Western Civilization Dbq

Throughout the course of their existence, Greece made many advancements that were much before its time. The Greek’s style of inventions and ideas was so advanced that they could not be found anywhere relatively close to the time period. Their style came back around and is now the foundation of what we believe as a western civilization. Greek philosophy, architecture, science, and art has helped to sculpt the western culture.

The ancient Greeks have made contributions in two major areas, art and architecture. U.S. and Greek creations resemble that of each other because of the use of the mathematical concept, Golden Ratio. The Parthenon, a temple built in honor of the goddess of wisdom, bears much similarity to the Lincoln Memorial (Doc.8). The columns at the front of both

Greece was the very first place where there was evidence of a democracy. During that time monarchies, aristocracies, and oligarchies were much more common because the governed people were not educated enough to make decisions. In Greece citizens were able to make educated decisions about the government. Most western civilizations work under the same key principle, rule by the people. Other important principles that we value today are touched upon in the speech of Pericles concerning the government, “Our plan of government favors the many instead if the few: that is why it is called democracy….As for social standing, advancement is open to everyone, according to ability. While every citizen has an equal opportunity to serve the public, we reward our most distinguished citizens by asked them to make our political decisions. Nor do we discriminate against the poor. A man may serve his country no matter how low his position on the social scale”(Doc.3). Of course the U.S made some tweaks to the system that are necessary to fit the needs of their country, but the core values remained the