Classical Greek Influence On Western Civilization

In the 5th and 4th centuries, the Classical Greek’s were developing ideas and forms that influenced the Western civilisations and societies. Religion, philosophy, arts and architecture, politics and law were the most important contributions of the Classical Greeks to the Western world . Since then, the Classical Greek’s concepts and methods have impacted the ideas and forms of the future generations.

The Classical Greece period, circa 500 BCE to c. 323 BCE, was when the Greek’s thoughts and lifestyle started evolving. The Greek’s were an extremely religious society. They had a polytheistic religion and their belief was that Gods were involved in every aspect of their daily life . As stated by Wim Den Boer in Aspects of Religion in Classical

Greece, the Greek’s portrayed Gods via animal forms,
the Artemis festival in Brauron, in which the goddess was taken as a bear and the maidens in her service were called "she-bears"; Poseidon as the horse, the bull; the he-goat, the snake as animal symbols of virility, male fertility, and therefore worshipped to insure the continuance of the community.
Sculptures in human forms also represented the deities. Gods and Goddesses were worshipped by the means of sacred objects such as Zeus’s lightning bolts. Since the Greek’s believed the deities to be a supernatural being, they utilized sacred objects and built temples to reinforce their beliefs that the divine existed. The Greeks attributed the suffering of humans and natural phenomena to the Gods therefore, to please the deities, animal sacrifices were offered at ceremonies and festivals. This ideology of the Greeks was hence integrated in the Western civilisation as evident in Rome who adopted the Greeks polytheistic religion. The Romans altered the deities name and accepted it as their own, for instance, the Greek god Zeus became known as Jupiter and the Greek Goddess Hera was befitted with the name Juno. These beliefs have also been passed down through generations and has been integrated in today’s society where polytheistic religion is still revered.
Philosophy was the reason Greek religion advanced from superstitious rituals to applying logic to the order of the world. The philosophers and the upper class Greeks thoughts on religion evolved and rationalism took root. The philosopher’s studied sciences, mathematics, medicine and cosmos from which they theorized that Gods were not to be held accountable for human suffering and natural phenomena’s. They believed philosophy was a practice of ethics, morality and was very fundamental and general. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle spread the philosophical and political ideas to the Greek and Western civilisation. While these philosophers’ belief in Gods were absolute, they ceased believing that deities were responsible for the suffering of human life. Plato and Aristotle both considered God to be their creator but they held firm in the beliefs that philosophers were in control and not the divine beings. Duiker and Speilvogel suggests these philosophers “…conceived of a rational method of inquiry that became important to modern science.” . Socrates, Plato and Aristotle introduced a new concept where society as a whole did not need to depend excessively on the deities, they were allowed to think and to rationalise. Thus this ideology influenced the Western world whereupon they too started questioning God, human principles and taught the civilians of the Western civilisation about mathematics, sciences and the universe. In today’s society, mathematics and science are a vital part of one’s life and taught from a very young age into adulthood.
In the Classical Period, the Greek Arts advanced into realism. Scenes from Greek mythology and everyday life were designed onto Greek pottery, they began experimenting with bronze sculptures that overtime was becoming more realistic due to the Greek’s keen eye for proportion and carving expressions on the faces of human forms was becoming a trend for the Roman and Western civilisation. Also invented in Classical Greece were the architectural structures which included the Contrapposto pose, where the statuette is portrayed with the torso turned slightly and placing most of the weight on one leg which makes the figure seem both dynamic and relaxed. During the Renaissance, Michelangelo incorporated this stance in the famous sculpture, David. The Corinthian columns were architectural structures which featured friezes (carvings of Gods, musicians, soldiers, weavers, elders, heroes) and were combined in temple designs. The Art of the Classical Greece era inspired the Western civilisation to adopt the Greek’s techniques and thus spread far and wide and continues to inspire countless artists today.
Democracy is a shared rule where majority of the people vote in some and/or all decisions.

Politics progressed from a Monarchy rule (tribal king) to a democratic rule in Athens and thereafter advanced to other city states or polis. The Athenians perception of democracy was that reason was the basis of law. Athens had a limited democracy rule where democracy only applied to men who were a citizen of the polis, possess wealth and had to have a military background, but there were restrictions placed on women and slaves who were to be dictated. To vote a ostraki, pottery pieces, were placed in a vase from which public officers and juries were elected and they assembled at the Pnyx, an open air setting, to discuss and vote on matters. This gave them the illusion of power as while the citizens may have voted, the public officers and juries could influence the votes in their favour as they were still in the position of power. The citizens could have been persuaded and/or manipulated by false promises and be lured in a false sense of security that the juries and officers would do right by them. Nonetheless democracy began to spread to the Western world as democracy applied reason to the regime and thus democratic rule was established. The method of voting and assembling is even now visible in the 21st century such as the United States of America which has a democratic

rule.
The first law was recorded by Draco in constitution of Athens circa 633 or 621 BCE.

He became known as ‘the first recorder of legislations in Athens’. In his legislations, Draco supplanted that oral law and blood feud were to be replaced with a written law that could only be enforced by the court of law. But Dracos’ law was strict and unforgiving. There is very little information provided about Draco but presumptions are that he may have been of the Greek nobility of Attica and was labelled as contemptuous in the 10th century. Dracos’ codes were preserved for nearly two centuries on wooden tablets called axons and were written on steles in the form of three-sided pyramids. The laws were written so that the literate citizens would not be excluded. The law introduced the difference between murder and involuntary homicide. In 409 BCE, Athens altered their laws. Families of homicide victims were given the chance to prosecute the killers and those who unintentionally committed homicide were forced into exile. The Council of 400, a council of nobles, that evolved and was integrated into Athenian democracy was also introduced by Draco. Since this form of law set the foundation for justice, allowed citizens a more structured and controlled set of rules, they became practiced in the Western civilisation. The 21st century court of law has also adapted to Dracos legislation and hence the law is enforced by the court where homicides and unintentional homicides cases are still

presented.
Religion, philosophy, arts and architecture, politics and law were the Classical Greeks most important contribution to the Western civilisation and from there onwards it continued to spread through time and into the 21st century. These ideas have helped shape the world and the society into what it is today. These ideologies and methods have evolved the world and would continue to evolve and change the world for the better.