in history for all of Greece. The Greeks fought at Troy of Anatolia against the Trojans during a later period of the Bronze Age. Paris’ judgement of the most beautiful goddesses was the beginning of the war because of the bribe that Aphrodite offered Paris. Paris is the son of King Priam of Troy and the brother of Hector, the noblest of all fighters during the Trojan War. The main cause of the war was that Helen was taken from the Spartan king, Menelaus, brother of Agamemnon, by Paris because of the Judgement. Helen was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta and she herself was the bribe that Aphrodite had offered to Paris. Many great soldiers fought and died in combat for their city-state. The strategies used by the Greek army were impressive and productive. The war has gone down in history just as Achilles had wanted. The Trojan War was a very eventful battle, fought by many soldiers, at the city of Troy. The Greek army had some of the finest warriors and leaders of the ancient times. Menelaus was the king who united the Greek armies in which Achilles was not fond of. Menelaus was brother of Agamemnon who was the Achaean King and the leader of the combined armies. The Greek army was considerably large because they had conquered so many city-states and forced them to join or be enslaved. Achilles was the greatest of all the soldiers during the war. Achilles...
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...Minoan and Mycenaeans- Dark ages and recorvery 18th-12th BCE September 12 2012 Minoan Civilization * 1700-1450 BCE (Ancient Crete) * Arthur Evans excavated in early 20th century * Named after King Minos (had a minotaur child because his wife cheated) * Palace has a lot labyrinths (agglutinative architecture) * Semi-destroyed due to earthquakes * Not really sure how Crete was colonized (speculated that people stopped for supplies but instead stayed) * Most of the labyrinths were for storing items * speculated that early Crete was a place for trading and economy * Tablets that were deciphered very little but indicated currency or a trading basis * stored in giant pots called pithoi or pithos * Government formed around a king and a redistributive Economy * King receives the fruits of the labor (ex. Wheat from farming) and stores it in a safe room and later distributes equally among the people * Tablets kept track of what was in the safe rooms * Many paintings (Frescoes) indicated a peaceful looking people (no armor and weapons) and connection to nature (lots of sea imagery since Crete is on an island as well as a sport called bull hopping) * Palace did not have a defensive wall because they had no expectations of enemies attacking Mycenaeans * 1600-1100 BCE * Discovered by Heinreich and Sophia Schlieman by studying Homer’s Odyssey (also uncovered Trojan ruins) * Invaded the Minoans and decimated most...
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...that may be of importance is Greece, which is located in Southern Europe. Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, consisting of approximately eighty percent mountains and hills. It shares borders with four other countries (Albania, The Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey), and is also bordered by three seas (Aegean, Mediterranean, and the Ionian). Greece has a total coastline length of 13,676 kilometers, which makes it the eleventh longest in the world. This coastline consists of the mainland as well as approximately 1,400 islands, 227 of which are inhibited. Greece has a fairly large population of almost eleven million people. Majority of the country, roughly 99 percent, speak Greek, while the remaining population speaks English and French. Because of Greece’s location, it faces some significant political and economic disputes between bordering countries. Since there are a vast amount of islands in the seas bordering Greece, it is always facing boundary disputes with neighboring countries. One of the best examples is the constant, ongoing discussion between Greece and Turkey attempting to resolve their complex maritime, air, territorial, and boundary disputes in the Aegean Sea. Another problem that Greece faces because of its location is the mass migration of Albanians into Greece seeking employment. This migration started in the late 1980’s and is still an issue in Greece today. The number of Albanian immigrants in Greece is estimated to be between...
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...Weapons/Warfare of Ancient Greece Weapons/Warfare of Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks went through their dark age in the ages leading up to the 8th century BC. After the 8th century BC until the 6th century AD this period can be categorized as the Ancient Greek period of history. This is a period of interesting wars and advances in warfare. I will take a deeper look in this paper into the different wars, leaders and weapons used. There were many great wars in this period. The Greek states often fought each other. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, during the period from 431 to 404 BC. Sparta won. Only the threat of attack by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their main enemy was Persia. The conflicts against Persia lasted on and off from 490 to 449 BC. The Persian kings tried to defeat Greece and make it part of the Persian Empire. In the end, it was Greece which conquered Persia, when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Kingdom in the 330s BC. The strength of the army was the hoplite. They were foot soldier, and the artilleries were a long spear and a sword. They also had a shield. Hoplites clashed in lines or ranks. Eight to ten ranks made a formation called the phalanx. Each soldier held his long spear underarm. Enemy fighters saw only a figure of spears and shields, that was tough to go through and tough to break once it started advancing forward. The Greeks had archers and cavalry...
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...“Escaping Current Time, and Exploring Ancient Time Periods” Miranda Kirkley World Culture and the Arts (HUM 205) January 19, 2013 James Slama Ancient History. (2013). The History Channel website. Retrieved 12:51, January 21, 2013, from http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history We’ve been in the business of reinventing storytelling since 1984. We took history out of the history books, and we brought biography to life. For our viewers, we’ve invented new genres, told untold stories and broken barriers. For our partners, we’ve offered new networks, new audiences, and new ways for brands to talk to customers. Benton, J. R., & DiYanni, R. (2008 2005 1998). Arts and Culture (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Offering an exploration of Western and World civilization's cultural heritage, this book is richly illustrated, beautifully designed and engaging. Readers move chronologically through major periods and styles–from prehistoric culture to 20th Century America–to gain insight into the achievements and ideas in painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, philosophy, religion, and music. Sakoulas, T. (2003-2012). Ancient Greece. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/classical.html Associate Professor of Art at the State University of New York, College at Oneonta where he teaches Sculpture and Computer Art. He studied sculpture in the USA at Florida International University, and did his graduate work at the Maryland Institute...
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...American schools do teach a little about ancient greece and there are actually movies out now that provide great information on wars for example the movie 300. Although sometimes you want to expand your knowledge on certain things and I thought that’d be great for Greece. In this essay I will hit key points like the beautiful Greek geography and how it affected trade, some politics and how the government and religion played a part in life, and the periods and mighty wars fought. hopefully i will succeed in this essay and get a good grade. The purpose of this essay is to provide informational facts on ancient greek civilization/culture and give the reader a sense of how it was then. Enjoy. My background knowledge about ancient Greece is that good. From movies I've seen that Greece had some type of problem with Persia. Im not sure what the problem was but i know it was two major city-states/ empires, Athens and Sparta. I know the one army fought on land & the the other on ships in water. I also know that europe is known for wine and oil so i would like to know if those are some resources Adding that I did know that Greece was surrounded by water so I wonder how that affected the crops? Well to continue on I’d like to answer some of my questions and get to know this cool place a little better. Let’s begin. Greece is the South Eastern region on the European continent. It is defined by a series of mountains, surrounded on all sides except the north by water, and had countless...
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...Early Greece and All Its Glory Amy Villegas Matthew Geier Strayer University March 4, 2010 Early Greece and All Its Glory Phoenician Alphabet The Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet. Just like the Phoenicians the Greek alphabet is written from right to left. The direction of writing later changed to ox-turning. Ox-turning is a written language that is written from right to left and on the next line it continues from left to right and so on. Eventually, the Greek alphabet does change to left to right but that’s during the fifth century. (Bantwal, 2008) Greek Education For Greek children, their education mostly consisted of poetry and song. (Hadas, 1950) Education was more popular among young boys but it was not uncommon for girls. The wealthier children remained in school for ten years. Grammatistes, paidotribes and kitharistes were the teachers who taught the children. Grammatistes taught literature, arithmetic, reading and writing. Paidotribes coached boxing, wrestling, and gymnastics. Kitharistes taught music. At age eighteen, boys would train for the military for two years before further education. (Discovery Channel, n.d) The Illiad and the Odyssey Homer wrote the two most classic poems titled the Illiad and the Odyssey. The Illiad is based on the last six weeks of the Trojan War. The main character of the Illiad is Achilles. Achilles and Agamemnon get in a heated argument and Achilles retracts from the war. The Greeks are losing...
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...CLAR 120: GLOSSARY UPDATED: 8/18/15 absolute dating: The determination of age with reference to a specific time scale, such as a fixed calendrical system. Anatolia: The western Asian peninsula bordered by the Black Sea, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean, with the eastern border variously defined; today the western part of Turkey. Also called Asia Minor, especially when referring to the Greek and Roman periods. anthropology: The study of humanity - our physical characteristics as animals, and our unique non-biological characteristics we call culture. apsidal: building type with one rounded end, found especially in mainland Greek Early Iron Age contexts. archaeological survey: Recording remains visible on the surface, without recourse to excavation. archaeology: A subdiscipline of anthropology involving the study of the human past through its material remains. artifact: Any portable object used, modified, or made by humans; e.g. stone tools, pottery, and metal weapons. ashlar masonry: masonry style with smoothed rectangular cut blocks. assemblage: A group of artifacts recurring together at a particular time and place, and representing the sum of human activities. band: A term used to describe small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally less than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Kinship ties play an important part in social organization. Big-Man society: A type of socio-political organization where an influential...
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...The Evolution and Historical Significance of the Renaissance Where do we owe our modern approach to thought, identity, religion and science? One could explain it through evolution of thought process and knowledge, but then again, when were people inspired to think in that type of manner? It can be traced back to an age of enlightenment we know as the Renaissance. Although this period in our history is generally thought of as a reformation in how we as people look at the world around us, it was inspired by the classics of Greece and Rome. With this new found interest in classical writings, values, and art, humans crawled out of the “Dark Ages” and in into the age of “rebirth”, forever impacting the way think and perceive the world around us. Northern Italy can be looked upon as the father of modern history; however, it was Northern Italy’s grand-father, Greece and Rome that inspired this modernization of the world. Italy is full of Roman architecture and art; it was this influence, combined with a spike in common wealth that began the first break from medieval logic. Individual city states began flourishing, taking politics into their own hands. Influenced by an increasing number of wealthy businessmen, people began to dismiss the old fire and brimstone ideas of medieval rule and began to center on one’s self. This promotion of “self” compelled people to explore their individual talents and glorify intelligence rather than oppress it. For the first time in centuries, creative...
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