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Greek Influence On Society

Decent Essays

As a child I have always been fascinated with the history and influence of Greece. When I first learned about the Olympics and how it derived from ancient Greek times, I couldn’t believe that these types of sports were still being played in today’s society. When the move 300 first came out in 2006, it just motivated me to learn more and more about the conflict during those times. Even during my eighth-grade western civics class when we discussed the structure of the United States government and democracy of Greece, it finally clicked that the Greek culture has had a huge impact in today’s modern culture. First of all, the Greek influence is not just limited to politics but also in Art, philosophy, mathematics, and even modern science.
Greek …show more content…

From the neoclassical which was a form of capturing the human form and shaped how we today have a more realistic perspective on the human form. Additionally, from capturing the human form in sculptures, came the rise of portraits in art from painting, sculpting and even photography. “The practice of creating a portrait to honor an individual carries on to the present day” ("Classical Connections”). Following the Neoclassical art movement and the influence of Greek art in modern times came the influence of working with glass. For example, the “knobbed Warzenglas, or "wart glass," is a 17th-century example of mold-formed glass” (“Classical Connections”), which is still being practice in today’s everyday glasses that we may purchase a …show more content…

Even though the United States is considered by a vast majority as a Democratic type of government, the system is based on the Greek influence of Democracy but is a Republic country. The influence of ancient Greece plays a key role on how our government in the United States formed and works. Much like ancient Greece, today’s United States government is also divided into different branches; the executive, legislative and the judicial. Ancient Greek movement structure was divided into “Ekklesia, which was similar to the legislative, or law-making branch, the Boule, which resembled the executive, or law-enforcing branch, and the Dikasteria, a rough equivalent of the judicial branch” (Harmon). But one of the main differences between what we know as the Legislative branch and the Ekklesia, is that within the Legislative branch the Congressional Legislative is made up of elected senators and representatives from every state. Unlike the Ekklesia, which “during the 40 annual meetings of the Ekklesia, any of the roughly 40,000 male citizens of Athens was allowed to appear and participate” (Harmon). This also limited females to not be citizens in Greece, only males unlike in today where both females and males can participate in

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