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Greece Is The Center Of Western Civilization

Satisfactory Essays

South Eugene High School

Classical Greece
A True Civilization

Joshua Soifer and Remy Dunn
Eurasian History
Mr. Yamada
October 6 2017

As the politician and bishop Stephen Gardiner once claimed, “The center of Western culture is Greece, and we have never lost our ties with the architectural concepts of that ancient civilization”. In many ways, through their academic pursuits, philosophical ideologies, or advanced trade systems, Ancient Greek culture has proven to be the foundation for Western culture. Ancient Greece was not only civilized, but exemplifies the standards of civilization to this day. Its pursuits of technology, mathematics, philosophy and politics all serve as the basis for Western thought, while …show more content…

Greek philosophers are also considered to have been the founders and leaders of Western philosophy. The first of the major Greek philosophers, Socrates, became a public teacher to the Athenian public. He taught using the Socratic Method, which comprised of teaching others through leading them to question all that they were taught, and formulate their own logical opinions on the subject (Moulton 58). He taught until his death, when the Athenian public convicted him of impiety, and he was killed by way of hemlock poisoning (“Socrates”). His student, Plato, wrote “The Republic” which seeks to discuss Plato’s values and ideology through a telling of, primarily, a conversation in which Socrates takes the leading part. Plato also opened the Academy, where he taught students for much of his life, and which remained open for 1000 years after his death (“Plato”). The last of the main trio of Greek philosophers was Aristotle, a student of Plato. Aristotle established the theory of the syllogism, which is a crucial point in logical theory to this day. Aristotle also later served as advisor and teacher to Alexander the Great (“Aristotle”). Greece also developed many aspects of government, including democracy, clearly showing their attainment of complex institutions. The Athenian Assembly was one of the first true democracies, in which all Athenian citizens had a say in the matters pertaining to

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