Greek Sculptors

1. Art (Parthenon, sculptures of Phidias, etc., source of inspiration for Roman and all sorts of sub. art)
The Greeks excelled in sculpture. Their works are impressive for their handling of human anatomy, and details like hair and clothing. They are also impressive for their handling of motion (cf. "Discobolus), and for capturing a wide range of human emotions and moods. Some sculptures are comic, others very serious. The Greeks sculptors could inspire patriotism and the love of liberty--and some of the subtleties of individual personality and character. Greek sculpture inspired the Romans and (indirectly) the great sculptors of the Renaissance. One tribute to how much one could learn from such works came from Rodin, one of the finest
First of all, it is impressive because it moves beyond the mere chronicling of events (something that had been done before) and attempts to explain why certain events happen and what those events means: what lessons we can learn from history. Herodotus talks about the various forces that affect human lives, noting the forces we can change and those we cannot. He also is impressive for his broad view of the historian's task. He talks, not just about wars and battles, but about religion, family relationships, etc. Herodotus might be considered, not just the father of history, but the father of cultural anthropology as well. Herodotus attitude toward other cultures is an important example of what Western civilization gets from the Greeks. Rather than viewing other cultures as "wrong" when they did things differently than the Greeks, Herodotus sees much to admire and imitate in other cultures. But Herodotus is no cultural relativist: he sees that other cultures can be negative examples as
5. Poetry
In poetry too, the Greek had a lasting influence. When we analyze poetry today, we use Greek words (iamb, dactyl, trochee, etc.). Why? Because the Greeks were the first to systematically analyze poetry. Here too Aristotle is a key figure. His "Poetics" is as influential in literary criticism as his "Politics" is in political science.

Not only did the Greeks give us better tools for analyzing poetry, they give us some of our finest poets. Among the greatest and most influential of epic poems are the two great poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Odyssey is still much read in high school and college classes today, and the Homeric heroes are still portrayed in our movies. But Homer not only told exciting stories, he dealt with universal human themes. The Iliad, for instance, explores the theme of anger, and the destruction effect of hanging on to our anger. One sees the influence of Homer on many, many subsequent writers--from Virgil and his Aeneid in the Roman World to James Joyce and his Ulysses in the 20th