Greek culture and history

Greek Culture

Greek art and its relationship with the modern world cannot be stressed enough, for it could be said that ancient Greece and even the modern Greek nation would be unrecognizable if it was not for Greek art which over the last two thousand years has come to symbolize Greek culture. Several examples stand out like the Jefferson Memorial and the U.S. Capital, both designed by adopting the architectural styles of the ancient Greeks. The role of the city of Athens is also highly important, especially related to the Parthenon, as is the literature created by a number of Greek writers. In essence, without the genius of the ancient Greeks, the physicality of our modern world would not be the same.

GREEK ART: HISTORICAL and CULTURAL INFLUENCES

According to Horst de la Croix, for the ancient Greeks the natural world was a place of much beauty and logical simplicity and in order to live the "good life," every Greek, both men and women, was required to view the world "in line with the natural laws discernible by rational minds" (2003, p. 124). Thus, in order to achieve this "good life," the ancient Greeks devised many new ways of expressing human emotion and feelings, one being through the creation of works of art, such as in sculpture, architecture, ceramics, literature and specialized forms of painting, all of which existed and flourished long before the rise of that other great Western culture known as the Roman Empire. In essence, it could be said that ancient Greece and even today's modern Greek nation would not exist if it were not for the creation of art which over the last two thousand years has come to symbolize Greek culture through some of the finest artworks ever created by Western man.

Undoubtedly, the art which was produced in ancient Greece, beginning with the Archaic or "Dark" Period and up to the Hellenistic Era, "has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries" from ancient times to our own modern age, especially related to sculpture and architecture ("Ancient Greek Art," 2008, Internet). A good example is the influence of Greek art upon the Roman Empire which adopted, if not blatantly confiscated, the artistic ideals of the Greeks to form their own society and to eventually become the most powerful entity in Western Europe. Also, if it were not for the architectural forms and designs of the ancient Greeks, particularly those found in the city of Athens during the Classical Period, the modern-day look of Washington, D.C. And many other American cities would be very different.

One only needs to think of the U.S. Capital Building, the Jefferson Memorial or the official state government houses of numerous American cities to recognize the great influence which Greek artistic styles have had upon our modern world.

Furthermore, after the Renaissance Period in Western Europe, circa 1550 C.E., the humanist aesthetic values of the ancient Greeks and the "high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists" working in the Baroque, Classical and Impressionistic styles and by the beginning of the 20th century, "the classical traditions derived from Greece" came to dominate practically every other artistic form and style now so closely associated with Western art ("Ancient Greek Art," 2008, Internet).

Of course, the history of ancient Greek art is inseparable from the city of Athens, where our modern principles of democracy emerged around 400 B.C.E. And which has become the penultimate symbol of Greek culture, especially related to the Parthenon atop the Acropolis which still stands today as the quintessential icon of ancient Greek architecture. It was here in Athens that some of the finest products of Greek civilization were created by Athenians, such as Phidias, one of the greatest sculptors of all time and responsible for the creation and overall design of the Parthenon.

Also, modern-day Western society and the nation of Greece owe much to the writers who created the great Greek tragic plays, such as Aeschylus and Sophocles whose plays were "presented to eager citizens with personal obligations to the gods" (de la Croix, 2003, p. 125). In addition, we must remember to include Homer, the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, both of which "contain the behavioral codes of the ancient Greeks that reflected the values established in Greek society before the rise of political systems based on citizenship" like those found in modern-day Greece and throughout the world (Martin, 2004, p. 223). Without a doubt, Homer's Odyssey which relates the tale of Odysseus and his decades long voyage home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, stands as the prime example of Western literature and has clearly influenced almost every other literary genre in the West.