The Ancient Greeks culture has made many wonderful contributions to Western civilization. The ancient Greeks affected our government, medics, and sports. The Greeks culture has had a very profound impact on the way people live nowadays.
One thing that the ancient Greek affected western civilization is politics. It was the Greeks who developed a democracy, they were the very first. Pericles stated that he wanted all citizens to have an equal opportunity to serve the public. In both the US democracy and the Greeks democracy, political privilege can be use by citizens. (Doc.3). An example of a political privilege can be use by citizens in Greek was that laws were voted upon and to able to nominate by the assembly of all citizens. In the US when citizens are 18 and older they are granted the right to vote. In the US most of the democratic system that the government uses is either identical or very similar to the Ancient Greek system.
Medics in the western civilization have been impacted by many of ancient Greece's contributions. Hippocrates, who created the Hippocratic Oath, also referred to as "the father of medicine”. The Hippocratic Oath states that Hippocrates will treat his patient to the best of his abilities and that he will refuse to give deadly medicine to his patients. (doc.4). Many medical students and doctors still take the oath and learn about it. Today, most graduating medical students swear to some form of the oath, but just usually a modernized version.
Greeks affected sports in western civilization also. Myron's famous sculpture, the Discus Thrower (doc.8) is an example of a kind of sport in ancient Greek times that resemble the modern day javelin mixed with Frisbee. Greece was the first civilization to fuse sports and make it into a tradition. Greece was the hosts of the first Olympics, the sports that this involved were running, wrestling, boxing, javelin, and many more sports. In modern day western civilization athletes compete in many of the same sports as the first Olympics. The Olympics have now been around for many centuries.
The Western civilization was shaped and largely based on Greek’s powerful politics, medics, and sports. Greece has contributed so much to western civilization.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Ancient Greeks made many influential contributions to western civilization such as in the areas of philosophy, art and architecture, and math and science.…
- 395 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Since Ancient Greece was spread out into the individual city-states, it forced them to each have their own forms of government. Their governments ranged from military rule to dictatorship to democracies. In Athens under the rule of Pericles, their government was a democracy. Any man over the age of 18, who wanted to, could be involved and got paid for being part of the government like people do today. This influenced our government because although we do nat participate directly in day to day government functions, we participate indirectly. Athens also had a jury, who in trials made the final decisions, like we do today. You also had the magistrates, who went out ald enforced the laws like we have police officers do today. Ancient Greeks have…
- 136 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
It is always important to look to the past in order to move towards the future. This was done in the formation of Western Society, and more specifically the formation of American society. The Greek culture served as a frame of reference for many aspects of Western life including government, architecture, math and the arts. Ancient Greek culture served as a very broad base for our society to be built upon.…
- 357 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
One very important contribution Ancient Greeks had on Western culture was Democracy.The meaning of democracy in greek is "People rule" which means that the people could actually overthrow someone in higher power. Two good examples of this is the Hippocratic oath, "I will follow that which, according to my ability and judgment, I will consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is harmful," and famous speech given by the leader of Pericles given to his Athenians in about 430 B.C.E "Our plan of government favor the manu instead of the few; that is why it is called a democracy... While every citizen has an equal opportunity to serve the public, we reward our most distinguished citizens by asking them to make our political decisions...A man may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scare."…
- 266 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
In 507 B.C. an Athenian leader named Clisthenes introduced political reforms that introduced democracy. Democracy means “rule by the people,” and the citizens vote to decide the rules of their country. The Greeks, especially the Athenians who founded democracy, provided citizenship, public education, and most importantly, freedom of speech. In order for there to be democracy, the citizens must feel safe in expressing their views and in criticizing the government. Even though democracy disappeared from history after the fall of Athens until the 1700s in America, its concept still hasn’t changed from time and it became Greece’s most enduring contributions to the world.…
- 507 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
They started with the concepts of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Medical researchers of that time period understood that in order to effectively use medicine for the betterment of human health, they needed to use the same methods that modern medicine uses. These findings were further advanced by the Greek who included medical ethics in their research and development of the subject. It was the Greek who developed the Hippocratic Oath which is taken by doctors today. This was during the 5th century. “The practice of medicine goes back to at least 3000 B.C., when the first written medical records appeared in Mesopotamia.” This shows that people were always drawn to the fact of good health and quick methods to achieve…
- 1186 Words
- 5 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Ancient Greece influenced Western Civilization in many ways. Many ideas of the Ancient Greeks came from the city-state of Athens. The Greek culture has had a very large impact on the way people have lived. The Ancient Greek civilization made significant contributions to western civilization in the areas of government, philosophy, and math and science. Now government is a system of control citizens, societies and states. It is important to have a government so you can control society as well as your armed forces for protection. As seen in document 1, which is an excerpt from Pericles' funeral oration, the ancient Greeks were one of the first to have a democracy. Though the Athenians had a democracy it was limited and direct. As seen in document 2, which is from the play Antigone by Sophocles, the quotes show that when you defy a tyrant they will be mean this democracy also allowed social mobility and everyone was allowed to serve in the military. Government was not the only way the Ancient Greeks had contributions to Western Civilization. The Ancient Greeks also made many contributions to Western Civilization in the area of Philosophy. Philosophy is the study of knowledge, reality, and existence. Philosophy is important because it can guide your life. Also, as seen in document 3, which is a quote from Socrates, this quote tells us that a life without adventure is a life that there is no point to live. Because of this quote Socrates was accused of heresy, which means that you are challenging religion and state. This quote may have been an influence to the law of separation of church and state that we have today. As seen in document 4, which is a quote from Aristotle, this quote tells us that having the power of reason is our strongest power. Having the power of…
- 309 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
Another important contribution of Ancient Greek to the Western Culture is democracy. To the Greeks, democracy meant “peoples rule”. Pericles Funeral Oration, given to the Athenians in about 430 BC was the greatest contribution to our today’s society. Pericles said “Our plan of government favors the many instead of the few: that is why it is called a democracy…” Pericles was describing a democracy where everyone had an equal opportunity to advance and serve his or her country. However, everyone was expected to partake in civic affairs regardless their social class or position (Doc. 4). This contributed enormously on the society because the democratic society is a direct democracy. But at the same time, people are able to impeach powerful heads. The Funeral Operation gives citizens the idea of keeping their government a democracy rather than a…
- 796 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The ancient Greeks had many accomplishments including philosophical beliefs, intellectual ideas and artistic developments. They used many forms of expression to express their philosophical, intellectual, and artistic achievements. These forms essentially made up their culture and defined their lifestyle.…
- 458 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Ancient Greece is called 'the birthplace of Western civilisation'of Western civilisation'. About 2500 years ago, the Greeks created a way of life that other people admired and copied. The Romans copied Greek art and Greek gods, for example. The Ancient Greeks tried out democracy, started the Olympic Games and left new ideas in science, art and philosophy (thinking about life).…
- 522 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Their Philosophy has continued and served as the starting point for most of our reasoning, their Mathematics was revolutionary and advanced for its time and is still practiced by mathematicians worldwide (non-euclidean mathematics was critical for Einstein and his greatest scientific discovery). Their artwork still inspires many artists today, and their architecture clearly has impacted our society given its prevalence in some of our most famous buildings. Even though most of their science has become outdated, important discoveries like the circumference of the Earth and it not being flat were discovered early on by the Greeks. This alone shows their rationality and how similar they are to us today in the way of inquiry towards the Universe, their impact was humongous and should always be…
- 1123 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
In the 5th to 4th century BCE, the Hippocratic Oath was written, taken by doctors who swear to practice their medicinal skill ethically. The responsibility of medical doctors is to cure the patient and not to misuse their ability to kill the patient. “I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody…
- 278 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
The Hippocratic Oath was made by the father of medicine, Hippocrates. For over centuries, this oath has always been practice by the physicians worldwide. This is to create such respectable standards into medicine and healing. This oath is key elements of a physician’s belief and ideals towards his patients, practice and medicine in general. All physicians must commit such oath before beginning on their path on medicine as healers. In the past, the physician taking the oath is seemingly like swearing by his most scared beliefs to fulfil his duty. And if he were to ever break his oath, that would be blasphemous, he would be breaking his promise to the gods. This would lead to an everlasting unblessed and unprosperous living – as what Greeks believed. When it seems like Hippocratic Oath will forever be honoured, this too, have been evolving along with the people and the world; the “Modernized Hippocratic Oath” as they said. But with all its evolution, still it represents many of the main points of the ancient Hippocratic Oath. In particular, though additions of words such as “for criminal purpose” are the main purpose of the words of today’s Oath. Also, prohibitions of euthanasia and abortion have been omitted altogether, and the treatment of the relationships between student, teacher, and fellow physician has been greatly reduced. As mentioned, it is the same logic as it is with the authenticity of the Ancient Hippocratic Oath. For it still requires some promises and commitments such as, to transmit or teach the art of medicine to deserving persons; utilize good judgment to provide beneficial treatment for patients; abstain from providing any harmful or dangerous treatments; refrain from intervening in cases that require greater skill and training; remain pure and holy in the practice of the profession; limit involvement with patients solely to the benefit of the patient's health; give no cause…
- 542 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
During this time (approx. 550 BC) alienation of political power was seemingly foolish to the Greek people. Elections were held through a lottery and only the people that were personally selected such as their military leaders (like Pericles) and other high ranking officers where given the rights to make definitive decisions. The distinctions between the citizens and non-citizens were clearly made. The Greeks were profoundly concerned with differences among individuals, between humans, and males and females, between free people and slaves, men who owned their own property and the men who did not, and Greeks and non-Greeks. In todays, modern America we fight for those inequalities to become extinct in society through lobbing and protesting for just treatment and civil rights.…
- 606 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
The various obstacles nature placed on the Greeks actually helped them to develop skills and interests that eventually made them both powerful and resourceful. They gave the westerners the idea of raising livestock. The Ancient Greeks created Democracy, the Olympics and philosophy. These creations coexisted with constant fighting between Greek cities and the ancient evil of slavery. Western ideas of Democracy and the Olympics are the same even today.…
- 272 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays