A Study of Greek Culture
The brilliant Greek culture has made a tremendous contribution to the civilization. In terms of politics, Greeks firstly came up with the idea of democracy. Concerning arts and literature, Greek unique style of architecture, mysterious myth, and scientific progress are always worth our admiration. Besides, the grand sports festival “Olympic Games” originated in Greece. In this essay, I will give a full explanation to the Greek arts, literature, history, lifestyle and politics.
Geography
Standing at the crossroads of Europe, Africa, and Asia, Greece is an island of se and mountains. Due to Greek abundant islands and long coastlines, agriculture, commerce, navigation and communication developed prosperously. Under the influence of the Mediterranean, the climate of Greece is temperate and mild. It has wet winters and hot, dry summers, which is agreeable for humans. Therefore, such geographic features and advantageous natural conditions nurtured the flourishing of the civilization.
History
The history of Greece lasted from about 1900 years, from 2000BC to 146 BC.
From 2000 BC to 1200 BC, there were trails moving outwards from an area between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, among which was Achaeans, settling on the mainland of Greece and creating the Mycenaean culture. This was a time of great building works across mainland and Greece, among which, probably the Lion Gates was the most famous. Worship of god was popular and it played a vital role in determining wars between states. Therefore, mysterious tales of wars could be found in Homer’s works, such as “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.
Between 1200 BC and 338 BC, Hellenes, composed of Dorians, the Ionians and the Aeolians, invaded Greece. Greek geographic features suggested there were many city-states in Greece. Though they were frequently at war, they remained the idea of being one people and belonging to one culture. During this period, the population expanded and...