An Ancient Greek Legacies, very briefly defined is something left by a predecessor for the next or the coming generation. The ancient Greeks have followed the exact meaning of the word legacy and have left behind a rich and glorious legacy and current western culture has been highly influenced by it.

Ancient Greek Legacies

The western civilization is highly influenced by the ancient Greek civilization in more ways than one. Let us have a look at some of the ancient Greek legacies have left behind for us.

Art & Architecture:

The ancient Greeks had a style of their own. Their style of art and the way their architectural wonders took shape it introduced the entire world to a completely new way of designing structures. The Greeks did a lot of drama and theatre. The western literature of the day is almost inseparable from ancient Greek theatre.

Many excavations during the 16th and 17th century BC resulted in the rediscovery of a lot of ancient Greece sculptures. These sculptures helped in shaping the imagination of the artists of the Renaissance period and it had a lot of impact on their work, especially in their depiction of the human body.

Politics & Democracy:

We Indians call ourselves the largest democracy in the world. We truly are one. But the question that we must ask is from where did we get the idea of democracy? The answer to this is ancient Greece.

In 507 BC, the Greek city-state of Athens instituted what was then called as democratic. The basic idea being of a government formed by the people and for the people has been adopted and implemented by many countries world over.

Olympics:

The greatest and the most valued sporting event in the world, ‘The Olympics’, has its roots coming from Ancient Greece. Started in the ancient Greece site of Olympia, the games were hosted for the first time in 776 BC.

Initially, it was an event of just one 600 foot long race. Gradually as years went by other foot racing events and other events like the javelin throw and discus throw were added to it. The games were abolished for a long time by Emperor Theodosius I, after more than 1000 years of existence.

Academics:

Ancient Greeks philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and Socrates, mathematicians and scientists like Euclid and Archimedes laid the foundation of the things that we still learn in our schools and colleges even today.

Writings of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are some of the best literature to have ever been produced. The Pythagoras theorem and the contribution of ancient Greeks to the field of geometric are also some of the many invaluable legacies which they have given to the entire world.