GREEK AND ROMAN CONTRIBUTIONS

Greek and Roman contributions to our contemporary world law, government, philosophy, art and architecture, math and science



Greek and Roman contributions to our contemporary world law, government, philosophy, art and architecture, math and science

Toady's western art reflects the lifelike style of the ancient Roman art.The Roman Empire too undertook vast building projects. They made roads and bridges; enormous baths and aqueducts, temples and theaters, as well as entire towns in the North African desert that marked Rome's power at that time. The Roman invented the Latin language. So many languages toady, Polish, Turkish, and Vietnamese, to name a few use the Roman alphabet and therefore owe their origin to the Latin language.

Art and architecture

Greek artists introduced mimesis (imitation of nature) as the cornerstone of art. The portrayal of the nude human figure in Greek art reflects these word of philosopher Protagoras "Man is the measure of all things. Western world owes many of its architecture features like the building design, structural elements, decorative motifs etc. to the Greek architecture. Athenian artists introduced an abstract style of painted pottery the precision harmony of which was characterized in all the Greek art. Tradition of oral poetry (Ionia) was also a Greek phenomenon. Greeks also built religious sanctuaries (sites for temples and other buildings devoted to the gods) such as Olympia. People came for offering dedications to their gods and also to compete in the Olympic games, which tradition says began in 776 BC. Everyone knows the origin of the modern Olympic games. The Greeks made monumental buildings such as Delphi, Temple of Zeus and the Parthenon in Athens that inspire even today's architecture(Pomeroy, 1999)(Grant, 1995).

The art of ancient Greece has exercised an enormous influence on the culture of many countries from ancient times until the present, particularly in the areas of sculpture and architecture. In the West, the art of the Roman Empire was largely derived from Greek models. In the East, Alexander the Great's conquests initiated several centuries of exchange between Greek, Central Asian and Indian cultures, resulting in Greco-Buddhist art, with ramifications as far as Japan. Following the Renaissance in Europe, the humanist aesthetic and the high technical standards of Greek art inspired generations of European artists. Well into the 19th century, the classical tradition derived from Greece dominated the art of the western world(Strong, 2007).

Theatre

Twenty-Five Hundred Years Ago, two thousand years before Shakespeare, Western theatre was born in Athens, Greece. Between 600 and 200 BC, the ancient Athenians created a theatre culture whose form, technique and terminology have lasted two millennia, and produced plays that are still among the greatest works in theatre. The cult that worshipped Dionysus, the god of human and agricultural fertility involved intoxication, orgies, human and animal sacrifices, and hysterical rampages by women. Pisistratus, the ruler of Athens replaced Dionysian Festivals with drama competitions, which drew as many as 30,000 spectators. Tragedies, designed to show the right and wrong paths in life, then became ...