Contribution of Greece

Democracy
Greece, and especially Athens, is the cradle of democracy in the western civilization. Athens
owes the first penal and civil law code to Draco. An outstanding statesman and poet called Solon
acted in Athens at the same time as Draco. In 594 BC he was elected the first archon the
highest state official who today could be compared to a prime minister. The difference between a
prime minister and an archon lies in the fact that the latter was elected annually and had
executive and judicial power, was in command of the army and performed priestly functions. The
main Solon's credit was that he prepared basis for political changes in Athens. He divided
citizens into four groups based on agricultural output, established the so-called Council of 400,
the jury court, standardized the system of measures and weights and considerably increased
rights of ekklesia assembly of all citizens of Athens over 20. In 510 BC Cleisthenes introduced
profound reforms which made democracy exist as a system of government for the first time in
the world. In general reforms were to diminish the role of aristocracy, eliminate financial
differences and mix the society.
Athenian democracy was established as a result of continuous reorganizations. The name comes
from demos-people and kratos-power, so literally power of the people. Apart from many smaller
changes, it was mainly based on the opportunity for all citizens over 20 to take part in governing
the country. One of the main advantages of Athenian democracy was that the archon and his
eight assistants were elected annually. It was possible to prolong the rule for the next term but in
case of any abnormalities a quick change of government took place. The biggest advantage of
democracy in polis was the general possibility of taking part in public life for all free citizens.
Undoubtedly it helped the citizens of Athens to broaden their minds, their cultural awareness
and, what was probably most important, to develop intellectually
Sciences
Greece has importantly influenced the Western science in many ways. The Ancient Greeks
especially contributed many things to the scientific world, from medicine to astronomy. The most
famous ancient Greek scientists and their work are briefly described below.
Thales of Miletus (640-610 to ca 548-545 BC) had travelled widely in quest of knowledge,
visiting Crete, Phoenicia, and Egypt. e brought Phoenician navigational techniques into
Miletus. Thales is also said to have tried to revise the calendar. He also brought Babylonian
mathematical knowledge to Greece and used geometry to solve problems such as calculating the
height of pyramids and the distance of ships from the shore. He studied astronomy in Babylonia,
and after his return to Miletus gained great fame by predicting an eclipse of the sun (28.5.585
BC, Julian Calendar or 22.5.584 BC Gregorian Calendar Famous Eclipse). He was first noted as
an inventor and an engineer. Thales was also interested in heavenly bodies. He is credited with
the discovery of the electrical properties of amber (or electron from which also the name
electricity was derived). According to Pausanias he was one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
Pythagoras (569 to 475 BC) was the Greek philosopher and mathematician. He studied
astronomy, logistics and geometry and founded the mystic Pythagorean cult. The cult he founded

was devoted to the study of numbers, which the Pythagoreans saw as concrete, material objects,
and became for them the ultimate principle of all proportion, order, and harmony in the universe.
Pythagoras also investigated the ratios of lengths corresponding to musical harmonies, and
developed methods of geometric proof. In geometry the great discovery of Pythagoreans was the
hypotenuse theorem or Pythagorean theorem. Pythagoreans were the first to consider the earth as
a globe revolving with the other planets around a central fire and mathematicize the universe.
Democritus (460 BC - 370 BC) was a pre-Socratic Greek materialist philosopher, a student of
Leucippus and co-originator of the belief that all matter is made up of various imperishable,
indivisible elements which he called atoma or "indivisible units", from which we get the English
word atom. Democritus agreed that everything which is must be eternal, but denied that "the
void" can be equated with nothing. This makes him the first thinker on record to argue the
existence of an entirely empty "void". He was also a pioneer of mathematics and geometry in
particular. He was among the first to observe that a cone or pyramid has one-third the volume of
a cylinder or prism respectively with the same base and height. He also proposed that the
universe contains many worlds, some of them inhabited and conducted research on minerals and
plants.
Euclid (323 BC283 BC), also known as the "Father of Geometry", was a Greek mathematician
of the Hellenistic period who was active in Alexandria, almost certainly during the reign of
Ptolemy I. His Elements, a reorganized compilation of geometrical proofs including new proofs
and a much earlier essay on the foundations of arithmetic, is the most successful textbook in the
history of mathematics. In it, the principles of what is now called Euclidean geometry are
deduced from a small set of axioms. Elements conclude with the construction of Plato's five
regular solids. Euclidean space has no natural edge, and is thus infinite. Euclid also wrote works
on perspective, conic sections, spherical geometry, and rigor. In his Optica, he noted that light
travels in straight lines and described the law of reflection.
Archimedes of Syracuse (287 BC 212 BC) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer,
inventor, and astronomer. He is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity.
Among his advances in physics are the foundations of hydrostatics
and the explanation of the
principle of the lever. He is credited with designing innovative machines, including siege engines
and the screw pump that bears his name. Archimedes is considered to be one of the greatest
mathematicians of all time. He used the method of exhaustion to calculate the area under the arc
of a parabola with the summation of an infinite series, and gave a remarkably accurate
approximation of Pi. He also defined the spiral bearing his name, formulas for the volumes of
surfaces of revolution and an ingenious system for expressing very large numbers. Archimedes
had proved that the sphere has two thirds of the volume and surface area of the cylinder
(including the bases of the latter), and regarded this as the greatest of his mathematical
achievements.
Philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy focused on the role of reason and inquiry. It had an important
influence on modern philosophy, as well as modern science. The influence from ancient Greek
and Hellenistic philosophers was expanded to medieval Muslim philosophers and scientists, to

the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, to the modern natural sciences and technology.
Socrates was a classical Greek philosopher. Considered one of the founders of Western
philosophy, he strongly influenced Plato, and Aristotle. He made his most important contribution
to Western thought through his method of inquiry. He is principally renowned for his
contribution to the field of ethics, Socrates also lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony
and the Socratic Method. Socrates also made important and lasting contributions to the fields of
epistemology and logic, and the influence of his ideas and approach, remains strong in providing
a foundation for much western philosophy which followed.
Plato has the reputation of one of the most influential philosophers in Western thought. He wrote
several dozen philosophical dialogues arguments in the form of conversations and a few
letters. Though the early dialogues deal mainly with methods of acquiring knowledge, and most
of the last ones with justice and practical ethics, his most famous works expressed a synoptic
view of ethics, metaphysics, reason, knowledge, and human life. One can view Plato, with
qualification, as an idealist and a rationalist.
Aristotle placed much more value on knowledge gained from the senses, and would
correspondingly better earn the modern label of empiricist. Thus Aristotle set the stage for what
would eventually develop into the scientific method centuries later. The works of Aristotle that
still exist today appear in treatise form. The most important include Physics, Metaphysics,
(Nicomachean) Ethics, Politics, De Anima (On the Soul), Poetics, and many others. Aristotle was
a great thinker and philosopher, and his philosophy was crucial in governing intellectual thought
in the Western world. His views and approaches dominated early Western science for almost
2000 years. As well as philosophy, Aristotle was a formidable inventor, and is credited with
many significant inventions and observations.
Art
The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries
from ancient times until the present. There are three scholarly distinctions of Greek art that
correspond roughly with historical periods of the same names. These are the Archaic (700 - 480
BC), the Classical (480 - 323 BC) and the Hellenistic (323 31 BC) periods. The main physical
categories of Greek art are sculpture, pottery, coin design and architecture.
The Greeks used many different types of materials in their sculptures including stone, marble
and limestone as these were abundant in Greece. Other materials such as clay were also used but
due to their brittle nature very few have survived. Greek sculptures are very important as the vast
majority of them tell us a story about Gods, Heroes, Events, Mythical Creatures and Greek
culture in general. Examples of Greek sculpture that survive and receive worldwide recognition
are: the Parthenon Marbles, Agamemnon's Death Mask, stone statues of humans, such as the
limestone Kouros (male) and Kore (female) statues (c.590 BC), Discobolos (The Discus
Thrower) by Myron, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.
The Ancient Greeks made pottery for everyday use, not for display; the trophies won at games,
such as the Panathenaic Amphorae (wine decanters), are the exception. Most surviving pottery

consists of drinking vessels such as amphorae, kraters (bowls for mixing wine and water),
hydria (water jars), libation bowls, jugs and cups. Painted funeral urns have also been found.
Miniatures were also produced in large numbers, mainly for use as offerings at temples.
Coins were mostly small disk-shaped lumps of gold, silver, or bronze, stamped with a geometric
designs, symbols -to indicate its city of origin or the god they were sacred to-, and portraits of
gods or heroes.
Architecture
Ancient Greek architects strove for the precision and excellence of workmanship that are the
hallmarks of Greek art in general. The formulas they invented as early as the sixth century B.C.
have influenced the architecture of the past two millennia.
Although the ancient Greeks erected buildings of many types, the Greek Temple best
exemplifies the aims and methods of Greek architecture. The two principal orders in Archaic and
Classical Greek temples architecture are the Doric and the Ionic.A third order of Greek
architecture, known as the Corinthian, mostly common in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Representative temple of the Doric order is Parthenon, of the Ionic order is Erechtheum and of
the Corinthian order is the temple of Zeus, all these temples sited in Athens.
The Greek Theater was a central place of formal gatherings in ancient Greece. Every Greek
town had a theater. These were used for both public meetings as well as dramatic performances.
These performances originated as religious ceremonies; they went on to assume their Classical
status as the highest form of Greek culture by the 6th century BC. The theatre was usually set in
a hillside outside the town, and had rows of tiered seating set in a semi-circle around the central
performance area, the orchestra. Behind the orchestra was a low building called the skene, which
served as a store-room, a dressing-room, and also as a backdrop to the action taking place in the
orchestra. A number of Greek theatres survive almost intact, the best known being at the Ancient
Theater of Epidaurus.
The architectural typology of the modern stadium derives from the classical prototype of the
Greek Stadium. The Greek Stadium was the open space where footraces and other athletic
contests took place in ancient Greece. The stadiums were usually U-shaped, the curve being
opposite to the starting point. The courses were generally 600 Greek feet long (1 stadium),
although the length varied according to local variations of the measuring unit. Natural slopes
where used where possible to support the seats. The best known ancient Greek stadium is
Kallimarmaron (Panathinaikon Stadium), sited in Athens.
Olympic Games
According to historical records, the first ancient Olympic Games can be traced back to 776 BC.
They were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the ancient plains of Olympia, in
the western part of the Peloponnese. They continued for nearly 12 centuries, until Emperor
Theodosius decreed in 393 A.D. that all such pagan cults be banned.

The Olympic Games were closely linked to the religious festivals of the cult of Zeus, but were
not an integral part of a rite. Indeed, they had a secular character and aimed to show the physical
qualities and evolution of the performances accomplished by young people, as well as
encouraging good relations between the cities of Greece. According to specialists, the Olympic
Games owed their purity and importance to religion.
The ancient Olympic Games included the following events: pentathlon, running, jumping, discus
throw, wrestling, boxing, pankration and equestrian events.
All free male Greek citizens were entitled to participate in the ancient Olympic Games,
regardless of their social status. Married women were not allowed to participate in, or to watch,
the ancient Olympic Games. However, unmarried women could attend the competition.
The Olympic victor received his first awards immediately after the competition. Following the
announcement of the winner's name by the herald, a Hellanodikis (Greek judge) would place a
palm branch in his hands, while the spectators cheered and threw flowers to him. Red ribbons
were tied on his head and hands as a mark of victory. The official award ceremony would take
place on the last day of the Games, at the elevated vestibule of the temple of Zeus. In a loud
voice, the herald would announce the name of the Olympic winner, his father's name, and his
homeland. Then, the Hellanodikis placed the sacred olive tree wreath, or kotinos, on the winner's
head .
In 1859 Evangelos Zappas, a wealthy Greek philanthropist, sponsored the first modern
international Olympic Games that were held in an Athens city square, with athletes from two
countries: Greece and the Ottoman Empire. In June 23, 1894 Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and it was decided that the first IOC Olympic
Games would take place in 1896 in Athens, as they did.