Modern Day Culture: The Golden Age Of Greece

The Golden Age is considered the pinnacle of Greece as a nation and a society. It was the highest point of wealth and prosperity in Greeces history and therefore the happiest of times. This period was also the peak of Grecian art, writings, sculpture, theatre, and architecture. The Golden Age is credited with forming the modern day stereotype of what Grecian life was like. The Greeks greatly influenced modern day culture through the establishment of a standard of living for society. The Greeks further established a model government that, despite many wars, functioned fairly well without dispute from the people.

The Golden Age of Greece began around 500 BC and lasted until approximately 300 BC. Directly prior to the beginning of this age, Greece
had just finished fighting a war against Persia. Although the Greeks won this war, they were the victors only by a small margin. This small margin revealed to many of the empowered Grecian people that Greece needed to be a united nation, not an assembly of independent city states.
Greece then began the complicated process of unifying itself into a single nation. Athens set up the Delian League to aid in this process.

The two most well known city states of this time were Athens and Sparta. (ahistoryofgreece.com) These two cities were responsible for bringing Greece to its pinnacle as a society. Athens in general was the stereotypically more refined and sophisticated city state of the two. The Athenian society put great emphasis on the humanities and the arts. Sparta, on the other hand, favored the individual for his athletic ability and for his greatness as a warrior. Sparta, as a whole, was a very warlike and militaristic society. The Spartans formed the backbone of the Grecian Army and were the go-to guys when war broke out. Together, these two city states set the precedent for modern day standards of living, as well as established many laws that form the basis of modern legal systems today. (ahistoryofgreece.com)Grecian art, as we think of it today, made significant developments during Greeces Golden Age. The art of Ancient Greece is divided into four
distinct periods: the Geometric, the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic period. Although much is known about ancient Greek art, little is known about the archaic period, in particular. (www.civilization.ca)Although we know from written sources that the Greeks painted pictures from the Bronze Age through to the Roman conquest and beyond, most of them have been destroyed. It may seem strange that more of the older paintings survived than the more recent ones. This is because some of the Bronze Age paintings were buried by volcanoes (as at Pompeii) and others were buried by earthquakes, and so they were not destroyed and archaeologists were able to dig them up. (Carr, Greek Painting)The only difference between the Geometric period and the rest of the artistic periods is that marble sculpture had not yet been developed. Otherwise, this period was exactly the same as the others. The Classical period, however, is the high renaissance of Greek art. A large revolution came about in Greek thought, which influenced the arts causing a massive deviation from previous forms of art. The individual, his abilities, and his accomplishments became the focus of Greek art. The popularity of sculpture exploded during this time period, especially sculpture of the human form. Sculpture also became more three dimensionally oriented during this period. Sculptors realized that sculptures should be able to be seen from all sides, not just one. This is the point at which statues caught on with sculptors. Unfortunately, few of the amazing works created by these sculptors survived for our generation to enjoy. The main reason behind this is that most of the sculptures produced during this time period were made of limestone or marble. These particular stones can be burned to produce lime, which is used to make cement. During the Middle Ages, Greek sculptures were considered worthless and most were burned to produce lime. (historyforkides.com) The cement was then used to construct the towns and castles of the Middle Ages. Today, almost all the large Greek archaeological sites can be found with lime kilns at their centers.

Theatre during the Golden Age was a great affair.
Many well known and popular plays were written during this time period by playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, and Aeschylus. Most Greek plays were tragedies such as the Oresteia and Antigone. One of the most well known theaters in Athens is the Theater of Dionysus. This theatre, like so many other Greek theatres, used architecturally applied sciences and math to achieve acoustics. This acoustic achievement allowed everyone in the theater to hear the performance as if they were standing next to it. The Greeks creatively worked wonders such as this time and again with their architecture. (historyforkides.com) One particularly impressive example of their creativity was reflected in convex shape of the stairs leading up to the Parthenon, which made the stairs appear perfectly flat from a distance. Little is understood about how the Greeks were able to perform such complex architectural feats, yet these master architects repeatedly performed their
wonders.

Clearly, the high golden age of Greece was a time of great improvement in Greek society and effectively created modern culture. Without this crucial time period, society as we have come to know it through the years and as we know it today, would likely differ vastly were it not for the brilliant Greeks who set the tone.

Works Cited1.Barrett, Matt. "Golden Age of Greece." A History of Greece. 5 Mar. 2009.

< http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Main_Page/>2."Greece, Secrets of the Past." Canadian Museum of Civilization. 7 Apr. 2006. Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. 5 Mar. 2009.

< http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/greece/gr1010e.shtml>3.Carr, Karen. "Greek Painting." www.historyforkides.org. 26 Feb. 2009. Portland State University. 17 Mar. 2009 .