When it comes to Ancient Greece, most people immediately think of the Olympic Games, Sparta, and ancient Greek mythology. But in fact, modern man owes much more to the ancient Greeks. Classical literature, coins, anchors, vending machines - all this and more comes from Ancient Greece.
1. Urban planning
Although most people consider city planning a relatively modern invention, according to most historians, the "father of city planning" is the ancient Greek architect and city planner Hippodames of Miletus. His plans for Greek cities were remarkably ordered, in contrast to the chaotically intertwined streets of the cities of that era.
2. Water mill
The earliest evidence of a water mill in historical documents is the mention of the Perachora wheel, which was created in the third century BC in Greece. Historians believe that it was created by the Greek engineer Philo of Byzantium, who first mentioned the water wheel in one of his works.
3. Plumbing
As you know, the ancient Greeks highly valued the physical development of man. This concept was reflected in their approach to exercise and body cleanliness. For example, in Athens there were many aqueducts through which water flowed from the mountains. Also in the city there was a very extensive plumbing system, through which water from the tanks was distributed to the baths, fountains, as well as the homes of wealthy people.
4. Odometer
This ubiquitous tool today, which measures the distance traveled by a car, was invented in ancient Greece. It was originally used to measure the distance between cities.
5. Cards
Cartography has played a large role in travel and navigation since ancient times. The invention of maps and cartography is attributed to Anaximander of Miletus, one of the most important pre-Socratic philosophers. Although the maps were used in Egypt, Lydia, the Middle East, and Babylon, they depicted only local roads and cities. Anaximander depicted all the inhabited earth known to the ancient Greeks.
6. Lighthouses
Before the advent of special ports in ancient Greece, fires were lit at night on the tops of the coastal hills near the cities where merchant ships went. Subsequently, the fire began to be made on special platforms - the higher the flame burned, the farther it was visible. This practice led to the development of lighthouses. The most famous lighthouse in ancient history is one of the wonders of the world - the Lighthouse of Alexandria, built in 280-247 BC.
7. Coins
The first coins appeared during the Iron Age in Anatolia and Ancient Greece around 600-700 BC. Subsequently, coins designed by the Greeks were used to buy or trade in goods and other peoples.
8. Central heating
Before the Romans had a home heating system, it existed among the Greeks, in particular the Minoans. The Greeks laid pipes under the floors of their houses, through which warm water flowed, heated by diluted hearths.
9. Anchors
The ancient Greeks were the first to use baskets filled with stones, large sandbags, and hollowed-out wooden logs filled with lead as anchors.
10. Shower
In Hellas, for the first time in the world, a shower appeared. Water in public showers, which could be used by both nobles and ordinary citizens, came from lead pipes existing in Greek cities.
11. Automatic doors
Surely, many people think that automatic sliding doors have appeared quite recently, this is not so. The Greeks invented automatic sliding doors that worked with compressed air or water. Such doors were used in temples.
12. Alarm clock
One of the most used gadgets in the modern world was first invented by the famous Greek philosopher Plato. In order not to oversleep his lectures, he altered the water clock.
13. Vending machine
Vending machines also seem like a modern invention, but they are actually over 2,000 years old. The Greek inventor Heron of Alexandria made a prototype of a vending machine in 215 BC. water. The increased weight of the container tilted the vessel, from which a portion of water poured out. Then the coin slipped out of the container, and the vessel again returned to a vertical position.
14. Thermometer
The thermometer was first invented by Heron of Alexandria, who was the first to understand how air expands when heated to high temperatures. Subsequently, Philo of Byzantium was the first to use this technique to determine the temperature of the air, and Galileo in 1597 only improved the ancient invention by introducing the concept of "scale" to quantify the process of measuring temperature.
15. Theater
The theater was born in the city-state of Athens. Even the word "theater" itself comes from the Greek word Theatron, which means "a place to watch."
In continuation of the topic. Amazing little things.
The relatively generally accepted chronological framework of antiquity is the beginning of the 9th-8th centuries. BC e., ending - about 500 AD. e. The whole variety of processes and phenomena, to varying degrees represented by sources and very unevenly studied, occurring over a period of one and a half millennia, is called antiquity - a special type of culture.
Among the ancient civilized peoples, the Hellenes appeared so late that most of the technical inventions that were used in war and in civilian life had long been made and spread everywhere.
Long ago hunting tribes invented the spear and arrows, long ago the farmer learned how to make a plow and a cart, long ago sailors, robbing and trading, plowed the sea, and the Hellenes had not yet entered the historical arena. However, having come to light with their technical achievements, the Hellenes more than made up for their long absence. Thales and Harpal, Heron and Anaximander, Philo and Archimedes, but you never know, they were excellent scientists, mathematicians, mechanics, technicians. Each of them contributed to the development or creation of a particular technical innovation. The main technical achievements of antiquity, of course, were focused on weapons of war, but many discoveries were made for peaceful purposes, especially in agriculture.
It is impossible to single out the main technical achievements of antiquity. In addition, many scientists of our time argue that these achievements cannot be called technical, that "ancient technology" is the childhood, rather, the infancy of modern technologies. However, what technologies would we be dealing with if ancient technology had not been so developed?! The technique of building the Egyptian pyramids is still not completely clear, the grandiose irrigation system in Egypt did not know its equal for a long time, ancient metallurgy gave impetus to the development of metallurgical business throughout Europe, agricultural technology has not undergone major changes to this day, especially in technically underdeveloped countries. So what do we want? Undoubtedly, the primitive "steam engine", "telegraph", antique clocks look ridiculous now, but the very idea of these developments is magnificent and could only come to the mind of a very technically gifted person. Let us consider in more detail some of the inventions of ancient technicians.
Greek automata
Not many people know that fountains, so beloved in the 17th and 18th centuries, owe their existence to the attention paid to them by a Greek author. His works on physics and mechanics are almost the only ones that have survived from ancient scientifically based technology down to the Arabs, and then to us. The name of this author is Heron of Alexandria. He probably lived in the 2nd century. n. e. and is especially interesting for us because, along with some of his own small inventions, he described the great treasures of ancient physics and technology, which, with the advent of the Renaissance, had a comprehensive and fruitful influence on modern technology. At school, his name is associated with the so-called Heron ball, in which the ejection of a water jet is achieved using compressed air. This principle was already applied by Ctesibius in the fire pump he invented.
Its more modern forms are the siphon and the atomizer. More important for the subsequent time was Heron's steam ball (eolipil), the prototype of the modern steam engine.
Antique schematic drawings, preserved in the manuscripts of Heron, can only hardly give uninitiated people an idea about this thing.
In Heron's time attention was directed more towards the amusing side of the matter than to any practical end. His presentation of physical problems, in general, resembles the manner of doing physics that took place in the cabinets of curiosities of noblemen of the 17th and 18th centuries. However, an invention published in 1629 by Giovanni Branca, who had been an architect in Loretto since 1616, indicates the application of Heron's experience with a steam engine to practical purposes.
Recently, two devices of Heron have acquired extraordinary importance in the field of trade and transport. This is a taximeter and vending machine.
Heron called the taximeter a hodometer, which means "road meter". In a free translation, his description reads as follows:
"With the help of a hodometer, we can measure the distance traveled on the ground without the tedious use of a measuring chain and pole. On the contrary, sitting comfortably in the carriage, we simply measure the space left behind by the rotation of the wheel."
This device is arranged in this way: a box is taken, a small wheel is installed at the bottom of it, equipped with 8 teeth and rotating in a plane parallel to the bottom of the box. The upper end of its axis is inserted into a special crossbar. In the place where the mentioned wheel is located, a hole is cut in the bottom of the box so that the peg mounted on the hub of the large wheel of the carriage can hook on the teeth of the horizontal wheel from below. With one turn of the carriage wheel, this peg bumps into each of the 8 teeth and moves them forward so that first the first, then the second, the third, etc., the tooth passes at the slot.
A cylinder with a screw thread (endless screw) is placed on the axis of a horizontal wheel. For this thread, a vertically positioned gear wheel, mounted on a transverse axis, is engaged. The latter also has a helical thread that moves a second, horizontal gear wheel, the axis of which, by means of a thread, moves a third gear wheel that drives the next system, etc. as desired. The more gears and endless screws we arrange, the more miles we can measure with our road meter.
So that the number of revolutions made can be seen immediately, the round axles of the gear wheels go out and have a square shape at the ends. Arrows are mounted on these ends, moving in a circle with divisions, on which you can read the position of each individual wheel and, thus, accurately establish the distance traveled.
Consequently, the matter is almost the same as on our electricity meters.
The modern taximeter also copies the principle of the ancient hodometer; only here the rotation of the rear wheel is not transmitted directly to the device, but is transferred to the driver's seat with the help of a pneumatic pipeline or a flexible shaft.
In conclusion, from a whole range of Heron's devices, I will mention the vending machine for sacred water, which became the prototype of our chocolate and ticket machines.
In ancient times, such an apparatus stood in front of the temple and, for a lowered copper coin, poured sacred water into the hands of pious visitors to the temple. Heron reports that cunning Egyptian priests invented such a combination of an assayer and a treasury, and Alexandrian mechanics built this apparatus. He describes his device as follows: a donation box is taken from the upper wall, which has a slot, inside a vessel filled with water is placed, at the bottom of it there is a sleeve, which is connected to an open tube that goes out.
Behind the vessel with water in this box is a vertical stand, the upper end of which is hook-shaped, and a rocker is suspended from it. On one arm of the rocker there is a small plate, which at rest is parallel to the lid or bottom of the box. If the plate is loaded with a small weight or a copper coin, then it will fall, and the other arm of the rocker at the point, of course, will rise accordingly. A rod is suspended from this shoulder, having a plug at the bottom that enters the sleeve. If a coin is lowered from above through the slot, then it hits the plate, presses it down and then slides to the bottom of the box along the plate that has taken an inclined position. water flows out of the vessel through the tube, meanwhile, after the coin has slipped off, the rocker tends to return to its previous position, the rod again closes the outlet, and the operation can begin again.
The servant of the temple opens from time to time the box for collecting donations, takes out coins (Heron takes a 5-drachma coin as a normal unit, which weighs a little more than one lot (17.80 g)) and tops up with fresh Holy water.
The inventor of this ancient amazing device, probably, did not even dream that his idea, in a slightly improved form, would change the entire modern petty trade. It is not known whether Heron's work was directly used by the modern inventor of the automaton.
Since Heron's book influenced all modern mechanics directly, and even more indirectly, some connection is quite possible, especially in England, where classical education is more than anywhere revered as a sign of an educated person and where ancient ideas are even more common than with us, thanks to modern English translations created by the joint work of philologists and engineers.
It is unlikely that antique clocks belong to Heron's automata, but in the time of the Hellenes, watchmaking skill was as valued as a mechanical vein.
antique clock
Watchmaking has long been considered a branch of technology, the most subtle and perfect. The ancient technicians discovered a high degree of ingenuity here. Not without reason, it was argued that in this area, up to the very modern time, not a single new idea appeared - changes in style and improvements do not count. Craft and science are here in the closest connection; Moreover, the beginning of scientific thinking, which brought man out of the animal state, is connected with the measurement of time. The change of day and night is obvious and by itself regulates the activities of people and animals. But in order to be able to distinguish time with certainty over long intervals, primitive man had to observe the night sky, where the moon clearly marked out the dates for him with the first brilliance of his crescent, the radiance of the full moon and the disappearance at the new moon.
Along with the hemispherical and conical clocks of the Berozov type, which can be called vertical clocks, horizontal clocks were very common in antiquity. With this system, lines, usually inscribed in a quadrilateral or circle, were carved on a stone slab, approved on a stand, to which they approached like a table. Horizontal lines of this type will naturally be, for the summer and winter solstices, hyperbolas whose apexes lie on the meridian, while the equator is a straight line running midway between them. Eleven hour lines run east and west, slanting more and more towards the south. With this arrangement, the whole drawing takes the form of a dovetail or an antique double ax, the handle of which forms a meridian. Therefore, the Greeks, who, with their imaginative perception of the world, were able to give such cute names even to craft tools, called this dovetail system pelekinon.
Patroclus, not better known to us, the "inventor" of the clock-axe, as Vitruvius calls him, outlined in his work, like all other inventors, the mathematical theory of this system. But empirically, the construction of such a horizontal table for anyone who observes the shadows from the sun on earth (according to the principles of modern education, small astronomers from high school do this), suggests itself. Having set the curves of the day by hand on a flat, even surface, you can already arrange a practically suitable sundial.
Vitruvius gives an elementary guide on how to establish the most important thing in the whole drawing, the meridian. If at least once a month we mark the path of the sun's shadow every hour and connect the found points with a line, then it will be found that by the time of the equinox we will get a straight line, and by the time of the solstices a hyperbola, strongly curved towards the meridian. Thus, a natural layout of the line arose by itself, geometrically calculating and constructing which was the business of mathematicians. Patroclus, therefore, was the first to make this geometric "construction" for the horizontal clock.
ancient artillery
Among the authors of ancient artillery, the most important are the mechanics Philo and Heron, but their texts are very difficult to understand, although they are provided with drawings. In the last century, philologists and military experts joined forces three times to reconstruct antique tools. Finally, it was possible to make practical models that show how the war machines of antiquity operated. The guns were mostly made of wood, the cannon balls were made of sandstone and weighed 2 to 3 pounds. In general, artillery was invented around 400 BC. e. in Syracuse. The genial and energetic monarch to whom we owe this innovation was Dionysius the Elder. Let us consider in more detail the main milestones in the development of artillery in antiquity.
Since the tools used in antiquity developed from the primitive bow, we will first consider the "bow-shaped" tools.
Already Homer in the Iliad describes the famous horn bow of Pandarus. Archer Hercules is a national Greek hero. The especially powerful bows of Philoctetes and Odysseus are sung by the Greek epic. We know from the Odyssey what strength was required to strain the stiff bows of these heroes. In order to make it possible for mere mortals to draw and lower tight bows, they first thought of a crossbow (crossbow). In its simplest design, it is known from children's toys. It is reliable that such a crossbow, as a transition to a more complex weapon, was already in Roman times and, probably, even earlier in Greece. However, military writers say nothing about these primitive weapons. Even the ancient crossbow is known to us only from two relief images found in the vicinity of Le Puy in France and stored in the Crosatier Museum there. In the figure, we see that in the simplest design it corresponds, in general, to modern children's toys. You see a hollowed-out groove in the middle, into which an arrow is placed. The string, fastened to the ends of a tight wooden or metal bow, is pulled over the groove with a small block with teeth and then, when the descent is retracted, rushes forward. Since in the figure the bowstring passes under the bed of the crossbow, the latter probably had a longitudinal slot on the side, like our children's crossbows. With such a device, the bowstring, when pulled up to the delay mechanism, passes between the upper and lower parts of the bed; after the arrow is inserted, the bowstring rushes forward along the slot with greater regularity.
But the Greek military writers, however, tell us nothing about this simple weapon; probably because it is, as a rule, the weapon of hunters, not warriors, which we see in French relief images. These writers dwell on a larger weapon, which is called the gastraphete. This "belly-drawn weapon," like a crossbow, was equipped with a bow, bowstring, and a shooting groove. But the pulling of this powerful bow could not be done simply by hand: a special mechanism must be used for this purpose. antiquity Heron ingenuity
The Greeks arranged a groove for shooting in such a way that it formed a groove that had a dovetail shape in cross section. A plank or rail is connected to this groove and is equipped with a longitudinal spike, also in the form of a dovetail. The top bar can slide back and forth on the bottom bar. Here, therefore, we have something like a slider. When they want to charge such a gastrafet, they push forward a movable bar. An iron hook is arranged at its rear end, which captures the bowstring of the crossbow in the middle.
If the crossbow rests on the ground with the protruding end of the slider, then the other end of the bed will be against the shooter's stomach. When pressing with the stomach and the whole weight of the body on this end, the slider goes up again, and the bowstring is tensed. In this position, it is firmly held with two delays. The weapon in the cocked position is placed on a support and on top of the groove, an arrow is placed in front of the iron hook; then aim and fire. To do this, the hook holding the bowstring is released by pulling out a special valve, the so-called descent. Immediately, the bowstring breaks off the hook with a buzz and sends an arrow forward. From this device of the gastraphete, further improved and strengthened by Zopyrus of Tarentum (probably at the beginning of the 4th century BC), artillery or catapults proper developed. They go by various names, such as an autotiton (a tool for throwing arrows or a catapult in the proper sense of the word) or a palinton (a tool for throwing stone cannonballs, specially called a ballista).
However, not only bows and arrows were of interest to the military of antiquity. More perfect murder weapons were invented and implemented by Philo, who as an inventor was unsurpassed at that time.
He invented a tensioning mechanism in which additional tension of any magnitude was created with the help of wedges driven from the right and left into the tension block. Further, he invented the so-called chalcothon, in which the elasticity of forged bronze springs was used to draw the bow. These ingenious devices were also copied by Schramm. But in antiquity they, apparently, were not successful. The elasticity of bronze is difficult to achieve and provides a shorter duration of action than commonly used animal sinews. However, in modern mortars, the elasticity of the steel spring system is applied in a similar way. Philo has a very interesting description of an invention that combines the principle of operation of modern automatic rifles and machine guns with ancient tools based on the use of torsion elasticity. This polyball, invented by Dionysius of Alexandria, was also reconstructed by E. Schramm. Despite the apparent complexity of the invention, this device, even in a reconstructed form, recharged itself.
The preparation of the weapon for action is carried out, as usual, by pulling the bowstring until it is captured by the hook. The tensioning gate is connected by an endless chain to the release and, upon further turning, automatically releases the hook. At the same time, it works in such a way that every time a shot is fired, a new arrow is inserted.
A funnel with a certain number of arrows is placed above the arrow groove (combat chute). Another arrow falls out of this funnel, just fitting in the longitudinal groove of the roller rotating at the bottom.
When the roller rotates, the arrow rotates with it and is located above the combat chute of the gun. Here the arrow falls down into the chute, and the empty roller continues to rotate; while, due to the rotation of the gate, another arrow is fired, the roller from above again captures a new one from the funnel. Thus, this polyball, served by one person, actually acts like a machine gun.
After gunpowder-loaded guns appeared instead of crossbows and clumsy lever and twisting guns, all other designs gradually began to disappear. The "steam gun" allegedly invented by Archimedes could not withstand the victorious advance of the powder cannon either. It is possible that Petrarch had vague information about her, not knowing her device, and Leonardo da Vinci described this gun more accurately.
This "thunderbolt", as shown in the upper drawing, consists of a cannon barrel inserted a third of its length into a brazier. There it is brought to a red-hot state, as the second sketch shows. Above the right end of the barrel is a cauldron of water. When the screw is unscrewed, the water flows into the red-hot part of the cannon barrel and there it instantly turns into steam, which with force ejects the nucleus lying in front. It concludes by saying that the cannon fires a 1-talent ball at a distance of six furlongs.
Far from all technical achievements and innovations could be considered in this work. Many of the victories achieved by the ancients are inaccessible to the modern researcher for the following reasons: firstly, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome are too far from us in terms of time, and secondly, most of the innovations of antiquity will remain a mystery to us due to an insufficiently developed descriptive system, in Thirdly, many of the technical innovations of antiquity that have come down to us are simply not implemented and not understood by our contemporaries.
We have tried to describe and present graphically the main milestones in the development of the technical thought of antiquity. First of all, of course, this is military equipment, since the ancient world is unthinkable without war. As we can see, the thought of Philo and Heron with regard to weapons of war is far from being primitive. The polybolus, ballista and other weapons they created served as an impetus for the creation of modern machine guns and cannons.
However, in civilian life, technical thought did not stand still. Household trifles and household units were created and improved constantly. When creating this work, we primarily used a descriptive method, since such a problem as ancient technology can best be covered from the point of view of description and a system-comparative method. Comparing modern and ancient technology, one can try to trace how far modern technologies are from Hellenic technology and at the same time how close they are in their basis and implementation. Throughout the work, the method of data analysis is used as a method of studying and describing the constituent parts of the object of study to represent the object as a whole. Analyzing and studying ancient technical improvements, one can form a general opinion about ancient technology as a whole, as a highly developed direction of ancient science. Thus, not only philosophy and the universe occupied the minds of scientists of antiquity, but also real mechanical and technical problems, the creation and development of more and more new units, the spread of new technical systems everywhere. Therefore, it is wrong and unscientific to question the technicality of the ancient world.
It was the Greeks who first presented people and began to develop philosophy as a separate science that studies the universal laws of the movement of nature, the thinking of society, the system of a set of views on the world and the place occupied by man in it. For the first time, ancient Greek philosophers (Plato, Socrates, Aristotle) began to study the aesthetic and ethical relationship of man to the world. Exclusively philosophical approaches to the performance of any scientific task underlie ancient Greek science. For this reason, it is impossible to single out specific scientists who dealt only with scientific problems. Absolutely all scientists of ancient Greece were thinkers and philosophers and had a solid knowledge of philosophical categories.
Mathematical research
On the top rung of the mathematical Olympus stands the proud figure of Pythagoras. This ancient Greek mathematician created the multiplication table used by today's schoolchildren, revealed the secret of a right triangle and embodied it in the theorem that bears his name, studied the proportions and properties of integers. It was Pythagoras who claimed that beauty is harmonious, i.e. it can be put into a mathematical formula. And the proof of this is the discovery of the ratio of the musical to the fundamental tone as 1 to 2, fifths 2 to 3, etc. “The whole sky is also a number” - such is the whole life of the great.
The medicine
The founder of modern medicine is Hippocrates, a famous ancient Greek physician, author of a treatise on the integrity of the human body. He developed the theory of an individual approach to each patient, introduced an indispensable case history, and instilled the foundations of medical ethics. Hippocrates paid special attention to the moral character of doctors and came up with the famous oath, which is dedicated to the profession of all those who receive a medical diploma. His immortal rule "Do no harm to the sick" is relevant today.
Story
The author of monumental works on history is Herodotus, who laid the foundation for Greek historiography, and a little later Xenophon continued his work. The very first historical works of Herodotus were devoted to significant political events experienced by the author himself. He tried in his writings to reliably illuminate the life of society in conjunction with the political and economic situations.
Introduction
The concept of " civilization' arose in the 18th century. in connection with the concept culture". It comes from the Latin "civilus" - civil, state, and is synonymous with the concept of "culture" - a historically defined level of development of society and man. The concept of "civilization" is used to characterize the material and spiritual levels of development of certain historical eras, which, in turn, can be called civilizations.
Thus, the concepts of "civilization" and "culture" complement each other. ancient civilization or culture called the culture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The period of the emergence of ancient civilization refers to the XXV century. BC e.
The era of antiquity ended in 476 AD. e. after the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Antique culture is the foremother of other cultures: Byzantine, European, Russian.
In my work, I would like to consider the main achievements of ancient civilization, including the spiritual and material order.
The culture of ancient Greece and its achievements.
It is currently believed that the history of Ancient Greece begins around the turn of the 3rd millennium BC. e., when bronze tools of labor spread everywhere on its territory. Remains of fortress walls, marble figurines, and painted vessels have been found from this period.
At the turn of the III - II millennium BC. the first cities appear on the Cyclades. the center of the Minoan civilization becomes the island of Crete.
Life in Crete centered around palaces - labyrinths, decorated with wall paintings - frescoes. Religion and theocracy played a huge role in the life of the Minoans - a special form of royal power, in which secular and spiritual power belonged to one person.
By the middle of the XIV century. BC e. The island of Crete was conquered by the Greeks - the Achaeans.
Achaean (Mycenaean) culture she adopted fresco painting, the construction of aqueducts, as well as the pantheon of gods and styles of clothes from her predecessor. The type of tombs changed: the shaft tombs were replaced by a tholos - a domed tomb.
The main achievement of the Achaeans is the linear syllabic letter B, derived from the linear word letter A.
The Cretan-Mycenaean civilization ceased to exist in the 13th century. BC when the Iron Age began.
The next period in the history of ancient Greece - Homeric period: the great Homer created the famous poems: "Iliad" and "Odyssey", which are among the greatest literary monuments of mankind. Few other monuments of this era have come down to us, mainly vases and terracotta figurines.
archaic period Greek history covers VIII - VI centuries. BC.
At this time, the Great Colonization took place, as a result of which the Greek world ceased to be isolated. The Greeks began to actively interact with other civilizations. Innovations borrowed from other cultures appear in Greek culture: alphabetic writing from the Phoenicians, coinage from the Lydians.
During this period there is Great division of labor, that is, the separation of mental labor from physical labor, which became possible due to the growth of labor productivity, an increase in surplus product through the use of cheaper and more efficient iron tools. The created economic conditions allowed some free citizens to engage in philosophy, art, mythology, politics, travel, history.
The origin and development of ancient Greek science was greatly influenced by the science of ancient Egypt and Babylon. Develop astronomy, geometry, mathematics(Pythagoras). are born historiography, geography(Aristotle, Eratosthenes, Ptolemy).
The first philosophical system arises - natural philosophy.
Ancient Greek art of that period was strongly influenced by Egyptian and Near Eastern culture and architecture. Elements of these and other foreign cultures were creatively processed by the Greeks and organically entered the ancient Greek culture.
In the literature of the archaic era, the leading role passes from the epic to lyric poetry(Archilochus, Sappho, Alkey, Anacreon); by the end of the 6th c. BC. how a particular genre is shaped fable(Aesop).
In the 8th century BC. appeared first theatre, a character was singled out from the choir - actor.
By the VI century. BC. issued architectural order(column) in his Doric and Ionic styles.
Also during the archaic period, a synthesis of architecture and sculpture takes place - temples are decorated with reliefs on the outside, statues of the deity to whom the temple is dedicated are placed inside the temples.
Single sculptures of two types appear in the art of this period: kouros- a naked young man and bark- a draped woman. This period is characterized by sculptural multi-figured compositions and reliefs.
The main monument is ancient Greek ceramics: Corinthian vases, Attic black-figure and red-figure vases.
In 776 BC arose Olympic Games.
In 449 BC a new period begins in the development of Greek culture - classical, which played a significant role in the development of ancient civilization.
During this era, the greatest flourishing reached: the medicine(Hippocrates, V century BC), philosophy(Democritus, Socrates, who created the sophist school); in literature main genres are tragedy(Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides) and comedy(Aristophanes).
Becoming widespread educational institutions: schools, palestras, gymnasiums, ephebia. Circles grouped around prominent scientists (orators, sophists, physicians) can be considered a form of higher education.
Reaches its heyday realistic sculpture made of marble and bronze. Creativity of the great sculptors of the 5th century. BC. are distinguished by monumentality, the desire for harmony, proportionality, the creation of ideal images of gods and people: Phidias(statues: "Athena - warrior", "Athena - Parthenos", "Zeus"), Myron(statue "Discobolus"), Polykleitos(statues: "Hera", made of gold and ivory, "Dorifor", "Spearman", "Wounded Amazon").
Among the painters of that time, it should be noted Polygnathus and Apollodorus who discovered the play of chiaroscuro. But their painting has not been preserved.
The main monument of that time is vase painting.
In the classical era, the Corinthian style of the order took shape, many temples and structures were built (the temple of Zeus at Olympia, the Acropolis Ensemble, which includes the Propylaea (front gate), the temple of Nike Apteros, the Parthenon and the Erechtheion with the famous portico of caryatids).
AT era of crisis(IV century BC) - during the decline of public life - became popular in Ancient Greece cynical school philosophy (Antisthenes and Diogenes of Sinope). A famous philosopher of this period was Plato, who founded his own school - the Academy, which existed for almost a thousand years.
The natural sciences, history (Xenophon) and rhetoric- the science of oratory (Isocrates, Demosthenes)
Decorative elements, the Corinthian style, and round structures begin to predominate in architecture.
The main achievements of this era can be considered architecture(stone theaters in Epidaurus, theater of Dionysus in Athens, mausoleum in Halicarnassus) and sculpture(Praxitel - "Aphrodite of Cnidus", Scopas - "Hercules" and "Bacchante", Lysippus - "Anaxiomen", "Hercules", "Hermes"). Lysippus also created sculptural portraits of Socrates, Alexander the Great.
The last era of Greek civilization was Hellenism. During this era, mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, geography, natural science, philosophy were most developed, and this development was associated with such names as Archimedes(School of Peripatetics), Euclid(elementary geometry), Eratosthenes, Aristarchus of Samos, Hipparchus of Alexandria(astronomy), Heron of Alexandria(Mechanics), Herophilus and Erasistratus(the medicine).
During this period were created libraries, the most famous of which are Alexandria and Pergamon.
The most prominent representatives of the literature of that time are: Apollonius of Rhodes, Callimachus and Theocritus, who wrote in a new poetic genre - idyllic, later degenerated into bucolic poetry, Menander, who created realistic everyday comedy.
Widespread in the Hellenistic era were memes- short scenes. Their author was Herod.
Philosophy in the Hellenistic era had a number of features: eclecticism(the desire to combine elements of different schools), epic focus. The most famous were philosophical directions: epicureanism(founder of the school - Epicurus) and cynicism, from which he separated under Zeno stoicism. The philosophy of that period is characterized by a religious bias.
The most interesting monuments of that time are the Pharos lighthouse, the Tower of the Winds, the reliefs of the Pergamon altar of Zeus, Aphrodite from the island of Melos (Venus de Milo), Nika of Samothrace; sculptural groups "Laocoön", "Farnese bull"; portrait of Demosthenes; the bronze colossus of Rhodes, 35 m high, which has not come down to us.
Thus, ancient Greek culture had a huge impact on the development of European civilization. The achievements of Greek art partially formed the basis of the aesthetic ideas of subsequent eras. Without Greek philosophy, the development of neither medieval theology nor the philosophy of modern times would have been possible. The Greek system of education has reached our days in its general features.
The significance of ancient Greek culture is so great that it is called the "golden age" of mankind. This culture is the most humane, and to this day it gives people wisdom, beauty and courage.
Culture of Ancient Rome and its achievements
Roman culture, relying on Greek culture, was able not only to develop it, but also to introduce something new, inherent only to the Roman state.
Ancient Greece in the II - I centuries. BC. was conquered by Rome, and the center of ancient culture shifted to Italy.
The ancestor of the Roman civilization is considered Etruscan civilization located on the Apennine Peninsula. The Etruscans created their own counting system with peculiar numbers, as well as writing, subsequently borrowed by the Romans.
The architectural structures of the Etruscans were stone, they were the first to build buildings with a domed vault. Cultural monuments are tombs, sarcophagi, burial urns, weapons, jewelry.
The foundation of Rome (753 BC) is the beginning of the creation of the Roman Empire. The city of Rome developed as a city of the Greek type. The Romans surrounded it with a stone wall, built sewers and water pipes, created the first the circus for gladiator fights. The Romans borrowed much of their culture from ancient Greek and Etruscan cultures. The first temple in Rome - the temple of Jupiter - was built by Etruscan masters.
In IV - III centuries. BC. Rome becomes republic, on the territory of which the Greek language and Greek customs begin to spread. There is a replacement of Etruscan writing with Greek (Latin). Arises oratory(Cicero). Created theatre.
The most famous representatives literature of that time were: Livy Andronicus, Plautus, Terentius, Lucretius, Catullus, Cato the Elder, Varro, Cicero.
Philosophical systems were not created in Rome. The most famous were the Greek schools of the Stoics and the Epicureans.
Developed architecture: The Romans widely used in the construction of arches, vaults, domes, pillars, pilasters, concrete, triumphal arches, aqueducts, bridges, basilicas and amphitheatres.
In sculpture, the Romans adhered to the Greek canons, but two new styles arose: portrait statues (busts) and togatus- statues depicting speakers in a toga.
From the sciences received great development jurisprudence- the science of law.
The last era of Roman civilization - imperial(31 BC - 395 AD) ended with the collapse of the Roman Empire into the Western Empire - with a center in Rome, and the Eastern Empire - with a center in Constantinople.
Cities such as Rome, Alexandria, Athens, Carthage become the largest centers of science: geography(Strabo, Ptolemy), medicine(Pliny the Younger, Galen), astronomy, historiography(Titus Livius, Pliny the Elder, Josephus Flavius, Publius Cornelius, Tacitus).
One of the highest achievements of all Roman culture is literature early imperial period (late 1st century BC - 2nd century AD), represented by Apuleius (“Metamorphoses” or “Golden Ass”), Pliny the Younger; satirists Juvenal, Petronius, Lucian; poets Virgil, Horace, Ovid.
The creation of such architectural monuments as the Colosseum and the Pantheon also belongs to this period.
In the late imperial period of Roman civilization (3rd - 4th centuries AD), nothing new was created. happened a crisis ancient culture, due to the low level of literacy, coarsening of morals, pessimism, and the widespread spread of Christianity.
The history of the culture of the late imperial period takes place in a struggle with the decaying traditions of ancient civilization and new, Christian principles.
In the first half of the 4th c. Christianity turns into a state religion, and in the second half of the same century, the destruction of pagan temples begins, the Olympic Games are prohibited.
Christian churches are built in the likeness of basilicas.
The Eastern Roman Empire existed until 1453 as the Byzantine Empire, whose culture became a continuation of the Greek, but in a Christian version.
The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist in 476. This year is considered the end of the Ancient World, antiquity, the beginning of the Middle Ages.
Thus, the influence of the cultural heritage of Ancient Rome can be traced in many European languages, in scientific terminology, architecture, and literature.
Many monuments of Roman culture have survived to this day. Latin throughout the Middle Ages and modern times was the language of all educated people. Based on the Latin language, a whole group of Romance languages arose, which are spoken by the peoples of a significant part of Europe. Roman architecture, based on Greek canons, became the basis of European architecture of the Renaissance and Modern times.
Ancient Rome was the cradle of Christianity, a religion that united all European peoples and greatly influenced the fate of mankind.
Conclusion
The main achievement of ancient civilization - flowering of human personality, the priority of the spiritual sphere, the rise of science, art, mythology, the emancipation of the individual, freedom.
The biggest innovation of that period was the birth of the primary system of abstract sciences - philosophy (which acquired a comprehensive character), astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, medicine, history, jurisprudence, and economics. Schools of philosophers arose: the Academy of Plato, the Lyceum of Aristotle, the Museum of Alexandria (museion). An education system has been established.
The development of the spiritual sphere during the period of ancient civilization led to the emergence of world religions, the transition from polytheism to monotheism.
A system of social and political relations took shape - democracy, which to the greatest extent met the requirements of the self-government of a community of free people.
The peculiarity of the political and economic life of ancient civilization consisted in the formation and domination of policies - independent, self-governing cities - states with many signs of a community.
In ancient times, civilization went beyond a relatively narrow local framework, world empires arose for the first time.
Ancient civilization made a huge contribution to the development of the economy (the term "Economy" was coined by Aristotle) (various forms of organization of production, property, exchange, financial, credit and monetary relations, etc. arose).
In this era, for the first time (especially during the heyday of the Roman Empire), a diversified economy, largely market-oriented, took shape.
In addition, in ancient Greece in the 5th century. BC. there were temple and private money banks that issued loans at interest.
Thus, it was antiquity that gave humanity the highest examples of philosophy, literature, architecture and art, leaving behind a cultural heritage that influenced the culture of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the New Age.
Bibliography
- Valiano M.V. fundamentals of philosophy: textbook. - M.: Publishing House. "Business and Service", 1999;
- Gurevich P.S. Fundamentals of Philosophy: textbook - M.: Gardariki, 2003;
- Zolieva L.V. World culture: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome. M.: Olma - Press, 2001;
- History of World Culture: Heritage of the West: Antiquity. Middle Ages. Renaissance: Course of lectures / ed. S.D. Silver. M.: RGGU, 1998;
- Markova A.N. Culturology. UNITY - DANA, 2006;
- Petrov M.K. Antique culture. - M.:, "Russian Political Encyclopedia" (ROSSPEN), 1997;
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- Yakovets Yu.V. History of Civilizations: Textbook for students of universities of the humanities profile. 2nd edition, revised. And extra. - M.: Humanit. Ed. Center VLADOS, 1997.
The culture of Ancient Greece has existed since the 28th century. BC. and until the middle of the II century. BC. It is also called antique - to distinguish it from other ancient cultures, and Ancient Greece itself - Hellas, since the Greeks themselves called their country that. Ancient Greek culture reached its highest rise and flourishing in the 5th-4th centuries. BC, becoming an exceptional, unique and largely unsurpassed phenomenon in the history of world culture.
The heyday of the culture of Ancient Hellas turned out to be so amazing that it still arouses deep admiration and gives reason to talk about the real mystery of the “Greek miracle”. The essence of this miracle consists primarily in the fact that only the Greek people, almost simultaneously and in almost all areas of culture, managed to reach unprecedented heights. No other nation, before or since, has been able to do anything like it.
Giving such a high assessment of the achievements of the Hellenes, it should be clarified that they borrowed a lot from the Egyptians and Babylonians, which was facilitated by the Greek cities of Asia Minor - Miletus, Ephesus, Halicarnassus, which served as a kind of windows open to the East. However, they used everything borrowed rather as source material, bringing it to classical forms and true perfection.
And if the Greeks were not the first, then they were the best, and to such an extent that in many respects they remain so today. The second clarification concerns the fact that in the field of economics and material production, the successes of the Hellenes may not have been so impressive. However, here they not only did not concede to some of their contemporaries, but also surpassed them, as evidenced by the victories in the Persian wars, where they acted not so much in numbers as in skill and intelligence. True, in military terms, Athens - the cradle of democracy - was inferior to Sparta, where the whole way of life was military. As for other areas of public life and especially spiritual culture, in all this the Greeks knew no equal.
Hellas has become the birthplace of all modern forms of state and government, and above all - the republic and democracy, the highest flowering of which fell on the years of the reign of Pericles (443-429 BC). For the first time in Greece Two distinct types of work stand out physical and mental, the first of which was considered unworthy of a person and was the lot of a forced slave, while the second was the only one worthy of a free person.
Although city-states also existed in other ancient civilizations, it was the Greeks who had this type of social organization, which adopted policy form, with the greatest force showed all its advantages. The Greeks successfully combined public and private ownership, collective and individual interest. Similarly, they connected the aristocracy with the republic by spreading the values of the aristocratic ethic - adversarial principle, the desire to be the first and the best, achieving this in an open and honest struggle - on all citizens of the policy.
Competitiveness was the basis of the whole way of life of the Hellenes, it permeated all its spheres, whether Olympic Games, a dispute, a battlefield or a theatrical stage, when several authors took part in the festive performances, bringing their plays to the audience, from which the best one was then chosen.
Polis democracy, excluding despotic power, allowed the Greeks to fully enjoy the spirit freedom which was the highest value for them. For her sake, they were ready to die. They viewed slavery with deep contempt. This is evidenced by the well-known myth of Prometheus, who did not want to be in the position of a slave even to Zeus himself, the main deity of the Hellenes, and paid for his freedom with martyrdom.
Lifestyle of the ancient Greeks cannot be imagined without an understanding of the place occupied by them the game. They loved the game. That is why they are called real children. However, the game for them was not just fun or a way to kill time. It permeated all activities, including the most serious ones. The game beginning helped the Greeks move away from the prose of life and rough pragmatism. The game led to the fact that they received pleasure and enjoyment from any business.
The way of life of the Hellenes was also determined by such values as truth, beauty and goodness that were in close association. The Greeks had a special concept of "kalokagatia", which meant "beautiful-kind". "Truth" in their understanding was approaching what the Russian word "truth-justice" means, i.e. it went beyond the boundaries of "truth-truth", correct knowledge, and acquired a moral value dimension.
Equally important to the Greeks measure, which was inextricably linked with proportionality, moderation, harmony and order. From Democritus, the well-known maxim has come down to us: "Adequate measure in everything is beautiful." The inscription above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi called for: "Nothing too much." Therefore, the Greeks, on the one hand, considered own an inalienable attribute of a person: along with the loss of property, the Hellenes lost all civil and political rights, ceasing to be a free person. At the same time, the pursuit of wealth was condemned. This feature was also observed in architecture, the Greeks did not create, like the Egyptians, gigantic structures, their buildings were commensurate with the possibilities of human perception, they did not suppress a person.
The ideal of the Greeks was a harmoniously developed, free person, beautiful in soul and body. The formation of such a person was provided by a thoughtful system of education and upbringing. which included two directions - "gymnastic" and "musical". The goal of the first was physical perfection. Its peak was participation in the Olympic Games, the winners of which were surrounded by glory and honor. At the time of the Olympic Games, all wars ceased. The musical, or humanitarian, direction involved teaching all kinds of arts, mastering scientific disciplines and philosophy, including rhetoric, i.e. the ability to speak beautifully, to conduct a dialogue and an argument. Pse types of education rested on the principle of competition.
All this has done Greek polis exceptional, unique phenomenon in the history of mankind. The Hellenes perceived the policy as the highest good, not imagining their life outside its framework, they were its true patriots.
True, pride in their polis and patriotism contributed to the formation of Greek cultural ethnocentrism, due to which the Hellenes called their neighboring peoples "barbarians", looked down on them. Nevertheless, it was precisely such a policy that gave the Greeks everything they needed to show unprecedented originality in all areas of culture, to create everything that constitutes the “Greek miracle”.
In almost all areas, the Greeks put forward the "founding fathers" who laid the foundation for their modern forms. First of all, it concerns philosophy. The Greeks were the first to create a modern form of philosophy, separating it from religion and mythology, starting to explain the world from itself, without resorting to the help of the gods, based on the primary elements, which for them were water, earth, air, fire.
The first Greek philosopher was Thales, for whom water was the basis of all things. The peaks of Greek philosophy were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The transition from a religious-mythological view of the world to a philosophical understanding of it meant a fundamental change in the development of the human mind. At the same time, philosophy became modern both in terms of the method - scientific and rational, and in the way of thinking, based on logic and proof. The Greek word "philosophy" has entered almost all languages.
The same can be said about other sciences and, first of all, about mathematics. Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes are the founders of both mathematics itself and the main mathematical disciplines - geometry, mechanics, optics, hydrostatics. AT astronomy Aristarchus of Samos was the first to express the idea of heliocentrism, according to which the Earth moves around the fixed Sun. Hippocrates became the founder of modern clinical medicine, Herodotus is rightfully considered the father stories like science. Aristotle's "Poetics" is the first fundamental work that no modern art theorist can bypass.
Approximately the same situation is observed in the field of art. Almost all types and genres of contemporary art were born in Ancient Hellas, and many of them reached the classical forms and the highest level. The latter applies primarily to sculpture, where the Greeks are rightly given the palm. It is represented by a whole galaxy of great masters, led by Phidias.
This equally applies to literature and its genres - epic, poetry. The Greek tragedy, which has reached the highest level, deserves special mention. Many Greek tragedies are still on stage today. Born in Greece order architecture, which has also reached a high level of development. It should be emphasized that art was of great importance in the life of the Greeks. They wanted not only to create, but also to live according to the laws of beauty. The Greeks were the first to feel the need to fill all spheres of human life with high art. They quite consciously strove for the aestheticization of life, for comprehending the "art of existence", in order to make a work of art out of their lives.
The ancient Greeks showed exceptional originality in religion. Outwardly, their religious and mythological ideas and cults are not too different from others. Initially, the growing array of Greek gods was quite chaotic and conflicted. Then, after a long struggle, the Olympian gods of the third generation are approved, between which a relatively stable hierarchy is established.
Zeus becomes the supreme deity - the lord of the sky, thunder and lightning. The second after him is Apollo - the patron of all arts, the god of healers and a bright, calm beginning in nature. Apollo's sister Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the patroness of youth. An equally important place was occupied by Dionysus (Bacchus) - the god of the productive, violent forces of nature, viticulture and winemaking. Many rituals and merry festivities were associated with his cult - Dionysia and Bacchanalia. The god of the sun was Gelios (Helium).
The goddess of wisdom, Athena, who was born from the head of Zeus, enjoyed special reverence among the Hellenes. Her constant companion was the goddess of victory, Nike. The owl was the symbol of Athena's wisdom. No less attention was attracted by the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Apparently, the greatest number of duties were included in the competence of Hermes: he was the messenger of the Olympic gods, the god of trade, profit and material wealth, the patron of deceivers and thieves, shepherds and travelers, orators and athletes. He also escorted the souls of the dead to the underworld. into the domain of the god Hades (Hades, Pluto).
In addition to those named, the Greeks had many other gods. They liked to invent new gods, and they did it with passion. In Athens, they even set up an altar with a dedication: "to an unknown god." However, in inventing the gods, the Hellenes were not very original. This has been observed in other nations as well. Their real originality lay in the way they treated their gods.
At the heart of the religious ideas of the Greeks there was no idea of the omnipotence of the gods. They believed that the world is governed not so much by divine will as by natural laws. At the same time, over the whole world, all the gods and people soars irresistible rock whose prejudice even the gods cannot change. Fatal fate is not subject to anyone, so the Greek gods are closer to people than to supernatural forces.
Unlike the gods of other peoples, they are anthropomorphic, although in the distant past the Greeks also had zoomorphic deities. Some Greek philosophers claimed that people invented their own gods in their own image, that if the animals decided to do the same, their gods would be like themselves.
The smooth and most significant difference between gods and people was that they were immortal. The second difference was that they were also beautiful, although not all of them: Hephaestus, for example, was lame. However, their divine beauty was considered quite achievable for a person. In all other respects, the world of the gods was similar to the world of people. The gods suffered and rejoiced, loved and were jealous, quarreled among themselves, harmed and took revenge on each other, etc. The Greeks did not identify, but did not draw an insurmountable line between people and gods. mediators between them were heroes, who were born from the marriage of a god with an earthly woman and who, for their exploits, could be introduced to the world of the gods.
The proximity between man and God had a significant impact on the religious consciousness and practice of the Hellenes. They believed their gods, worshiped them, built temples for them and made sacrifices. But they did not have blind admiration, trepidation, and even less fanaticism. We can say that long before Christianity, the Greeks already adhered to the well-known Christian commandment: "Do not make yourself an idol." The Greeks could afford to be critical of the gods. Moreover, they often challenged them. A vivid example of this is the same myth about Prometheus, who daringly challenged the gods, stealing fire from them and giving it to people.
If other peoples deified their kings and rulers, then the Greeks excluded such a thing. The leader of Athenian democracy, Pericles, under which it reached its highest point, had nothing else at its disposal to convince his fellow citizens of the correctness of his point of view, except for an outstanding mind, arguments, oratory and eloquence.
Has a special uniqueness Greek mythology. Everything that happens in it is as human as the gods themselves, which are described in Greek myths. Along with the gods, a significant place in the myths is occupied by the deeds and exploits of the "god-like heroes", who are often the main actors in the narrated events. In Greek mythology, mysticism is practically absent, mysterious, supernatural forces are not very important. The main thing in it is artistic imagery and poetry, the game principle. Greek mythology is much closer to art than to religion. That is why it formed the foundation of great Greek art. For the same reason, Hegel called the Greek religion "the religion of beauty."
Greek mythology, like all Greek culture, contributed to the glorification and exaltation not so much of the gods as of man. It is in the face of the Hellenes that man first begins to realize his boundless powers and possibilities. Sophocles remarks on this: “There are many great forces in the world. But there is nothing stronger than man in nature.” Even more meaningful are the words of Archimedes: "Give me a point of support - and I will turn the whole world upside down." In all this, the future European, the transformer and conqueror of nature, is already quite visible.
The evolution of ancient Greek culture
Preclassic periods
In the evolution of the culture of ancient Greece, they usually distinguish five periods:
- Aegean culture (2800-1100 BC).
- Homeric period (XI-IX centuries BC).
- The period of archaic culture (VIII-VI centuries BC).
- Classical period (V-IV centuries BC).
- The era of Hellenism (323-146 BC).
Aegean culture
Aegean culture often called Crete-Mycenaean, while considering the island of Crete and Mycenae as its main centers. It is also called the Minoan culture, after the legendary king Minos, under whom the island of Crete, which occupied a leading position in the region, reached its highest power.
At the end of the III millennium BC. in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. In the Peloponnese and the island of Crete, early class societies were formed and the first centers of statehood arose. This process was somewhat faster on the island of Crete, where by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. the first four states appeared with palace centers in Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia and Kato-Zakro. Given the special role of palaces, the resulting civilization is sometimes called "palace".
economic basis Cretan civilization was agriculture, which primarily grew bread, grapes and olives. Animal husbandry also played an important role. Crafts reached a high level, especially bronze smelting. Ceramic production also developed successfully.
The most famous monument of Cretan culture was the Palace of Knossos, which went down in history under the name "Labyrinth", of which only the first floor has survived. The palace was a grandiose multi-storey building, which included 300 rooms on a common platform, which occupied more than 1 hectare. It was provided with an excellent water supply and sewerage system and had terracotta baths. The palace was simultaneously a religious, administrative and commercial center, it housed craft workshops. The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is associated with him.
reached a high level in Crete sculpture small forms. In the cache of the Palace of Knossos, statuettes of goddesses with snakes in their hands were found, which are full of grace, grace and femininity. The best achievement of Cretan art is painting, as evidenced by the surviving fragments of the murals of Knossos and other palaces. As an example, one can point to such bright, colorful and juicy drawings as “The Flower Picker”, “A Cat Watching for a Pheasant”, “Playing with a Bull”.
The highest flowering of Cretan civilization and culture falls on the XVI-XV centuries. BC, especially during the reign of King Minos. However, at the end of the XV century. BC. flourishing civilization and culture suddenly perish. The cause of the disaster, most likely, was a volcanic eruption.
Emerging in the south of the Balkans part of the Aegean culture and civilization was close to Cretan. She also rested on the centers-palaces that developed in Mycenae, Tiryns, Athens, Nilose, Thebes. However, these palaces differed markedly from the Cretan ones: they were powerful citadels-fortresses surrounded by high (more than 7 m) and thick (more than 4.5 m) walls. At the same time, this part of the Aegean culture can be considered more Greek, since it was here, to the south of the Balkans, in the 3rd millennium BC. came the actual Greek tribes - the Achaeans and the Danaans. Due to the special role of the Achaeans, this culture and civilization is often called Achaean. Each center-dvorep was an independent state; there were a variety of relationships between them, including contradictions and conflicts. Sometimes they united in an alliance - as was done for the march on Troy. Hegemony among them more often belonged to the Mycenae.
As in Crete, the basis economy Achaean civilization consisted of agriculture and cattle breeding. The owner of the land was the palace, and the whole economy had a palace character. It included all kinds of workshops in which agricultural products were processed, metals were melted, fabrics were woven and clothes were sewn, tools and military equipment were made.
The earliest monuments of the Achaean culture were of a cult, funeral nature. These include, first of all, the so-called "shaft tombs", hollowed out in the rocks, where many beautiful items made of gold, silver, ivory, as well as a huge amount of weapons, have been preserved. Golden funeral masks of Achaean rulers were also found here. Later (XV-XIIJ centuries BC), the Achaeans built more grandiose mortuary structures - "dome tombs", one of which - "Agamemnon's tomb" - included several rooms.
A magnificent monument to the secular architecture was the Mycenaean palace, decorated with columns and frescoes. Also reached a high level painting, as evidenced by the paintings of the surviving walls of Mycenaean and other palaces. Among the most striking examples of murals are the frescoes "Lady with a Necklace", "Fighting Boys", as well as images of hunting and battle scenes, stylized animals - monkeys, antelopes.
The apogee of the culture of Achaean Greece falls on the 15th-13th centuries. BC, but by the end of the XIII century. BC. it begins to decline, and during the XII century. BC. all palaces are destroyed. The most likely cause of death was the invasion of the northern peoples, among whom were the Dorian Greeks, but the exact causes of the disaster have not been established.
Homeric period
Period XI-IX centuries. BC. in the history of Greece it is customary to call Homeric. since the main sources of information about him are the famous poems " Iliad" and "Odyssey". It is also called "Dorian" - referring to the special role of the Dorian tribes in the conquest of Achaean Greece.
It should be noted that the information from the Homeric poems cannot be considered completely reliable and accurate, because they actually turned out to be mixed narratives about three different eras: the final stage of the Achaean era, when the campaign against Troy was made (XIII century BC); Dorian period (XI-IX centuries BC); early archaic, when Homer himself lived and worked (VIII century BC). To this we must add the fiction, hyperbolization and exaggeration, temporary and other confusions, characteristic of epic works, etc.
Nevertheless, based on the content of the Homeric poems and the data of archaeological excavations, we can assume that from the point of view of civilization and material culture, the Dorian period meant a certain gap in continuity between eras and even a rollback, since some elements of the already achieved level of civilization were lost.
In particular, was lost statehood, as well as the urban, or palace way of life, writing. These elements of Greek civilization were actually born anew. At the same time, emerged and became widespread the use of iron contributed to the accelerated development of civilization. The main occupation of the Dorians was still agriculture and cattle breeding. Horticulture and winemaking developed successfully, and olives remained the leading crop. Trade retained its place, where cattle acted as a "general equivalent". Although the rural patriarchal community was the main form of organization of life, the future urban policy was already emerging in its depths.
Concerning spiritual culture, here the continuity was preserved. This is convincingly evidenced by the Homeric poems, from which it is clear that the mythology of the Achaeans, which forms the basis of spiritual life, remained the same. Judging by the poems, there was a further spread of the myth as a special form of consciousness and perception of the surrounding world. There was also an ordering of Greek mythology, which acquired more and more complete, perfect forms.
Period of archaic culture
Archaic period (VIII -VI centuries BC) became a time of rapid and intensive development of Ancient Greece, during which all the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the subsequent amazing take-off and flourishing were created. Profound changes are taking place in almost every area of life. For three centuries, ancient society made the transition from the village to the city, from tribal and patriarchal relations to relations of classical slavery.
The city-state, the Greek policy becomes the main form of socio-political organization of public life. Society, as it were, tries all possible forms of government and government - monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, aristocratic and democratic republics.
The intensive development of agriculture leads to the release of people, which contributes to the growth of handicrafts. Since this does not solve the “employment problem”, the colonization of near and far territories, which began in the Achaean period, is intensifying, as a result of which Greece is growing territorially to an impressive size. Economic progress contributes to the expansion of the market and trade, based on the emerging money circulation system. Started coinage speeds up these processes.
Even more impressive successes and achievements take place in spiritual culture. An exceptional role in its development was played by the creation alphabetic writing, which became the greatest achievement of the culture of archaic Greece. It was developed on the basis of the Phoenician script and is distinguished by its amazing simplicity and accessibility, which made it possible to create an extremely effective education system, thanks to which there were no illiterates in ancient Greece, which was also a huge achievement.
During the archaic period, the main ethics and values ancient society, in which the assertive sense of collectivism is combined with an agonistic (competitive) beginning, with the assertion of the rights of the individual and the individual, the spirit of freedom. A special place is occupied by patriotism and citizenship. Protecting one's policy is perceived as the highest virtue of a citizen. During this period, the ideal of a person is also born, in which the spirit and body are in harmony.
The embodiment of this ideal was facilitated by the appearance in 776 BC. Olympic Games. They were held every four years in the city of Olympia and lasted five days, during which the "sacred peace" was observed, stopping all hostilities. The winner of the games enjoyed great honor and had significant social privileges (tax exemption, life pension, permanent places in the theater and on holidays). The one who won the games three times ordered his statue from the famous sculptor and placed it in the sacred grove that surrounded the main shrine of the city of Olympia and all of Greece - the temple of Zeus.
In the archaic era, such phenomena of ancient culture arise as philosophy and spider. Their ancestor was Fal ee, in which they are not yet strictly separated from each other and are within the framework of a single natural philosophy. One of the founders of ancient philosophy and science is also the semi-legendary Pythagoras, in whom science, which takes the form mathematics, is a completely independent phenomenon.
Artistic culture reaches a high level in the archaic era. At this time it develops architecture, resting on two types of orders - Doric and Ionic. The leading type of construction is the sacred temple as the abode of God. The most famous and revered is the temple of Apollo at Delphi. There is also monumental sculpture - first wooden, and then stone. Two types are most widespread: a naked male statue, known as a “kouros” (figure of a young athlete), and a draped female one, an example of which was a bark (upright girl).
Poetry is experiencing a real flowering in this era. The epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, already mentioned above, became the greatest monuments of ancient literature. A little later, Homer was created by another famous Greek poet - Hesiod. His poems "Theogony", i.e. the genealogy of the gods, and the "Catalogue of Women" supplemented and completed what Homer created, after which ancient mythology acquired a classic, perfect form.
Among other poets, the work of Archilochus, the founder of lyric poetry, deserves special mention, whose works are filled with personal suffering and feelings associated with the difficulties and hardships of life. The lyrics of Sappho, the great ancient poetess from the island of Lesvos, who experienced the feelings of a loving, jealous and suffering woman, deserve the same emphasis.
The work of Anacreon, who sang beauty, love, joy, fun and enjoyment of life, had a great influence on European and Russian poetry, in particular on A.S. Pushkin.
Classical period and Hellenism
The classical period (5th-4th centuries BC) was the time of the highest rise and flourishing of ancient Greek civilization and culture. It was this period that gave rise to everything that would later be called the "Greek miracle."
At this time, it is affirmed and fully reveals all its amazing possibilities. antique polis, in which lies the main explanation of the "Greek miracle". becomes one of the highest values for the Hellenes. Democracy also reaches its peak, which it owes primarily to Pericles, the outstanding politician of antiquity.
During the classical period, Greece experienced a rapid economic development, which was further intensified after the victory over the Persians. The basis of the economy was still agriculture. Along with it, handicrafts are intensively developing, especially metal smelting. Commodity production is growing rapidly, in particular grapes and olives, and as a result, there is a rapid expansion of exchange and trade. Athens is becoming a major trading center not only within Greece, but throughout the Mediterranean. Egypt, Carthage, Crete, Syria, and Phenicia are actively trading with Athens. Construction is underway on a large scale.
Reaches the highest level . It was during this period that such great minds of antiquity as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle created. Socrates was the first to focus not on questions of the knowledge of nature, but on the problems of human life, the problems of good, evil and justice, the problems of man's knowledge of himself. He also stood at the origins of one of the main directions of all subsequent philosophy - rationalism, the real creator of which was Plato. With the latter, rationalism fully becomes an abstract-theoretical way of thinking and extends to all spheres of being. Aristotle continued the line of Plato and at the same time became the founder of the second main direction of philosophy - empiricism. according to which the real source of knowledge is sensory experience, directly observable data.
Along with philosophy, other sciences are also successfully developing - mathematics, medicine, history.
An unprecedented flourishing in the era of the classics is experienced by artistic culture, and first of all - architecture and urban planning. A significant contribution to the development of urban planning was made by Hippodames, an architect from Miletus, who developed the concept of a regular city planning, according to which functional parts were distinguished in it: a public center, a residential area, as well as commercial, industrial and port areas. The main type of monumental building is still the temple.
The Acropolis of Athens has become a true triumph of ancient Greek architecture, one of the greatest masterpieces of world art. This ensemble included the front gates - the Propylaea, the temple of Nike Apteros (Wingless Victory), the Erechtheion and the main temple of Athens Parthenon - the temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). The Acropolis, built by the architects Iktin and Kalikrat, was located on a high hill and, as it were, hovered over the city, was far visible from the sea. Particularly admirable was the Parthenon, which was decorated with 46 columns and rich sculptural and relief decoration. Plutarch, writing about his impressions of the Acropolis, noted that it included buildings "grand in size and inimitable in beauty."
Among the famous architectural monuments there were also two buildings classified as one of the seven wonders of the world. The first was the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built on the site of a beautiful predecessor temple of the same name, burnt by Herostratus, who decided to become famous in such a monstrous way. Like the previous one, the restored temple had 127 columns, inside it was decorated with magnificent statues by Praxiteles and Scopas, as well as beautiful picturesque pictures.
The second monument was the tomb of Mausolus, the ruler of Cariy, which later received the name "Mausoleum in Galikarnassus." The construction had two floors with a height of 20 m, the first of which was the tomb of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia. In the second floor, surrounded by a colonnade, sacrifices were kept. The roof of the mausoleum was a pyramid crowned with a marble quadriga, in the chariot of which stood sculptures of Mausolus and Artemisia. Around the tomb were statues of lions and galloping horsemen.
In the era of the classics, the highest perfection reaches the Greek sculpture. In this genre of art, Hellas is recognized as undeniable superiority. Antique sculpture is represented by a whole galaxy of brilliant masters. The greatest among them is Phidias. His statue of Zeus, which was 14 m high and adorned the temple of Zeus at Olympia, is also one of the seven wonders of the world. He also created a 12 m high statue of Athena Parthenos, which was located in the center of the Athenian Acropolis. Another of his statues - a statue of Athena Promachos (Athena the Warrior) 9m high - depicted a goddess in a helmet with a spear and embodied the military power of Athens. In addition to the named creations. Phidias also took part in the design of the Athenian Acropolis and in the creation of its plastic decoration.
Among other sculptors, the most famous are Pythagoras Regius, who created the statue "Boy taking out a splinter"; Miron - the author of the sculptures "Discobolus" and "Athena and Marsyas"; Polykleitos is a master of bronze sculpture who created the Doryphoros (Spearman) and the Wounded Amazon, and also wrote the first theoretical work on the proportions of the human body - Canon.
The late classics are represented by the sculptors Praxiteles, Skopas, Lysippus. The first of these was glorified primarily by the statue "Aphrodite of Cnidus", which became the first nude female figure in Greek sculpture. The art of Praxiteles is characterized by a wealth of feelings, exquisite and subtle beauty, hedonism. These qualities were manifested in such works of his as “Satyr pouring wine”, “Eros”.
Skopas participated together with Praxiteles in the plastic design of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus. His work is distinguished by passion and drama, elegance of lines, expressiveness of postures and movements. One of his famous creations is the statue "Bacchae in dance". Lysippus created a bust of Alexander the Great, at whose court he was an artist. From other works, one can point to the statues “Hermes Resting”, “Hermes tying a sandal”, “Eros”. In his art, he expressed the inner world of a person, his feelings and experiences.
In the era of the classics, the Greek literature. Poetry was represented primarily by Pindar. who did not accept Athenian democracy and expressed nostalgia for the aristocracy in his work. He also created iconic hymns, odes and songs in honor of the winners of the Olympic and Delphic Games.
The main literary event is the birth and flourishing of the Greek tragedy and theatre. The father of tragedy was Aeschylus, who, like Pindar, did not accept democracy. His main work is "Chained Prometheus", whose hero - Prometheus - became the embodiment of the courage and strength of man, his godliness and willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of freedom and well-being of people.
In the work of Sophocles, who glorified democracy, Greek tragedy reaches a classical level. The heroes of his works are complex natures, they combine adherence to the ideals of freedom with the richness of the inner world, the depth of psychological and moral experiences, and spiritual subtlety. Oedipus Rex was his most famous tragedy.
The art of Euripides, the third great tragedian of Hellas, reflected the crisis of Greek democracy. His attitude towards her was ambivalent. On the one hand, she attracted him with the values of freedom and equality. At the same time, she frightened him by allowing an unreasonable crowd of citizens to decide too important issues according to their mood. In the tragedies of Euripides, people are shown not "as they should be", as was the case, in his opinion, in Sophocles, but "what they really were." The most famous of his creations was "Medea".
Along with the tragedy is successfully developing comedy, whose "father" is Aristophanes. His plays are written in a lively, close to spoken language. Their content was made up of topical and topical topics, among which one of the central ones was the theme of peace. The comedies of Aristophanes were accessible to the common people and were very popular.
Hellenism(323-146 BC) became the final stage of ancient Greek culture. During this period, the high level of Hellenic culture as a whole is preserved. Only in some areas, for example in philosophy, does it fall somewhat. At the same time, the expansion of Hellenic culture took place on the territory of many eastern states that arose after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. where it connects with oriental cultures. It is this synthesis of Greek and Eastern cultures that forms that. what is called Hellenistic culture.
Her education was influenced primarily by the Greek way of life and the Greek education system. It is noteworthy that the process of spreading Greek culture continued after Greece became dependent on Rome (146 BC). Politically, Rome conquered Greece, but Greek culture conquered Rome.
Of the areas of spiritual culture, science and art developed most successfully in the Hellenistic era. In science the leading positions are still occupied maths, where such great minds as Euclid and Archimedes work. Through their efforts, mathematics not only progresses theoretically, but also finds wide applied and practical applications in mechanics, optics, statics, hydrostatics, and construction. Archimedes also owns the authorship of many technical inventions. Astronomy, medicine, and geography also have significant successes.
In art, the greatest success accompanies architecture and sculpture. AT architecture along with traditional sacral temples, civil public buildings are widely built - palaces, theaters, libraries, gymnasiums, etc. In particular, the famous library was built in Alexandria, where about 799 thousand scrolls were stored. Museyon was also built there, which became the largest center of science and art of antiquity. Of the other architectural structures, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, 120 meters high, is included among the seven wonders of the world. Its author was the architect Sostratus.
Sculpture also continues the classical traditions, although new features appear in it: internal tension, dynamics, drama and tragedy increase. Monumental sculpture sometimes takes on grandiose proportions. Such, in particular, was the statue of the sun god Helios, created by the sculptor Kheres and known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue is also one of the seven wonders of the world. She had a height of 36 m, stood on the shore of the harbor of the island of Rhodes, but crashed during an earthquake. This is where the expression "colossus with feet of clay" comes from. Famous masterpieces are Aphrodite (Venus) de Milo and Nike of Samothrace.
In 146 BC. Ancient Hellas ceased to exist, but the ancient Greek culture still exists today.
Ancient Greece had a huge impact on the entire world culture. Without it, there would be no modern Europe. The Eastern world without Hellenic culture would be very different.
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