There have been many early civilizations, but ancient Greece seems to be a miracle – from 600 BC to 300 BC, a short history of 300 years, became the source of Western civilization.
So much so, Hegel said, that at the mention of Greece, in the heart of every cultured European there is a sense of home; The English poet Shelley even believed: We Westerners are all Greeks! In fact, ancient Greece not only gave birth to Western civilization, but also the source of modern civilization. Unfortunately, many modern people only see ancient Greece as a historical existence, forgetting its four major contributions to modern civilization.
1. The idea of humanism
In modern society, "humanism," which treats people as human beings, is already a universal axiom of civilization. But in fact, this concept is very rare in all ancient civilizations, with the exception of ancient Greece.
The gods of ancient Greece were not as lofty as the gods of other civilizations, nor were they so mysterious, and even the shortcomings of mortals were readily available.
For example, Prometheus, who is known as Prometheus, was punished by Zeus for stealing fire from heaven to bring light and warmth to the world and enabling mankind to gain the power of God.
Another example is the Trojan War, the reason was to compete for the peerless beauty Helen, and the whole process of the war turned out to be the gods behind the ghosts!
The Greek gods did not draw a strict barrier with people, but left a wide space for people. Then man can boldly pursue freedom, dignity, nobility and beauty. Man is freed from God's world, no longer an appendage of God, and only then does he become a human being. That's why the Roman thinkers exclaimed: "It was the Greeks who created man!" ”
In other ancient civilizations of the same period, man was humble and incompetent, and had to prostrate himself under God or God's spokesman. For example, in ancient Egypt the pharaohs and priests were worshipped; Ancient Huaxia submitted to the Son of Heaven, and later emperors monopolized the authority to "communicate with the gods".
Only the "people-oriented" idea of ancient Greece, inherited and carried forward by the Renaissance, contributed to the awakening of modern values, promoted the leadership of the modern West, and survived to this day and spread around the world.
It can be said that the humanism of ancient Greece is the most important cultural gene of modern civilization.
2. The tradition of rational speculation Hegel said that man stands up by thought. The reason why man can become the spirit of all things and rule the whole world is by reason of reason. However, not every ancient civilization attached so much importance to reason. Systematized, theorized rational thought was born only in ancient Greece.
Scholar Zhao Lin summarized in the book "The Light of Ancient Greek Civilization"——
The ancient Greeks pioneered geometry, and expressed it in the "Geometric Originals" systematization and axiomatization; The ancient Greeks created astronomy, and they even argued that "the earth is round"; Every modern medical student, on the first day of admission to the hospital, reads an oath to Hippocrates, an ancient Greek physician; Most of the symbols used in algebra and physics are also derived from the ancient Greek alphabet.
Philosophers marked by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle created Western philosophy from the dimensions of "reason" and "speculation". This has laid the foundation for mankind to "rationally inquire about the wisdom of wisdom, knowledge, the world, and society"
On the other hand, in other ancient civilizations, their rationality and scientific spirit are either blank or have long been cut off. The spirit of scientific rationality in ancient Greece has run through the entire history of the West, and was subsequently inherited and carried forward by the Enlightenment, becoming an important force in promoting the rise of the West and even the world.
It can be said that the spirit of rational speculation in ancient Greece is the starting point of modern science.
3. The Gene of Democratic Politics Democracy is now the consensus of the West and even the world, and it is also one of the symbols of modern political civilization. But in fact, democracy is not an invention of modern people, but a political legacy left by ancient Greece to the world. Cooper's book "The Elite and the Masses of Democratic Athens" found that before 1200 BC, when the monarchs and priests of other societies were still exercising arbitrary rule, the city-states of ancient Greece had replaced the absolute monarchy with civil society and developed a democratic form of government.
In ancient Greece, the threshold for participation in politics was the same for all citizens, and everyone had equal political rights or qualifications.
In other societies at that time, everything was about blood and identity. The state is the private property of the ruler, social governance is only the business of those in power, and the common people are never qualified to participate in political affairs.
Ancient Greece created an unprecedented democratic system in the barbaric era, leaving the spark of democracy for future generations and providing the direction and standard for the transformation of modern countries.
It can be said that ancient Greece laid the genes of modern political civilization.
4. A treasure trove of literature and art
It is art that makes people become human beings, and makes life more complete and fuller. Because of its strong vitality, literature and art are also known as "human studies".
However, throughout human history, the literature and art of ancient Greece is not only the source of the entire Western literature and art, but also an inexhaustible treasure house of modern literature and art.
Almost all writers in later generations have drawn nourishment from ancient Greek mythology. The names of Greek gods such as "Titan", "Apollo", "Achilles", ...... Thousands of years later, it is still widely borrowed by people in various fields.
The tragedy of ancient Greece is a model and source of inspiration for later tragic literature.
Several of Shakespeare's great tragedies were deeply influenced by ancient Greek tragedy.
The "tragedy of fate" in modern film and television dramas is actually an imitation or even copy of Greek tragedies such as "Oedipus the King", "Prometheus Bound", and "Medea".
There is even a saying circulating in the West: whether a person will appreciate tragedy or not determines whether he is a civilized person or a barbarian.
There are also critics who believe that the pinnacle of Renaissance sculpture is also the result of following ancient Greece; And in all modern buildings today, you can see the shadow of Greek architecture.
Other ancient civilizations have also given birth to excellent literature and art, such as the epics of the Two Rivers Civilization and the Indian Civilization, the architecture of the Chinese civilization, and the mythology of the Egyptian civilization...... But none of them are as far-reaching as the Greek civilization.
It can be said that without ancient Greek literature and art, modern life would never be so bright. The city-states of ancient Greece have perished, but at the roots of their civilization, a flourishing modern civilization still grows.
Receiving the enlightenment of ancient Greek civilization is a leap from ancient times to modern times. Understanding ancient Greek civilization is not only an upgrade of cognition, but also a tour of civilization.
Therefore, whether it is for the sake of personal happiness and social prosperity, or for the sake of national progress and the survival of civilization, we have countless reasons to read Greek civilization.
It is a pity that to this day, most Chinese people have a "self-opinionated" attitude towards ancient Greece, so that fallacies such as the theory of "Greek pseudo-history" have spread far and far-reaching, causing endless harm.
For this reason, the store manager sincerely recommends the eight books mentioned in this article "Understanding Ancient Greek Civilization".
The eight books are rich in content and easy to understand, with a vision of ancient and modern China and the West, covering ancient Greek general knowledge, history, mythology, literature, art, humanities, science, politics and other aspects, which are excellent sets to help us quickly and thoroughly understand ancient Greek civilization. It can be read on the go, or by the pillow or desk, which is more suitable for gifts and collections.