Ancient Greece's Contribution To Western Civilization

The Greeks made huge contributions to the Western Civilization and there are many well known and celebrated Greeks that lead these contributions. There were Greeks such as Archimedes who contributed greatly in mathematics or Greeks like Socrates, who devoted his life to gaining self-knowledge and was one of the great philosophers at that time. Architecture was also greatly influenced by the great minds Ancient Greece and their great buildings such as the Parthenon. Out of all their contributions, one of their least known but most important would be their government because of how much the United States of America’s democracy resembles that of Greek’s.

One of the most well known contributors to math from Greece would be Archimedes. He

accurately measure pi, an unbelievable feat for someone in that time period and without the technology we have today. Archimedes made many contributions to math and physics, but he was not the only one. According to the textbook, Euclid, a highly regarded mathematician, made many contributions, one being his book called Elements, containing “465 carefully presented geometry propositions and proofs.” One of his propositions was, “If two straight lines cut one another, the vertical, or opposite, angles shall be congruent (equal).” Euclid’s work is still the basis for geometry. An Alexandrian scholar named Eratosthenes also influenced mathematics in the west. He computed the Earth’s circumference at 28,000 to 29,000 miles while modern measurements put the circumference at 24,860. This may seem like the estimation was far off, but with the tools available at that time, this estimation was incredible. The mathematicians of Greece made inconceivable discoveries and contributions to the Western Civilization.
Ancient Greece is actually where philosophy started.

One of the first philosophers was Socrates who once said, “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.” He encouraged his students to examine their beliefs, causing people to realize they held many contradictory opinions and his teaching method became known as the “Socratic method.” The textbook stated that at about age 70, Socrates was brought to court for “corrupting the youth of Athens,” and “neglecting the city’s gods.” Those who understood Socrates admired him deeply, but the majority of people at that time didn’t, causing him to be put to death. However, one of his students, Plato, continued his teacher’s legacy and wrote his most famous work, The Republic, which depicted his version of a perfected governed city. This vision was not a democracy, but of a society in which the citizens naturally fell into the 4 categories of farmers, artisans, warriors, and the ruling class, which include the most intellectual. Plato also founded a school in 387 B.C. called the Academy where Aristotle was taught. Aristotle was another great philosopher and is said to have once argued, “He who studies how things originated… will achieve the clearest view of them.” The Greeks were the beginning of philosophy and made many long-lasting contributions that still affect the Western Civilization

today.
The democracy Americans know today was actually based on the democracy of Ancient Greece in Athens.

In Athens, democracy was created as a government ruled by the people, for the people, the same way the U.S.’s government was created. It was also influenced by the three branches of government, legislative, executive, and judicial, and adopted that into their government. In Athens, there were even juries during court cases. One of the most important things about the democracy of Athens was how even the poorest man could be in office and be part of the government. In the U.S., this is also true and further proves how it strives to be the a more free government. The United States’s government has changed over time, but it still is very similar to the democracy of Athens and it is obvious how much the U.S. was influenced by it.

Therefore, the Greeks contributed to Western Civilization in many ways. They contributed with great minds like Archimedes and Euclid with math and physics. They also influenced the United States’s government and Western Civilization’s architecture. Thirdly, they were the beginning of philosophy. The Greeks did unimaginable things and influenced many common things such as theater. They even started one of the biggest events known world-wide, the Olympic

Games.