The effects of Ancient Greece are strewn throughout the Western world. We use Greek terms, acknowledge Greek gods, and admire Greek philosophers, but why? Western Civilization was formed under the old Roman Empire, which was heavily influenced by the ways of Ancient Greece. Rome overtook Greece in 146 BC and quickly discovered it was a more advanced society, so they adopted much of Greek culture. Hundreds of years later, Rome split into east and west. The West became known as Western Civilization and included most of Europe. Since early North Americans were predominantly of European descent, many elements of ancient Greek culture are still ingrained within us.
Greco-Roman
The time period between the conquest of Greece and the splitting of the Roman Empire is known as Greco-Roman civilization. Along with white columns influencing Roman architecture, the Romans incorporated Greek characteristics in art, music, drama, and dance. They also adopted the concepts of individual freedoms and democracy, and the Greek system of religion—copying their gods, one for one (Zeus became Jupiter, Aphrodite became Venus, Eros became Cupid, etc.).
Alphabet and language
The first true alphabet was established by the Greeks in the 8th century BC. It was preceded by earlier writing systems of the Middle East but they consisted of only symbols or consonants. The Greeks enhanced the consonant system by adding vowels. And though Latin was the language of Rome, Greek was a fuller, more developed language that was used for many documents of the time, including the New Testament. (Note: like Canadian students take French, children in England used to study Latin and Greek.)
Literature
Greek literature begins with Homer, who is believed to have lived around 800 BC. Homer is known for two famous poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. These pieces are believed to be the oldest available literature in Western culture.
The 24 books of the Iliad describe the mythical war between the Greeks of Sparta and the walled city of Troy (believed to be somewhere in Turkey). It starts with Paris of Troy abducting Helen from the King of Sparta. It ends with the Greeks deceiving the Trojans by sailing away and leaving them a gift of a giant wooden horse. But the horse was filled with soldiers, who exited in the middle of the night and destroyed the sleeping city, thereby winning the war.
Democracy
Back then, people identified with city-states—they didn’t really have countries. In Athens and the area around it, people practiced democracy for 200 years, between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. They convened 40 times per year and practiced true democracy, where individuals voted. It wasn’t a representative democracy like we have today.
Only 20% of the population were eligible since women, slaves, and foreigners engaged in trade were excluded from citizenship. So, from an Athenian population of around 250,000, only 50,000 could vote. They conducted themselves in a theatre that held 10-15,000 people and a quorum was 6,000.
Philosophy
Socrates taught Plato, Plato taught Aristotle, and Aristotle taught Alexander the Great. Each will have their own article but take this for now.
- Plato wrote volumes about Socrates, while Socrates himself didn’t write anything down.
- Socrates is known for the Socratic Method, which is to admit one’s ignorance about a given subject and then draw conclusions about it from an adversary by means of direct questioning.
- Plato was a celibate bachelor who established the Academy, which is recognized as the first institution of higher learning in the Western world (the first university). It lasted for hundreds of years. He’s also known for the idea that humans can be divided into body and soul, and that the soul lives on after the body’s death. His views inspired many religious beliefs and the term “platonic relationship.”
- Aristotle is considered the father of science and much of our modern curriculum can be traced back to him. Though he studied under Plato for 20 years and agreed with the principle of afterlife, he’s not very existential, preferring instead to look for hard evidence. So Aristotle is the practical guy while Plato is the airy-fairy, mystic.
Religion
Though Greek religion was better and more exciting than what Rome had to offer, it was still a belief system that rested in destiny. The Judeo-Christian faith rested in hope. Not only because it offered a peaceful afterlife but also because it taught that each life was unique (therefore worth living). As a result, after incorporating Greece’s religion into their own, the Roman Empire later converted to Christianity.
Western Civilization
The West is widely described as the meeting of Greco-Roman culture and Judeo-Christian faith. Initially, Greco-Roman civilization was the merger of Roman power and Greek culture. It started with Rome overtaking Greece in 146 BC. Major steps forward include the following.
- In 285 AD, the empire had grown so vast that East was divided from West. The Eastern Empire became governed from Byzantium in modern day Turkey (later to become Constantinople, then Istanbul). To Romans, there was hardly a difference—this was mostly an administrative split.
- In 313, Western Emperor Constantine and Eastern Emperor Licinius granted Christians the right to practice their religion, ending years of persecution. Constantine himself converted.
- In 324, Constantine united the two empires by defeating Licinius, and ruled over them until his death in 337, moving the capital from Rome to Constantinople.
- In 380, the reunited Roman Empire adopted Judeo-Christianity as its state religion.
- In 395, the East-West division became permanent and the East eventually became known as the Byzantine Empire. It changed its language to Greek (instead of Latin) and would lose much of its traditional Roman flavour.
- In 476, the Western empire fell to the northern barbarians (the Germans). But life in the Byzantine Empire continued generally unchanged until the mid-fifteenth century when it fell to the Ottoman Turks. Along the way, in 1054, Eastern Christianity severed itself from Roman Catholicism to form its own sect called, Eastern Orthodoxy.
Greco-Roman culture and Judeo-Christian faith are the initial tenets of the Western world. Sure, Britain later contributed economics and the Americans invented disco, but these guys started it all.
Note: Read a little more about the Iliad and you can watch the movie, Troy, starring Brad Pitt. See also Civilizations, History of Western Faith, and this video about Socrates.