classical greek and roman culture
...ythagoras developed the formula called the Pythagorean theorem to find the sides of a right triangle, using the formual a^2 + b^2 = c^2. Other brilliant accomplishments were in arts such as painting, sculptures, theater, literature and architecture. Some of the utmost pieces of literatures came from Greek culture such as the Illiad and Oddysey written by a brilliant writer by the name of Homer. Most of Greek art, particularly in theater or literature, was based on humanism, the trails and tribulations of human beings such as justice, conflict, greed, and so on. In architecture, the styles and designs of columns was significant to Greek culture because Greek architecture showed structure, strength, talent and the cultural belief of the Greeks. The formation of columns and temples were valuable cultural beliefs in the Gods since Greeks were polytheistic. Many other accomplishments were in the area of philosophy; the greatest philosophers were Socrates, Plato, Aritottle and Zeno, who all brought brilliant ideas and concepts into the Greek culture. Socrates believed in dialogue and the idea of “know thy self,” to raise intellect by answering a question with another question. Plato philosophized the ideas of ethics and morality in government. Aristottle, who most honored pupil was Alexander the Great, studied the stars and was known as an Astronomer. Last but not least Zeno, who developed the idea of Stoicism, a person should live life according to reason and be indifferent to pain, he emphasized Epicureism. Epicureism is the belief that pleasure, mentally as well as physically, is the highest form of good and to avoid any form of pain. One other accomplishment of the Greek culture, which makes Greek culture classical, is in politics. The idea of democracy, ruled by the people, came from Greek culture. Three of the greatest leaders were Draco, Solon and Pericles. Draco developed the Draconian codes, which were laws for mandatory punishment for anyone who committed a crime in that the punishment was harsh or sentenced to death. Solon revised the Draconian laws, ending jail sentencing for debt and changed jury system by allowing citizens and non-citizens (all men) to be part of a jury and basing each trial by merits and not class. Thirdly, Pericles, was a leader during a time when Greece was called the Golden years of Greece because most of the greatest accomplishments were achieved during his time. The requirement of having stability or longevity to be a classical culture, the Greek culture has. Greece was able to withstand several civil wars as well as wars with other civilizations. The wars between Athens and Sparta, called the Peloponnesian wars, or the Persian wars which all the city-states united and defeated the Persians did not destroy Greek culture. Also the conquering of lands during Alexander the Great reign shows stability and longevity because his army was one of the strongest and most feared army during that time period and each land was conquered with ease. Lastly, Greek culture is classical culture because Greek civilization used the past cultures and build on them. For instance, particularly in philosophy, the father of Philosophy was Socrates, who was the teacher of Plato, who was the teacher of Aristottle, who was the teacher of Alexander the Great. Each teacher passing on knowledge to the student who then uses the knowledge and further expands his knowledge to reach a level of greatness. The Roman culture is also unquestionably a classical culture because almost everything that is Roman is Greek. It is stated that Rome conquers Greece but Greek culture conquers Rome and Rome makes Greek culture its own, otherwise Rome imitates the ways of the Greek culture in every aspect with little innovations. However, the Roman culture did inherit the power and size of the Greek empire but increased the power and size as well. The Roman culture expanded south towards Carthage as well as expanding not only east as the Greek culture did but also west towards Spain. The Mediterranean Sea came under complete control by the Roman culture, thereby having control of the sea meant complete power. The requirements of classical culture such as expanding land and having control led to high levels of cultural contact with distant cultures as well as a larger intercontinental trading zone. Rome had the largest trading zone especially in the Roman marketplace because items from all over could be found in the marketplace. The Roman culture had high levels of cultural accomplishments since majority of Roman accomplishments were Greek accomplishment with a few innovations. For instance in science, the Roman culture knew astronomy and named the planets after Greek Gods with Roman names. In the arts such as literature or architecture, Greek literature such as Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey were kept alive and the same with the exception that the titles changed to Roman. However, Roman architecture was far more advanced with the invention of concrete, which than created the first paved roads and large stru...