How Did the Greeks Influence Our World Today

Adira 1
Adira F. McNally
Ms. Leah Lutz
Humane Letters
16 September 2014
How Did the Greeks Influence Our World Today? The events of the past always have an effect on the present. The impact of the Ancient Greeks on our world today is certainly no exception. Through their architecture, sports, and arts, the Greeks maintain an influence on society, even up to modern times. Grecian architecture what is one of the most obvious and lasting features of Greek society that we can still see today. The Greek column is iconically recognizable as being part of Greek culture and is still widely used in modern architecture both for its practicality and simple elegance. Another prominent Grecian architectural idea that is still extremely well used, though not necessarily recognized widely as being Greek, are stadiums. The Greeks were the first to make sports not only a form of physical conditioning for war but also a method for unifying nations (or at least the various polis of Ancient Greece.) The various sporting events would be held in stadiums that were invented in this period for that purpose. Some aspects of Grecian architecture are no longer used though, those being the parts relating to the Greek’s religion. The location of buildings in Ancient Greece was largely based on where the gods were (up in the sky). Buildings such as temples would be built on hills so that they could be as close to the gods as possible. Today we no longer build according to the Greek’s pagan religion but bring in factors such as accessibility, safety, and building cost.
Adira 2 Another very obvious way that the Greeks influenced our society is through sports, and in that, mainly the Olympics. The Ancient Greeks highly valued strength and competitivity, therefore doing extremely challenging physical activities was highly encouraged even among girls (in Sparta). The greatest and most well-known sporting event was the Olympics, a major sports event made to honor Zeus. It would be held every four years and during these games, all wars were to be temporarily forgotten. In Greece, there were originally five sports featured in this event, sprinting, javelin throwing, discus throwing, wrestling, and the long jump. All of the sports would be performed nude. Today, the Olympics have become a far larger and more sophisticated event (part of that sophistication being the athletes no longer perform nude). Five sports has changed into forty-two different sports and disciplines, not including the fifteen winter olympics sports. The Olympics is not just a Greek event, but involves major nations from all over the world. The final important effect on our society that the Greeks had was their effect on the Arts. One major aspect of this was Grecian sculptures. Prior to the development of Grecian sculpture, artists did not create realistic or good-looking sculptures of humans. The figures would be disproportional, too skinny, or too fat. In Grecian sculpture however, the sculptor would have an extensive knowledge of the human body and how one was to make a block of stone appear as the epitome of human perfection. They would try to create expressions of serenity in their work and the grotesque art of ages past transformed into the future of not just art but understanding of how humans work. Aside from physical art, the Greeks also had a great influence on literature, both drama and epic poetry. Many of the great works of authors (such as Homer) and playwrights (such as Sophocles) last to this day. Students of both history and literature read the great works of the Greeks as a part of their education. Even over the many years, the Greeks still have been shown to influence many aspects of the lives of people everywhere. In many aspects of our culture, one can still see the effects of the Greeks. Whether it will stay so remains to be seen, as it is not that the Greeks did not influence the world but that people simply do not have the capabilities to see the future. For now though the Greeks have an great influence on the lives of modern people.

PARALLELISM