Modern Life Influenced by Greeks and Romans

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Could you imagine life in the United States today without concepts like democracy, libraries, the alphabet, art, philosophy, mathematics and certain architectural features? (Anonemuss, 2010) Everyday life would be completely changed without these innovations as well as many others. So where did we get these ideas from first? Well it dates back to the Greeks and Romans. Many aspects of modern life have been influenced from their cultures, ideas and inventions. Then there is also the question whether classical Greece or classical Rome influenced the contemporary United States more. In my opinion Classical Greece has had more of an impact on our lives. In fact it had been stated that the Greeks are considered the first group of people from ancient civilization in which our society feels like they can connect and relate t. (Kreis, 2000) So what is the Classical era? The Classical Greece era dates back to 500-323 BCE and was considered to be the period of maturity, discovery and achievement. During this era Athens was governed by a democratic government, there came a more rational approach to exploring and explaining the world and the Greeks took art to a more realistic and humanistic approach for the first time. (Sakoulas, 2002) During the Classical era the culture was based on a blend of their old culture and the new. The old being based upon religious beliefs while the new happen largely in part due to trade routes. Trade routes helped to bring men from different areas and cultures into Athens. This allowed Athens to become a sort of “melting pot” and allowed for great economic growth. From this sprouted things like the production of dramas, comedies, plays and artists. As stated by Steven Kreis “The Athenian d... ... middle of paper ... ...ws the transition from archaic to the classical period. The Roman’s continued with a more realistic style with such statues as Aristocrat with Ancestors and Marcus Aurelius. In wall paintings at Pompeii the artists used great color and realism on the people’s faces. Works Cited Anonemuss. (2010, May 08). Greek influences today. Retrieved from: http://anonemuss.hubpages.com/hub/Greek-Influences-today Damerow, H. (2006, May). Retrieved from: http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/romans.htm Kreis, S. (2000). Lecture 7 Classical Greece, 500-323bc. Retrieved from: http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture7b.html Sakoulas, Thomas. (2002). History of Greece: Classical Greece. Ancient-Greece.org. [3/13/2014] < http://www.ancient-greece.org/history/classical.html>. Roman society, roman life. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.roman- empire.net/society/society.html

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