The Impact of Greece
An ancient greek philosopher who flourished during the 6th century BC, Thales of Miletus said, “Time is the wisest of all things that are; for it brings everything to light.” This quote brings to light that everything can get better with time. Everything that they created has gotten so much better, because the Greeks created a solid base for us to build on. A condensed list of the many things that originated from Greece and Greek culture: Historians, Mathematicians, Western Philosophical thought, Democracy, Trial by Jury, Mythology, Theater, Olympic games, Architecture, Art, Tranquility, the Alphabet, the Library, Science, Standardized Medicine, and Happiness. Greece has had a huge role in developing the English language as well. Some inventions that are still widely used today are the Umbrella, the Lighthouse, and the Alarm clock. Greek Culture was the most impactful to the populace because its gods had many human traits which people could relate to, many things in the world today are influenced by it, and a lot of scientific, mathematic, and medical information that is taken for granted today originated from ancient Greece..
In Greek Culture there were many different gods with many different qualities. Because of this, it was easy for people to relate to at least one god or goddess. For example, Hermes was the god of trade and travel as well as many other things. He was said to be intelligent, fun to be around, and mischievous. However, it is said that people trusted Hermes, and he could keep a secret. People could relate to him for many different reasons, some may have even looked up to him as a role model. The Greek people were traders by nature. The main places they went to trade with were Egypt, Carthage, Sicily, Ethiopia, Italy, and the Arabian Peninsula. Their main trade items were olives, oils, pottery, metalworks, and some wines. In today’s society, most people don’t have “gods” as their role models. Many people today have successful professional athletes as their role models, and they want to be just like them. This idea of this shows that Greek’s role modeling of their gods and goddesses has been passed down into today’s modern world.
The worlds way of role modeling is not the only important contribution of ancient Greeks, many inventions actually originated from Greece and Greek culture too. One of the most familiar samples of Greek architecture today, are pillars. The Parthenon, located in Athens, is one of the most famous ancient buildings uses pillars. In today’s world, pillars are seen in numerous buildings that include churches, libraries, and quite interestingly, the White House.
One important Greek invention is the lighthouse. The first lighthouse was also located in Alexandria, Greece. According to the Lighthouse Directory, today there are more than 18,600 lighthouses worldwide. The lighthouse is used today as a navigational aid in dangerous boat situations. They are used as warning signals. They are not as prevelant today but throughout the decades they saved many lives and helped lead ships home safely.
Greek mythology today has been seen in many movies, video games, tv shows, modern novels, and some brands. Some examples of these are Disney’s Hercules, the novel Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the shoe company Nike, and the use of the term “Achilles’ heel.’’ Movies, video games, tv shows, and novels are a lot of what makes up todays world. Without these familiar and common things our world would look completely different than it does now.
The Greeks also made many contributions to modern medicine. The Greeks created a regulated medicine system which included medical diagnosis, prognosis, and medical ethics. According to Owlcation, “the manner in which the medical practice is carried out today, in terms of diagnosis and sometimes of treatment, is very similar to that of the ancient Greeks.” Ancient Athens, Greece, was the first to employ trial by jury just as we know it today. Today, a trial by jury works almost the same as it did in ancient Greece.
One of Ancient Greece’s most obvious contributions is the theater. According to Owlcation, the word Theater is derived from the Greek word “theatron” which literally means the seating section of outdoor arenas where people watch plays. Owlcation says, the ancient Greeks loved plays and every town had its own individual performing company which competed against neighboring towns. The first playwrights, as we call them today, originated in Greece with men such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. These men solely deserve the credit for theater as we know it today, they had a huge result on the methods that storytellers all through time have chosen to give their narratives. According to the Dictionary, a Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.
The ancient Greek citizens created the world’s first democracy. Their democratic government had 6,000 assembly members, who were all male. Throughout Athens, they voted on issues that they encountered. They needed a majority vote to pass any law that was suggested. According to Owlcation, if there was ever a case brought up to banish or exile someone, all 6,000 votes were needed. Today in the United States, our government is democratic. However, instead of a direct democracy we now use a representative democracy. A representative democracy is when the citizens are allowed to democratically vote on who they think should make the decisions for the country.
One last invention that this essay will consider is the Alphabet. It featured distinct letters for vowels and consonants. It consisted of 24 letters and they were ordered from alpha to omega. The word “alphabet” actually originates from the first two letters of the greek alphabet, which are alpha and beta. Many letters in today’s alphabet originate from the original alphabet, the greek alphabet. Such letters include: A, B, E, and O. So much originates from Greece and Greek Culture, it’s difficult to name them all.
A multitude ofour science and math today that is taken for granted originates from Greece. The way the world sees Mathematics and Science is greatly shaped by Greece and Greek culture. Greece was the birthplace of many influential and famous mathematicians and scientists. According to Sayans, Teknoloji, en Sosayati, “Eratosthenes was a famous mathematician, geographer, astronomer, and historian. Eratosthenes figured out that if you were to write down all the natural numbers from 2 to infinity and "sieve out" every second number after two (or multiples of two), then move to the next available number (3) and continue to "sieve out" every multiple of 3 and so on, one would end up with a list of prime numbers.” Eratosthenes was also the first to calculate the circumference of the Earth. He also calculated the tilt of the Earth’s axis. Not many people today think of where this information originated from, but it is extremely important information that is the base for much more research. Aristarchus of Samos, an ancient greek mathematician and astronomer created a revolutionary astronomical theory. This theory claimed that the sun was actually at the center of the universe and that the Earth, along with the rest of the planets revolved around it. Although not completely accurate, the planets do revolve around the Sun. This Sun-centered view is often referred to as heliocentric. He created a model where he accurately placed the planets in the right order. This contributed to astronomy tremendously. Archimedes had many great achievements, many of which contributed to the modern world greatly. He invented the sciences of mechanics and hydrostatics. Without this invention, in today’s world there might not even be mechanics or hydrostatistics. Archimedes also invented one of the most fundamental concepts of physics that there is, the center of gravity. One more very important discovery of his was the laws of levers and pulleys, which allow people to move large heavy objects using small forces. Sources reveal that later mathematicians who tried to replicate his work were infuriated because they couldn’t understand how Archimedes got his results. These are just a few of the many philosophers that originated from Greece, who changed the face of reality with their discoveries and inventions.
In Conclusion, gods and goddesses have paved the way for today’s role models in more ways than one. They were the original role models, today celebrities and professional athletes are everyone’s “gods.” Many buildings and basic concepts in the modern world have been shaped by ancient Greek life and culture. A lot of the entertainment seen today comes directly from ancient greece, such as theater, olympic games, greek mythology, and art. One of the biggest parts of the United states, our democratic government, originates from ancient greece. Science and Mathematics are greatly influenced and even partly created by greeks. So much was discovered and contributed by early Greek thinkers. Greek Culture was the most impactful to the populace because it’s gods had many human traits which people could relate to, many things in the world today are influenced by it, and a lot of information that is taken for granted today originated from it.