ByBus_Summer 2013

WHAT THE GREEKS OFFERED
TO HUMANITY
“The Greeks are the charioteers of every civilization” are the words of the well- known German philosopher
Friedrich Nietzsche and they were not said at random. They are based on the fact that the Greek culture for
hundreds of years gave the “light” for the entire world. Arts, sciences, values such as theater, mathematics, and
polite manners first appeared in Greece and then in the course of time were established in all cultures of the
world. The financial crisis might have invaded for a long time in our country, we might feel that we have lost the
earth under our feet because everything has been overturned upside down, but it is a good opportunity to remind
to everyone and to ourselves who we are and what ancestors and foundations we have as a people. In this
article we will mention what our ancestors offered to humanity, without what our life today would be different.
Modern Olympic Games: Any words are unnecessary.
The biggest sports event on the planet
was born in Athens in 1896. Our small Greece and
at that time acted miraculously. Despite of many economic
problems Greece managed to organize the first Olympic
Games with great success for that time and sent a worldwide
message of peace, reconciliation and emulation. Nowadays a
medal in the Olympic Games is the largest prestige and honor
for any athlete.
Introduction of courts: The ancient Greeks
conceived the idea for the administration of justice through
the courts. Originally from mythology of the Olympian gods
the justice was done this way, later in ancient Greece criminal
courts were established. The ancient Greeks built a system
of laws and submitted society to obey them that helped to
escape the law of the jungle that prevailed in many peoples of
those times.
Theatre: Aeschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes are known
ancient writers whose works are played even today.
The theater in ancient times was not just fun for the
Greek people. It formed consciences, passed the social messages
of those times, created personalities, cultivated correct
characters. Theatre was so important for our ancestors that
it was allowed to attend some of the performances even for
prisoners.
Democracy: The Greeks in ancient Athens were the
first worldwide who had applied the democratic regime.
It was a standard political system with the participation
of the people in the community, reaching its zenith in the 5th
century BC with the help of the orator and politician Pericles.
Pericles imposed radical laws for those times and remained
in history as the founder of the Athenian Democracy, thus
managing to make Athens the most powerful city in the Mediterranean.
Sewerage / Shower: The discoveries made in ancient
Pergamum prove that the Greeks were the first to have
sewerage and water from the aqueducts was sent to a
large public shower that was used by the rich and by the poor.
Analog computer: More than 100 years ago at
the seabed of Antikythera a tool that nothing like it had
ever been was discovered by divers that never before
had been nothing like it. By the examination of the subject the
specialists and archaeologists were unable to determine its
use. In recent years the research has become more intensive
and constructive and lead to believe that this object is famous
Antikythera mechanism which is a complex computer of that
time that recorded the cycles of our solar system.
Pizza: The ancient Greeks had a favorite snack “cake”.
The cake was a piece of bread dough where they placed
various ingredients, such as olives, cheese and greens.
Then they baked it in the oven on hot stones. Does it remind
you o lot of the current pizza that is said to have origin from
the neighboring Italy! Maybe it is not true after all?
Mathematics: What is the first to be mentioned
in this category? Pythagoras, Euclid, Thales, Archimedes
are only some of the most famous Greek
mathematicians. The Euclidean Geometry, Trigonometry and
the Pythagorean Theorem are also some of the mathematical
discoveries of these excellent Greeks. Without them our lives
would not be as they are today. The architecture, navigation,
music, astronomy and many other sciences are based on the
foundations of the ancient mathematical sciences.
Catapult: With the power of mathematics mentioned
above, the ancient Greeks created the rocks, which
increased the breadth and strength of ammunition in
wartime. The first catapult ever built was in 399 BC, and in the
very early in the late 5th century B.C. the Greeks discovered
the bow and arrow.
Steam engine: The precursor to the invention of the
steam engine was built by Hero in the 10th century B.C.
Hero was from Alexandria, Egypt and was a famous Greek
mathematician, a physicist and an engineer of antiquity. The
steam engine of the era was called “aeolipile” and worked with
the power of steam.
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