Greek Idealism In Greek Culture

The ancient Greeks believed in a strong mind and a strong body. Their celebration of the physical beauty and ability of the human body can be seen in their sculpture, writings, and sporting events. The physical beauty of the human body is shown in the marble sculpture “Kraisos” (Benton and DiYanni 64). The sculpture shows a male with a defined muscular mid-section, broad shoulders, and thick legs. There is more detail and a more natural appearance in this sculpture compared to a similar statue from approximately 60 years earlier. The face of the sculpture is realistic and the left foot is forward, as seen in Egyptian sculpture. The art of thought was established by the philosophers of ancient

Theater in ancient Greece was considered the climax of the days long cultural festival of The City Dionysia. At the festival, various types of plays were shown but one of the most popular was tragedy. These tragedies show the main character, usually a god or person of myth, going through human suffering and the terrible sequence of events that followed; and were produced in 472- 401 BCE. In order for a play to be performed at The City Dionysia festival; tragic playwrights would first have to appeal to the state official that was organizing the festival by submitting ideas to him and his committee. The ideas submitted were outlines of main themes and points of interest to be performed in the play. If a playwright was selected by the state official and his committee, then they received a financial backer and a chance to compete in the drama competition of the festival. The state official, or his committee, was likely pushing their own agenda and choose playwrights that matched their ideals. This is just one example of how theater in ancient Greece was used to influence the morality of Greek culture by using the stories of tragedies, like those of Euripides.

According to the "Idealism in Greek Art" written by Percy Gardner, he mentions that with the growth of naturalism in Greek sculpture, they have a of idealism of Greek. However whereas naturalism grows steadily and has no sets-back, Greek idealism have more influence on social and political conditions. (Gardner 420) The society of ancient Greek was based on a

The “love of wisdom”, or study of philosophy was possible in the open society of Greece.

Over the course of history there have been several attempts at defining what it means to be the ideal person, and by extension how to create an ideal society. In doing so, several characteristics are generally defined, some of which are courage, moderation and self control. The concept of courage has been fluid in its meaning but has been highly valued across ancient Greece. In this paper I will be observing two societies and the ideals that they hold for generating better people, as well as what values they would want to instil. One city is theoretical, and one real: Kallipolis, Socrates’ economic city, the city that would essentially be the opposite of Athens if it were established, and Sparta.

One of the basic themes of the book is that the thought and the art of classical Athens is full of meaning for people of later generations. It is the full of meaning for nations, cultures and societies beset by broad-scale and profound social and political change and the accompanying confusion and fear produced in the minds and souls of human beings.

This paperwork examines how the differences amongst the Hellenic along with the Hellenistic ages might appear in the artistic r cultural production of every era. The ideas presented in this article bases its focus on the Ancient period such as Ancient Greeks. Besides, the report also focuses on studying the impact that Hellenic had on other times like the medieval period, the Renaissance, together with modern times in appearing in the cultural production of each era. The presentation has the principal objective of examining the differences between the Hellenic or classical ages and the Hellenistic ages (Cicarma, 2014). This paperwork focuses on how the differences in these two generations influence daily lives of people in the society. Besides, the illustrations on this article examine how the differences between the ages reflected in the literature, art, art philosophy of the two periods. The paper shows how the shift from Hellenic together Hellenistic era represents the changes from the civilization dominated by ethnic Greeks. It, however, illustrates that scattered geographically to the culture are disseminated by natives and speakers of Greek of whatever ethnicity and from the dominance of political issues in the city-state to that of larger monarchies (Holladay, 2011). This presentation remains constrained in degree to Ancient culture between 510 BCE and 323 BCE, a period that alludes to as Classical Greece.

Ancient Greek stands in an important position in the art history. Classical and Hellenistic period are the most impressive periods of Greece. There are many values of Greek 's culture become the fundamental principle of today 's civilization especially for the weatern society. Greeks created the concept of democracy and make a huge contributions in the fields of science, literature and art. Moreover, the Greeks also imagined their gods into humans and their humans into gods. The Greek ideal is to become a perfect individual and the representation of attractive human beings. It became the focus of the artists in Greek. Greek ideal is one of the most important cultures of Greece and it has a great influence of Greek religion, philosophy and society. The art work of Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic Period have proved that Greek has achieved their lofty goals in many aspects of their civilization.

The Greeks used Hesiod’s Theogony and various hero myths to explain and conceptualise the world around them, both internally, and externally. If we explore the ways in which the Greeks understood themselves, and how they play a part in the world socially, the internal importance of these texts become quite obvious. It instructs the Greeks how to live their lives, in doing so, the texts construct a guideline for them to follow; establishing rules and highlighting characteristics which are to be assumed by the Greeks to fit in with their presupposed role. However, a dichotomy occurs in the way these texts are used, in that, while it explained the world internally, it coincides with the external explanations of the fundamental nature, and metaphysical reality of the world in which they live. By analysing fragments from the pre-Socratics, we can see how important the Theogony was in fuelling this new mode of thinking, which would later result in an aspect completely distinctive of the Greek mind.

For this report, I will write a reflection concerning society in ancient Greece. I will include information pertaining to the lives of those who lived in ancient Greece and what their daily lives consisted of. Social issues and political philosophy will also be discussed along with other material that is considered significant to ancient Greek society. This concludes my introduction. When did Ancient Greece exactly flourish and how?

Around 1200 A.D, a group of people began to read old Greek writings about philosophy. Soon, Greek philosophy was everywhere around Europe. Greek philosophy revolved around the ideas of human reason and logic. Despite the fact that Greek philosophical ideas opposed the church's teachings, many people began to get interested in it because it gave them support, unlike the church, during hard times. The concepts of human reason and logic suggested that humans had the capacity of making sense of things, analyzing them, and finding a reasonable solution. The reason why Greek philosophy was accepted so quickly was because of the desperation

It is any wonder that excellence has been termed the “instinct of the Greek race” or that it is discussed in the earliest literature of that ancient civilization? Plato gave much thought to it, as did Homer and most other authors. The ideal of achieving excellence was the very cornerstone of ancient Hellenic society” (Johnston page 37). The meaning and implications of the statement, “Arete also had the power to broaden perspective so that narrowness and provincialism vanished." This statement states that,” Unlike most societies, which are afflicted by the” prison of the tribal, and the intellectual tyranny of the contemporary,” ancient Geeks saw life as life with all of its diversities, dimensions, and complexities” (Johnston page

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.

Throughout the course of time, different civilizations across the world hold one thing in common by which a society or culture can be based upon or help influence the structure. The one common thing that has help a civilization grow throughout the period of time would be the formation of a religion. Religion is a center point for many societies throughout history. As the center for the different civilizations, it helped form their different traditions and customs. The same could be said about the people of ancient Greece, where religion or mythology played an important role in their lives as it was the pedestal of their culture and how they base their lives upon. The formation of a religion across the large number of regions of Greece, help the different locations mold themselves by the customs that were created from the adaptation. During what was known as Ancient Greece, the people would hear tales of the twelve Olympians and how their actions influence the world around them. Within this period of time for the people of Greece was that of growth, as they sought to bring new ideas into light as they exited from a dark period within their own history.

In 323 B.C., the Hellenic Humanistic civilization came to an end, and Hellenistic individualism was born. Hellenistic individualism was everything that Hellenic Greece was not. This new time period would be described as “Greekish” because it was not purely Greek in culture (Humanities, 83). Before the Individualistic era began, the civilization was united in language, philosophy and religion, having a strong historical impact that connected them. Hellenistic individualism was created in a time of loneliness and isolation. When the polis were replaced, individualism emerged, because people were searching for continuity, they were searching for identity through the individual (Humanities, 91). I will be contrasting the different viewpoints from Hellenic Age and the Hellenistic Age; focusing on the philosophy of Aristotle, the philosophy of Epicurus and the new art form.