Ancient Greek Culture

492 Words2 Pages
The ancient Greek civilization is one of great artistic and cultural advancements. The entirety of Greek culture is based off the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations that preceded it. After their destruction, the Greeks would begin to rebuild in 900 B.C. and would grow and thrive until 480 B.C. During their existence, the people of Greece would go on to accomplish great feats in the worlds of philosophy, art, architecture and literature. One major achievement credited to the Greeks is comedy and tragedy themes in theatre. The Athenians used theatre to understand and consider prominent issues in society such as love, happiness and the influence of the gods. Their tragedy evolved from ceremonies of worship dedicated to Dionysus, the god of wine. These ceremonies involved wild performances and dancing. The Greek tragedy performances were often austere and brooding, mostly dedicated to Dionysus. Great tragedians such as Sophocles and Aeschylus created tales of loss, sacrifice and vengeance to teach a moral lesson. The comedies, however, were more lighthearted and not held in as high esteem as the tragedies were. Philosophy is also an important part of the history and culture of Ancient Greece. Philosophy itself is defined as the “love of wisdom”, and several philosophers dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge. One prominent deep thinker is Socrates. His teachings were question based; instead of lecturing his pupils, he would ask questions and they’d reply and have a large philosophical discussion. In fact, he would walk around Rome and ask people questions and even start arguments and heated discussions over topics he inquired about. This caused some friction between him and the central government at the time and eventually resulted in his execution. His student Plato would lead on his legacy and even teach through the image of Socrates. Greeks were
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