Ancient Greece Contributions Essay Example
Ancient Greek Contributions Many of the roots in the Western civilization can be traced back to ancient Greece. They created long lasting contributions in the making of the Western development with their literature, drama, mathematics, philosophy, politics, and science. The ancient Greek contributions started from 1900 B.C. to 300 B.C., but still have an impact on Western society today. As the Greeks expanded, they spread their ideas to other countries, while also receiving ideas from them. The important contributions of the Greeks to the Western society were philosophy, politics, medical science, Olympic Games, architecture and mathematics. One important contribution of the ancient Greeks was philosophy. Socrates was a famous ancient Greek philosopher. He believed that an unexamined life was not worth living (Document 1). This was known as the Socratic Method. Socrates thought that people should question everything in their lives. Because of his believes, he was put on trial for corrupting the cities of its youth and was later sentenced to death. Another Greek philosopher was Aristotle. He was taught by Plato, one more famous Greek philosopher and former student of Socrates. Aristotle believed that human nature is most superior when guided by reason because reason is what makes human beings so unique (Document 2). He taught Alexander the Great, who later conquered Persia and established the Hellenistic civilization. This civilization created a new philosophy stating people should avoid disappointment and just accept whatever life brings them. Philosophy impacted Western civilizations by setting values and morals for everyday life. A different contribution was politics. The Greeks believed in democracy. Pericles’ idea of a democracy stated that people should be able to voice their opinion no matter what their social standings were (Document 3). He thought that every citizen should have an equal opportunity to serve the public and help make