Ancient Greece's Influence On Western Society

Ancient Greece has had a great impact on the society we live in today. A multitude of things seen every day can be traced back to Ancient Greece. Artistic styles and literature in Ancient Greece are the foundation of artistic styles and literature in Western Societies. Additionally, gods worshiped in Greece represented different traits and personalities which further contributed to the idea of individualism—a core idea in Western Societies such as America today. Political and educational systems in Greece are also similar to Western Societies. Greek societies influenced Western Societies in theater, literature, and politically in both positive and negative ways. Greece’s has multiple influences on all kinds of art. Dramatic performances are one example. In Greece, the theater was a beloved thing. In fact, every year a festival was hosted to see who had written the best play. Sophocles, who was a famous playwright introduced, a new and more innovative style of performing with three actors instead of two. He also incorporated changing scenery, a thing never done before. Adding a new actor to his plays allowed him to increase complexity in the plots. Today in Western Society, performances consist of multiple actors and have

In Greek society, male citizens were at the very top. As stated in the text, “the male citizen, with his full legal status, right to vote, hold public office, and own property...” (Cartwright, 1) Male citizens had the right to vote, own property, and hold public office. All of these rights were not offered to women in both Greek society and early Western Society. In both societies, “a woman’s place was in the home and her purpose in life was the rearing of children.” (Cartwright, 5) A women’s life consisted mostly of cooking, cleaning, and tending to her children and husband. Although this aspect of Greek society made in impact, it was not a very positive