Ancient Greece Research Paper

Ancient Greece became a very influential civilization. Founded by the Minoans who first moved to the island of Crete in around 2000 B.C and lasted to about 1400 B.C. The Minoans developed an advanced civilization and expressed their culture in their constructed palaces. Great monuments were reached at Greece’s Golden Age from around 500 B.C to 300 B.C. They created long lasting contributions in subjects such as Philosophy, Military, Health, and Government.

The most distinctive feature of Greek political culture lay in the extent of popular participation in political life that occurred within the city-states. This participation was based on the unique ideas of “citizenship,” of free people running the affairs of state, and of equality for all citizens before the law. Political participation in Greek city-states was much wider than in Persia, but it varied considerably between city-states and over time. Early in Greek history, only the wealthy and wellborn had the rights of full citizenship, but middle- and lower-class men gradually obtained these rights in some city-states.

The Greek Civilization was one of the greatest ancient civilizations to spring up. Though it faced many trials and tribulations, the ancient Greeks were a center of trade, economic development, and technological advancements. The success of the Greeks to construct such a flourishing culture was largely due to the area in which their civilization was located.

When people wonder about Ancient Greece the first thing that comes to their minds is Greek mythology; gods and goddesses that have helped shape many historical events. “In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life.” (“Greek Mythology.”) The civilization showed that numerous characters and stories helped shape Greeks. The beliefs the Greeks had with mythologies was they understood the meaning behind all the characters that are known today. However, to the Greeks, they were not just characters, these were their gods and goddesses who gave them meaning and understanding of the world around them. Worshiping the gods and goddesses helped them with their religious rituals and the temperament of the weather. A famous wine-jar that was made during this time period was “Achilles killing the Amazon Queen Penthesilea, 540-530 BCE, black-figured amphora”. (Khan Academy) The civilization that they lived in grew around their worship and achievements.

In the period known as classical Greece in the years 800-323 BCE, Greece comprised of small city states (poleis) which were considered and operated as independent small countries. Amongst those city states Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and considered in Greek history as the most influential states to western civilisation. These two city states shared some common characteristics whilst in some instances they were very different from each other. Sparta and Athens had differences and similarities in the way they governed their city states, in how they established their military forces, how they treated women, their marriage customs and social gatherings

The years within 600 B.C.E to 600 C.E are often referred to as the Classical Age. For a society to be considered classical, parts of their followings have to be in use in present day societies. Civilizations during this period developed various religions, cultures, and institutions that have left a lasting impact on the present day world. Classical societies were usually well organized, and powerful in their time. Greece was one of several classical societies during this period, and many aspects of Greece still influence present day societies.

Socrates and Aristotle were both Greek philosophers who contributed philosophies. Socrates believed that all people contained real knowledge within them and that self critical examination was needed to bring this knowledge out. Socrates once stated, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” In this philosophical idea, Socrates is suggesting that an individual, who chooses to not think about their own actions, does not truly care about their own life. Aristotle believed in the concept of examining individual objects and being able to perceive their form and establish universal principles. These principles did not exist as a separate higher world of reality beyond material things, but were apart of things themselves. Aristotle has

There are different forms of government adopted by the ancient civilization of Greece. They were monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. However, among those mentioned--only four of them actually written in the history, where the ancient inhabitants of Greece had used and applied. However, the primary purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast these different forms of government.

From the struggles the people who lived in Ancient Greece had to face to the positives, geography has always had a great influence on Greece and how the people there survived. Two big positives being the climate which was perfect for growing valuable olive trees and another positive being the seas that surrounded Greece and allowed the Greeks to trade and help them in many other ways. Two big negatives being the rocky, mountainous terrain and another negative being the common volcano eruptions and earthquakes. Although Ancient Greece had its negatives so does every country and it were these pros and cons that helped the Greeks develop essential survival skills.

The expanse of time that the term “Ancient Greece” defines is all the way from around 7,250 BCE when the first evidence of burial sites were discovered in Argolid, Greece, during the Mesolithic Period, to around the year 30 BCE when Cleopatra died in Alexandra, Egypt (1). That is the better part of 7,200 years. Trying to fit all of that information into five to seven pages would be nearly impossible. That is why I will be focusing on the Classical Era of Greece which spans from about 500 BCE to around 320 BCE. During this time in Greece there were many conflicts and wars, but there was also much growth in the cultural aspects of their society.

Discuss the importance of the polis in ancient Greek life, using Athens as an example. Trace the development of democracy in ancient Athens.

The era between 350 and 310 BC marked a dramatic change in the Western World from the first, classical Hellenic Age of the Greeks, to the second, Hellenistic Age of the Greek Civilization. This classical period was considered the height of Greek civilization and deemed “The Golden Age” of ancient Greece. The polis (Greek city-state) was the center of Greek political life for the majority of this period. The poleis were small, independent, and self-sufficient; however, too politically divided to survive the blow of the Peloponnesian war. In 338 BC, Greece was concurred by Macedonia and the polis had lost their independence. “The abiding devotion to the polis […] greatly diminished during the fourth century” (Perry 45). The mentality of Greek citizens changed because of their defeat; they were now an individualistic, rational and secular society. People were no longer viewing the law as “an expression of sacred traditions ordained by the gods” but now saw it as merely mortal, obedience to the law faded, leading to a weakened society (Perry 46). The pride and duty of the polis mentality dwindled and emotional and political ties to the city weakened. Subsequently, Alexander the Great’s conquests, in 330 BC, moved the Greek civilization beyond the polis, to the Near East. For the first time, Greeks had to define their existence as part of a much bigger, more complex and alienating world. The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC marked the end of the Hellenic age and the

and opinions about life each and every day. Various gods ruled these different city states.

Very few civilizations have had as profound an influence on the world as those of ancient Greece. The Greeks laid the foundations for fields varying from philosophy to political theory to war tactics. However, this influence was not just due to their intelligence or success, but their widespread presence in the Mediterranean. Greek culture was spread throughout their known world in two distinct manners, the foundation of apoikia in the Archaic Age (8th century to 500 B.C. ) and imperialists by poleis, primarily Athens of the Classical Age (490 - 323 B.C ). Though the culture of a mother city (mētropolis) may have spread through two very different manners of “colonization.” The word is not used in the literal sense, but rather hereafter used to mean “spreading of culture”, as the former can hardly be described using the contemporary definition of colonization and the latter was through Athenian empire-building. These developments had a significant impact on ancient Greece and our modern perception thereof. Like most of the ancient world, we can best analyze these methods of colonialism through extant artifacts. I will analyze an inscription of the foundation oath of Cyrene, which recounts the decision and manner in which the island of Thera sent its citizens to the form a new polis, and the fragments of the Lapis Primus, a marble monolith that documented tributes to Athens when the city was at the peak of its imperial age, evidencing the magnitude of their power and influence in the Greek region.

The Greece has tried various types of government, they know how to reform the systems and how to corrupt, grow, decline. The rule forms in the ancient Greek took extraordinarily diverse forms. This article will briefly describe the fifth forms of government in ancient Greece. That are monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.