Ancient Greek: Influential to Western Civilization

Ancient Greeks made many influential contributions to Western civilization such as fine arts, democracy, and philosophy. This culture has had a very profound impact on the way people live today. Among the many aspects of Greek culture that have influenced Western Civilization, the most notable would be philosophy. Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato are some of the most well known philosophers ever. They encouraged learning and logical reasoning. Socrates urged his students to question and critically examine all around them(Doc.2). This allowed people to open their eyes and learn right from wrong; gain some sense of the purpose of life on earth. This allowed the Western civilization to widely adapt. Fine arts had also affected western civilization. The Parthenon, the most famous temple in classical Greece, stands in magnificence at the top of the Acropolis in Athens and is a masterpiece of illusion of straightness. These concepts of perspective and illusion in architecture did no appear again in western art until the Renaissance, another thousand years later(Doc.1).The Greeks also had many plays. The most successful Greek dramatist of the fourth century was Athenian. His plots revolved around the often humorous domestic drama of everyday life.(Doc 4). That Ancient Greeks affected Western civilization through politics. They had been the first known in having democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences. Our government extends also to ordinary life, stated Pericles (Doc.3). Most of the western civilization, like the United States began using democratic theories that were very similar to the Ancient Athenians theories because of the Ancient Greeks.. Western civilization was shaped and largely based on democracy, fine arts, and philosophy. Greece has contributed so much to Western civilization. It slowed them how to learn and grow from other cultures. This was known as cultural diffusion and helped the Western