Greece's Greatest Humanistic Achievements: The Greek Golden Age

Erudition, innovation, sophistication, every word and thousands more are associated with the name Greece. Steeped in complex lore, mythology, and history, it stands as a turning point in European culture. Its ideas and inventions are responsible for shaping many future events and turning the tide in science, art, and philosophy. At one time a group of city states, Greece was dominated by two centers a cultural one, Athens, and a military one, Sparta. Athens is probably best known for its playwrights, its philosophers, and the Acropolis. Sparta on the other hand is remembered as a military marvel where courage was the highest virtue. Legend tells that it had no walls for its best and only defense was its citizens’ valor

The Golden Age of Athens began around 460 BC and ended around 430 BC. It was the time of great achievements. This was flourishing, aton of our society can be traced back to the ancient greeks,. They made long lasting contributions is many places. Medicine, Government , and Philosophy were very important achievement that are used in society today.

The first permanent theatre structures in Rome were dedicated to the god Venus. It is not clear where the Roman got the plan for their theatre but the design was elaborate. The theaters had a stage house which were corridors that provided access to the orchestra area or auditorium. The pulpitum or stage was raised about five feet and had a curtain. The scanae frons was the method of scenery for Roman theatre.

Spartan’s Victory in the Peloponnesian War The Peloponnesian War marked the end of Athens’ Golden Age. After the Persian wars, Athens grew more powerful and tensions rose, escalating into nearly three decades of war. Athens was the catalyst but Sparta emerged victorious, while the constant fighting left Athens bankrupt, exhausted and demoralized. Neither city-state regained the military strength they once had.

As the Golden Age dawned, the autonomous poleis (city-states) that had formed in the preceding two to three centuries had set aside their differences and united to face the threat of invasion posed by the Persian Empire. Though vastly outnumbered, the Greeks had finally defeated the Persian armies in 480 BCE. In the years of peace that followed, the Greeks made significant advances in art, literature, science and philosophy, as pride and patriotism drove them to greater heights of creativity – and in Athens, an experiment with a new kind of government flourished under the statesman Pericles.

The most successful civilizations have experienced a time of peace and prosperity. This time is referred to by historians as a Golden Age. Two well-known Golden Ages include Greece and China during the Tang/Song dynasty. Both civilizations had many political, economical, and social achievements.

There are various facts or conditions which I believe the cause of the Athenian Golden Age nemesis, based on what I had learned from my readings. Among those conditions, is the assumption that their downfall is the direct result of what the Greeks call hubris (Canadian Museum, n.d). This is one of the circumstances that I want to emphasize and discuss in this week's Learning Journal.

The Peloponnesian War, 431-404 B.C., brought an end to the Golden Age of Athens. The Peloponnesian War was fueled by an intense rivalry between the two city states, Sparta and Athens, and was comprised of two smaller wars and one isolated expedition of expansion to Sicily. Spartans historically had always been the political, social and economic RIVALS /adversary of Athens, opposing their democratic and economic goals. The Spartans were politically apprehensive that Athenian culture prospered, for they had complete control over the Mediterranean Sea through the Delian League and were jealous of Athenian economic success. By 431 BC the Peloponnesian League, led by Sparta and its allies shifted the balance of power. The inevitable encountering clash with the Delian League, led by Athens and its allies. Even though the Peloponnesian War led to the demise of Greek civilization, it also lead to the diffusion and eventual social exchange of Athenians’ greatest accomplishments.

Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful city-states. They were similar in the way that they both feared revolt and civil war. But how they dealt with it was different. Sparta, concluded that the only ways to survive was to create a strong city state and they adopted a strong set of laws where boys had to leave for training at the age of 7 and stayed in the service for many years. Athens dealt with the fear of civil war by making timely reforms, creating a democracy. Sparta and Athens also differed in the way that Sparta may have had the strongest army in Greece, they lacked excitement of the mind and Athens educated people and raised them to act as free people. The Golden age came about after the Persians were finally driven out of

The Classic Age of Greece started in 500 B.C.E to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E during this time Greek city states united to go against the Persian Empire and because of that they defeated the Persians. After the war was over and they no longer needed each other, Greek city-states began fighting against one another. When the Greeks weren’t fighting off Persians they were fighting against each other. The two main city-states against each other were Athens and Sparta. The Athenians hated the Spartans so much they asked foreigners for help before even approaching the fellow Greeks. Political change heavily occurred when Athenian citizens made their city state government completely democratic, using the navy force to establish power over other Greeks. Meanwhile in 509 B.C.E the Roman Republic was founded. Rome’s greatest expansion was not during the empire but during the republic. It began with the legend of their first king Romulus. Romulus was known for commanding his men to kidnap and impregnate the Sabine women to create a larger population. Sabine men charged back attacking Rome to rescue their women. In the end they made peace and merged their population with that of Rome. This action displays an intermingling of cultures and peoples. Unlike Greek city-states, Rome expanded by venturing outside of their territory and intermingling with others whether peacefully or violently thus Rome’s relentless effort in expansion is what made them differ to the Greeks

There are many aspects that contribute to a classification of a golden age because of this, in this essay I want to focus on three aspects that can be analysed to discover whether the Hellenistic period of Greek history can be classified as a golden age. These three aspects I will be looking at are science, literature, and art since each form were influential and contributed to society.

Humanism, idealism, and rationalism were three predominant worldviews that were present in ancient civilizations. The ancient Greek civilization was heavily influenced with their strong association with their humanistic worldview. As the Greeks began to look at the world around them, mankind was the central focus. Sophocles illustrated this concept of humanism perfectly saying, “The world is full of wonders, but nothing is more wonderful than man” (Messner, Early Greeks). This statement proves the centrality man in Greek civilization, but this statement is not the only illustration of such a worldview. Ancient Greek humanism is evident in general history through Pericles’ Funeral Oration, Plato’s philosophy, and the centrality of man in art.

Agrippa, Augustus’ right-hand man, constructed this building as a temple to all the gods; however, a fire destroyed this temple in 80 CE and so Domitian built the reconstruction. The Pantheon we are familiar with has a significantly different design than the original one, and this is why this specific temple is so dislike to the rest of the Roman temples. Before it was burnt, the Pantheon stood in a podium at the end of a large rectangular court. The surroundings of this temple have changed in order to provide a unique experience to its visitors. For example, the temple has en enormous dome with a 27-foot oculus that opens to the sky. This oculus lets a shaft of light come through creating an emphasis wherever the reflection is. Visitors were driven nowhere but to the light at the center of the dome. This building was built for greeting foreign embassies, adjudicating disputes and hold court (Janson). Moreover, the Pantheon is extraordinary because of the potential and strength of concrete. Some other materials used in the process of building the temple include travertine, tufa, brick, and pumice. These materials varied in order to reduce its weight. The colored marble on the wall symbolized imperial authority. The sphere is though to symbolize eternity and perfection and the bronze panels symbolized a starry night sky.

Many aspects of ancient Greek theaters have long been studied and debated. Much of the information about these theaters is based on speculation due to the fact that so little of them still exist today. This lack of remnants especially applies to the architecture of the early Greek Theaters. However, through archeological finds and years of studying the people, the plays, and the architecture of the time, we are able to make many conclusions about these early structures.

Every idea has a start and a history that can be traced back in time. An incredible amount of these ideas and thoughts were started by great ancient civilizations. These ancient civilizations are the base of all modern knowledge. No ancient civilization has contributed more to this base than the civilization of Ancient Greece. The unique ways of ancient Greek agriculture have left a profound influence on the agriculture of today.