Western Civilizations: Connections Between Cultures

Kelsie Dodd

Western Civilization I

Mr. Wright

November 29, 2016

Connections Between Cultures Where did we begin as a culture? This may be a question people who study history and culture may ask. They answer is hidden within the past cultures. Many of today’s customs differ from that of other cultures, but where did our ideas come from? We look to other past cultures for answers and find them. We even find them within Greek society and High Middle Age society. Between 3000 B.C.E and 338 B.C.E Greek society began to rise. The Greeks settled the Greek peninsula, islands of the Aegean Sea, and the Aegean basin. Because of Greece’s geographical fragmentation, there was also fragmentation in their politics and communication between

Some of these customs followed different cultures throughout history even up until the High Middle Ages, about 1000-1300. The government at this time was ran as a monarchy. Most of Europe was separated into kingdoms that were run by some form of monarchy, usually a king, sometimes a queen and then handed down to a successor, usually a son or daughter. Many of these kingdoms still had the marketplace and public square just as Greek society had, although no longer keeping the Greek terms. Most kingdoms did not have a raised area like Greek cities did, and most religions in this period of time were monotheistic, meaning they only believed in one God instead of worshipping multiple gods. Communication between the kingdoms were better off than that of Greece as they began developing make-shift roads instead of just trails and paths. Many people in Europe lived as peasants in smaller villages and didn't travel very far. A class system was created within these kingdoms, and most people who worked the lands were considered peasants, although that does not make them slaves. In fact, slaves began dwindling in the High Middle Ages. Most people in

People engaged in rituals and used language heavy with religious symbolism daily. Even as customs evolve to fit into the new time period and work with the new cultures they still are around, even today. In today's society, we use a democracy form of government, which is something we have borrowed from the Greek culture. While it is not exactly as it was then, it is still based around the "power to the people" which is the basis of democracy, even back then. We still have public squares and market places just as both Greek and High Middle Age cultures did, and while these public squares and market places are probably not set up exactly as they were now, the general idea of using these places for different forms of events and activities, such as giving out messages/speeches, and using it as a way to make money within the society. We have kept Christianity within our culture for many years, and we still have very many religious events, but now we are more diverse and have more than just Christianity. We home nearly all religions, and allow them to express their religious beliefs. We, as a society, no longer have slaves, or serfs, but we do have poor people, as every culture does, and we also have higher class people who have enough money to survive