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Ancient Greece's influence on the modern world
The Influence of Ancient Greece on Modern Culture
Ancient Greece's influence on the modern world
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“The Way and the Word; Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece” Reading Precis Geoffrey Lloyd and Nathan Sivin’s text “The Way and the Word; Science and Medicine in Early China and Greece” might be more accurately titled “The Way and the Word; Science and Medicine in Early Greece, with Very Little Information About Early China.” This document is much more of a discourse on the philosophers, scientists, doctors and lecturers of Classical Greece than a comparison between two distinguished cultures. It is possible this was written for an audience which is already quite familiar with scientific culture during the Han Dynasty, and perhaps this is detailed in earlier chapters. However, the text is essentially, almost completely, focused on …show more content…
But the nearly insignificant blips about Han Chinese intellectualism and scientific culture are used only to showcase the, in what seems to be the opinion of the authors, ‘better’ culture of the Greeks. Lloyd and Sivin credit the Greek political system of democracy and relative freedom of all citizens to take part in the political process, and the experimentation of differing political constitutions, for the Greek competitiveness which “in both politics and cosmology… positively favored trying out radical new proposals, both in thought and theory and in action” (180.) The authors pay particular attention to the philosophical presence of debate and the democratic political system of Hellenistic Greece to explain the inherent competitiveness of Greek science. Indeed, in the “Why Elements, Why Nature” section of the text, Lloyd and Sivin surmise that the reason why Greeks studied the world around them was because of “certain features of Greek intellectual life, notably its fierce competitiveness, influenced the focus on [the questions of nature, elements and reality.] The ongoing disagreement on the questions in turn helped to stoke that competitiveness” (157.) The “features of Greek life” they are referring to is the inherent, even encouraged rivalry between many schools of thought, a questioning of the accepted truths of ancient texts, and finally the deep importance of debating within the scientific and
Han China was an empire that expanded over a vast territory and Classical Athens was only a small city-state. Inevitable, there were differences in all aspects of life. The documents provided plenty of information on demographics, government structures, individual roles and duties of a citizen, an view on physical life. Overall, the 64 million differences in population, the democracy that arose in Athens, the importance of a father-son relationship in Han China, and the interests in nature by the Hans were the key facts in the two’s differences.
The first ancient civilization that Kagan highlights is the Greek. He writes of their republic city-states, and pioneering of a “political life come to be shared by a relatively large portion of people”. He uses the Greek culture as an influence of science and reason. “The Greeks exposed everything they perceived—natural, human and divine—to the searching examination of reason.” Finally he describes the Greek quest for virtue and morality. He uses these examples to show how similar our culture is to the Greek.
Longrigg, James. Greek Medicine: From the Heroic to the Hellenistic Age: a Source Book. London: Routledge Chapman & Hall, 1998.
Long, A.A. & Sedley D.N. The Hellenistic Philosophers. Trans. Long & Sedley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
History today recalls the Greek traditions starting from the second millennium B.C to date and not just during the Archaic and the Classical periods. The primary aim of history is to provide us with a broad comprehension of the principles that governed the Greek societies (Carey, 2017). Hegemony together with Greek historians provides a comprehensible examination of the fundamental cultural and political elements which pervades Xenophon, Thucydides, Ephorus, and Herodotus. Hegemony mainly explains the master plan.
The rise of the Greeks was a revolutionary step away from this system. Although Greek society was also greatly influenced by their polytheistic religion, they took an intellectual approach to the study of the man-nature relationship. Instead of acce...
Nardo, Don. The Ancient Greeks at Home and at Work. 1st ed. San Diego, CA: Lucent, 2004. Print.
TCM, or Traditional Chinese Medicine, can be traced as far back as 1000 BC, where stone acupuncture needles were believed to be used. Texts from that period also talked of Yin and Yang and other concepts. The first written work on TCM is titled the Yellow Emperor’s Inner Classic, Huangdi Newijing (Gascoigne 11). This book was written in 300 BC, but entries date back to the early 2700’s BC. The book is still used in universities of Chinese Medicine around the world and is often called the bible of TCM. Today, TCM is still thriving in China and all of Asia. In recent years, information on TCM has become available to people in the United States. The United States has several schools of TCM, and it is now much easier to buy the necessary supplies needed for correct practice of TCM (Gascoigne 11-7).
Archibald, Zofia. Discovering the World of the Ancient Greeks. New York: Facts On File, 1991. Print.
Boardman, John, et al. (1988). The Oxford History of the Classical World: Greece and the
5. Zeng, Miss. The Book of Filial Piety for Women. Translated by Patricia B. Ebrey. n.d.
"Ancient Greek Philosophy." Ancient Greek Philosophy. The Academy of Evolutionary Metaphysics, 2005. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Dillon, Matthew, and Lynda Garland. Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Socrates. London: Routledge, 1994. No. 7.42, p. 209.
The reality that we can model and change our current world based off of the civilizations before us offers us a greater advantage than realized. The ability to make important decisions that allow us to grow and build from the mistakes of others have made is phenomenal. This gives us the capability to continue forward in our journey toward equality and obtain contentment and happiness in life. There are several areas in life than can always be enhanced upon, yet the enhancements made by our Greek contributors have virtually stayed the same. There are instances where some people just get it right the first time and how enjoyable this must be, especially if it’s related to the aspects that surround us each day. Imagine how our architecture, literature, and our political systems would be without these contributions. How different would our world be as we know it? While only speculation can answer this question is it certain that it would not be the same as we know it today. It is time to give credit where credit is due. The classical Greek contributions to American society are some of the best contributions that man has to
Coplestone, Frederick. A History of Philosophy- Greece and Rome. New York: Image Books,1962. (pgs 64-70).