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Greek Influence On Western Civilization

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The start of Western civilization, the small country of Greece has had a long and truly eventful history. At one time Greece was a major center of science, philosophy, and art. Today they are a country with political and economic problems.
Geographical Landforms Greece has over 2,000 islands in the Mediterranean and Ionian seas. Only 170 of those islands are actually inhabited by people. These islands are grouped into the Northern Sporades, the Cyclades, the Dodecanese, and the Ionian islands. These islands happen to be dry and very rugged with mountainous terrain. In fact, over 80% of Greece is mountainous. The Pindus Mountains run north-south through the middle of the country forming the central terrain. The average elevation of the …show more content…

The people that lived inwards towards the mainland were called Helenes, and had great marine and military expeditions. They had explored the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, searching out as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Caucasus Mountains. One of these expeditions, the siege of Troy, had been narrated and it had also been one of the first literary works of Europe by Homer. Referred to as Homer Iliad. Numerous Greek settlements were founded throughout the Mediterranean, Asia Minor (which is now most of the Middle East) and the coast of North Africa. This was the result of Greeks traveling in search of new …show more content…

Government and Economics Greece, also known as Hellas, is the birthplace of politics and democracy as a form of government. It's democracy inspired, the frame of the US constitution. The present Greek Constitution, ( which was voted in 1975 and amended in 1986), defines the country's political system as a Parliamentary Democracy which is headed by a President.

Legislative powers are held up by a single Chamber Parliament (the Vouli) and executive powers are placed in the hands of the Government and the President. The Prime Minister, whose Government must enjoy the confidence of the House, has extensive powers. The judiciary is independent. Civil, political and human rights are constitutionally guaranteed. General elections for the 300 parliamentary seats are held every four years. The President of the Republic is elected by MP's and serves for a five year term, renewable only once. Mr. C. Stefanopoulos is the President of the Hellenic Republic and Mr. K. Simitis is the Prime Minister. Also, the National Flag of Greece consists of four white and five blue alternating horizontal stripes, with a white cross on the upper inner corner. Blue and white are the national colours of Greece. The country's commitment to the European Union enjoys overwhelming political

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During the eighteenth century and up until the nineteenth century, Greeks were under the control of the Ottoman Empire. It was during this time that nationalism and the idea that your people should have the best became really popular. Greeks in the Balkans and in Asia Minor decided to revolt against their rulers in March 1821, starting a nine-year war in search for their independence. When other European countries siding with them intervened, the Greeks finally gain their freedom. During the war, people formed opinions on the Greeks: some praised and sympathized with them while others didn’t.

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World History Paper BY:SABASTION FOSTER Rome, Greece, and England all had a big part in helping the development of democracy. Rome and Greece had the biggest influence on U.S democracy, But Greece had the biggest influence in democracy by just having the idea of demokratia “rule by the people.” Greece was the biggest influence on democracy by staring the idea of demokratia “rule of people” in 507 B.C. and had the first manarchy that was almost the president back then. They splitted up into three institutions which was Ekklesia, who wrought laws, Boule were representative and dikasteria court.

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The Polis centered Greece had started on their culture, civilization ideas, politics, and warfare. The Polis in Greece main idea was based on self-sufficiency. The politics were put ideas as citizenship over kin & tribe which then wider citizenry develops over time. The Polis was cheaper to arm oneself and voice of people tied to an ability to defend the community. The Polies needed commerce, wealth for a state to ensure enough citizens can

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94 Words | 1 Pages

Geography had a major impact on Greece's economy. Greece was mountainous, largely infertile and surrounded by the sea. The barren landscape and easy access to maritime trade routes caused the people of Greece to become traders, merchants and fisherman. As Alan Bresson states in The Making of the Ancient Greek Economy, Greece's “commercial calling was virtually imposed by its geography” (p. 379). The landscape of Greece also made travel difficult, this caused the city states of Greece to form their own separate economies.

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Ancient Greece is a land consisting of many city-states, called poleis. Each polis had its own government, set of laws, rulers, and customs. Two of the most famous and influential city-states were Sparta and Athens. Sparta is better than Athens because their army was powerful and protective, girls received some education and women had more freedom than in other poleis. There are many reasons why Sparta is more superior to Athens.

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The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.

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861 Words | 4 Pages

Wheat, olive, fish and wine was common, meat was rarely eaten. Greece was the oldest wine making regions in the world. Education wise, children started school as early as 2 years old. The Seven against Thebes was a story in mythology, it’s about seven champions who were killed fighting against Thebes after the fall of King Oedipus. There army was culture trait in itself.

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Basically, it’s imperative to point out the fact that the roots of Western civilization can be traced back to Mediterranean classical ancient times, as well as other parts of European predominantly occupied by the Greek. In this regard, the geography of Greece played an important role in the development of the Greek Civilization, for instance, “HIST 101 Western Civilization I.” (n.d) states, “Greece is an extremely mountainous, peninsula almost completely surrounded by water. It includes both a mainland and some 1400 outlying islands in the Mediterranean Sea.”

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Greeks became skilled people and traders. Retaining a plentitude of raw materials for construction. They built some of the most impressive structures in history. Mountains were a big thing but mostly a negative effect on this civilization for agriculture. The Seas were also a very big thing and had a great positive effect on this civilization for food and trading.

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Evaluation: This source was written by Aristotle in 350 BCE as he was present at the time that democracy was developed it makes this source a primary source making it more reliable. The source provided a detailed explanation of the ancient Greeks democratic processes and development as the source was highly detailed it provides for a more reliable source. The source is translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon he is a palaeographer and a biblical and classical scholar this means that the source has been translated by a qualified professionally, thus meaning it is more reliable. This source is useful as it provides insight into the laws and rules of ancient Greece at the time this helped in the understanding of the ancient Greek society and what

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441 Words | 2 Pages

A democracy is by definition a system of government by the whole population, or at least the eligible population members of a state, who is represented by people whom were elected. But the Greek democracy differs greatly from the basic definition, but shaped the modern definition, in modern days we can see how an up to date democracy affects the military needs, and how the classes are divided by the democracy. But due to the way Greece ran their democracy, we as modern day citizens of this world do not understand how the democracy and the military needs and social classes could possibly coexist in a democracy such as the Greeks had. The Greek democracy is based on many categories, the first being that any “important” roles were male roles only.

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in the more advanced areas of Greece, economically and socially speaking” (“Greek Administration”, 1988). The polis was a way of the Greeks finding a way to organize themselves into a society, becoming more civilized. According to Greek Administration, “In its fundamental essence it was never conceived as an extent of territory, although its boundaries could be drawn on a map, but rather as a group of citizens feeling themselves bound together under the rule of law” (“Greek Administration, 1988). In terms that are more familiar to the way we teach history today in our society, the polis is what we would call a city-state, each individual polis being its own city-state, acting almost like a small country. According to Nardo, “Although all Greeks, the residents of the various poleis developed differing local governments and customs as well as different forms of currency” (Nardo, 2007).

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613 Words | 3 Pages

The system of government was based on philosophy rather than belief of something higher like gods. The Greeks believed in the ability of men to think rationally and govern based on reason. Greece believed more in what they could see. The Greeks government was run through the citizens, it was voted on who would rule; it was not like India where the rulers were based on patriarchy. Some might argue that Ancient India and Greece were more similar rather than different, however Greece and India were more different than they were similar.

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544 Words | 3 Pages

The government plays a major role in any civilization. The Greeks had several different types of government: Monarchy, Aristocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy. The Democratic Government is the type of government, which mainly influenced our modern civilization. Democratic Government simply means the citizens have the power, which is the type of government here in the United States of America.

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169 Words | 1 Pages

Greece being located in the northern and eastern hemisphere and in southeastern region of the European Continent is a big part of its weather. Despite all of it’s wonders, Greece is not an easy place to live. The soil isn’t good for growing food, mountains make it hard to

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