The Classical World of the Greeks and the Romans - Essay Example

By doing so, they became what we now know as the cradle of westernization. 1. What does your textbook mean when it says that the Greeks made the transition “from myth to reason”? The meaning of this was that the Greeks made what seemed to be impossible possible. When the notion of western thought and culture began in the 1500bc, it was later interrupted through the Greek Dark ages about 1100-900 BC. Here, westernization seemed to be a myth, something that would never be true. But again from around 900BC which is identified as the classical period there was a change of events as Greece entered the era which made it glorious, through the use of classical Greece philosophy, western thought and culture was developed.

The philosophy based these developments upon the inquiry and reasons pertaining to various disciplines. These included literature, science, technology, law, economics, politics, psychology, art, ethics, etc. the early thinkers such as Thales and Anaximander were the ones who asked questions concerning the area of philosophy and came up with the theories to try to answer such questions. 2. List and briefly explain at least four specific contributions that the Greeks gave to Western Civilization.

These contributions should be unique and specific to the Greeks The Greeks have made many contributions which are influential in western civilization. These are; the scientific method of solving the problem which was invented by Socrates, theatre is another contribution. Plays were written and performed to entertain people and also teach them morals and proper ethics. The form or system of government and politics was also a contribution from Greece. In the field of science, they provided knowledge regarding biology, physics, medicine, geology etc.

An example being that through astronomy, they calculated the size of both the earth and the sun. And in physics the lever and the pulley were invented. 3. What was the special Greek contribution to politics, and how did this political system work? The historic Greek contribution to politics was the democracy system. It was a direct democracy system where each person had to vote. The democrats were only men as women; children and slaves were considered to be non citizens. The men would vote on what they wanted to be done.

The thing or person that received the most votes won. This ensured that no tyrant, king or a single person could just bring in a new law and implement it 4. 4. Who was Alexander the Great? What did he accomplish? Why do you think that people from ancient times down to our own day have been so fascinated by him? Alexander the great was the king of Macedonia and a student of a famous philosopher called Aristotle. He was able to accomplish a lot of things like conquering over 70 cities Persian being one of them.

, spreading the Greek culture throughout the Persian Empire. He was also known to be a great general and a soldier and to add to that he acquired new colonies and trade routes. Many people are fascinated by him through his actions, and from him being a child till the day he died. For example, when he was 16years his father left him with the power to rule as he went to invade Thrace. He also showed his bravery at the Chaeronea battle and is known to never lose any battles that he went. He was considered to be among the greatest commanders in history and by the young age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empire. 5. Why is Julius Caesar such a