Greek Civilization

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Greek Civilization

The history of civilization in this world has a wealthy and interesting account. It is important to note that western civilization owes its much credit to ancient Greece. The Greek civilization was more organized among the other societies that existed. Ancient Greece is perhaps the only known civilization that brought about concept of democracy (Primary history, para 1). The people of ancient Greece valued their way of life, this made them very creative. The major thinkers that have existed in this world have roots in ancient Greece. The civilization of the Greeks grew in small city states (Montgomery, para 4). An individual city state was made up of a town which was surrounded by many other villages. There was a lot of farmland from where town residents could get their food. Many of the small city states of the Greek civilization had a lot of rivalry; they were characterized by constant fighting. It is however important to note that the citizens of a particular city states were very patriotic and took keen interest in affairs of their states.

Among those many city states, two of them were most significant; the Sparta state and the Athens state. These cities are known to have been the first to establish mature democracies. It was difficult for these states to form a single united nation (Montgomery, para 13-17,). However, a few things bound them together; their language was common, religion and cultural practices played this important role. This gave the ancient Greeks a feeling that they were totally different people compared to others whom they tagged as barbarians.

Ancient Greek civilization is much attributed to its formidable political structures as well as geographical location. These two factors placed it in a strategic position which accelerated its growth and development. Geographical factors were the prime reason for its growth, compared to other near eastern civilizations (Sellin, Greek, para 7-15), the Greek civilization existed between several ranges of mountain ranges. These mountains created a barrier to internal communication which became significant to the development and growths of small city states. The city states found it difficult to have effective communication between them and this made them to be independent of each other. In addition, the Greek peninsula had an irregular coastline with many small islands; this position facilitated trading activities between among states and Asia Minor.

Similarly, the soil in this region was quite unsuitable for agriculture, something that forced the ancient Greeks to build colonies abroad. Further, this soil did not have many natural resources and therefore mining and related activities were impossible. Heroic standards gave life a lot of significance. Warriors were important people in the society; they were tasked with fighting off invaders into the city. They were people of great strength and possessed a lot of fighting skills. This bought the real meaning of excellence, which was referred to as arête. The fact that soil was unreliable for agriculture did not fully hamper agricultural activities; few crops were planted and sold while some was consumed domestically.

Economically, the existing conditions were simple, based on consistent systems of agriculture. They managed to establish trading ties with their neighbors something that strengthened their territories. Trading led to their acquisition of things which they did not have, they were able to purchase expensive minerals that were used in the construction of their fortified cities. They were also able to buy weapons which their warriors used in the defense of their territories.

In its way of life, the Greek civilization had a firm belief in gods. The gods were the entities upon which the people built and founded their faith. It should be noted that, the Greeks success was not necessarily in the belief of their gods, but in the political governance that was excellent in most of the city states that founded the civilization. The good governance made people obey and follow rules; there were routine changes in the administration so as to make it more efficient and productive.

It’s important to note that there was no central power in the Greek civilization. The many different states were able to manage themselves fully. It is recorded that during the time of Aristotle, there were numerous democracies in existence. Democracy begun and matured much faster in Athens. It underwent several changes before it became fully functioning. Democracy has been noted to have undergone many changes; first it was monarchical, where power was a preserve of the aristocratic council and a famous assembly (Sellin, 11-12). Later, the council of the aristocrats managed to oust the king and did away with the assembly. This welcomed oligarchy, which was regarded as the rule by few just as before. This rule seemed to work but later became infamous.

One person would defy all odds and rise to the top, he became the ruler. This style of leadership was very tyrannical and did not last long. There was outright rebellion from the people who thought that this style of leadership was cruel. This gave birth to the rule of majority, better known as democracy. The many people were able to elect leaders that they thought were most suitable to lead them. This was actually the birth of democracy, a major achievement in the history of civilization (Montgomery, para 8). Democracy gave people ability to make their opinions in matters of interest.

The Greek civilization surpassed other civilizations by far. This civilization was able to establish the world’s famous philosophers who have continued to influence its thinking up to present (Ikegami, Eiko, para 5). Most of the eastern civilizations were much unstable in their governance and political institutions. While the Greek civilization was making advances on a daily basis, other civilizations were fighting to remain relevant. Great educators like Socrates emerged, Plato soon came about, they influenced the philosophies of the society and their contributions have continued to remain relevant.

In Sparta, education of the society was the work of army officers; this is because their main aim was to produce individuals who had the ability to defend the society. This is perhaps the reason why of all the civilizations at that time, Sparta people are well known for their superior army. On the other hand, the philosophical thinking of the Athenian society advocated for the education of an individual’s mind. The main aim was to produce an individual who had the ability to influence society institutions and the way of life. Education was aimed at producing intellectual, citizens who were creative and artistic. Plato’s perspective of education was that it was an institution where people were meant to derive social techniques and skills for survival. In his definition, man had the ability to improve it with time education is not brought by nature, rather, its man’s creation and therefore can be improved with continued learning.

The concept of education led to development of many intellectuals who enhanced the success of Greek civilization. This civilization can be regarded as the cornerstone of the present day European civilization. With an interplay of many factors, this civilization was formidable, not because of some kind of Greek “spirit’ but rather through careful execution of proper governance and natural factors

Works cited

Ikegami, Eiko. “Moral Codes and Social Structure in Ancient Greece: A Sociology of Greek Ethics from Homer to the Epicureans and Stoics.” Contemporary Sociology 27.1 (1998): 82-3. ProQuest. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Primary History. “Ancient Greeks: The Greek world.” 2014. Web, 19 February 2014< http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/greek_world/>

Sellin. “Greek; History of World civilization – Greek Civilization; Polis; Athens.” 2011. Web, 19 February 2014. < http://greek-yunani.blogspot.com/2011/04/history-of-world-civilization-greek.html>

Sturgis, Cynthia. “Mesopotamia: Iraq in Ancient Times/Ancient Rome/Ancient Egypt/Ancient Greece.” School Library Journal 50.11 (2004): 123. ProQuest. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.

Montgomery Edren. “Greek Civilization.” 2000. Web, 19 February 2014 < http://wc1003.tripod.com/greek_civilization.htm>