Cultural Traits Of The Ancient Greeks English Literature Essay

Cultural Traits Of The Ancient Greeks English Literature endeavorCultural traits can be identified as attributes of a specific civilization in congenator to their geography and time period that the civilization existed. The superannuated Greek civilization is one(a) and only(a) of several that we require studied whos cultural traits can be identified as Greek and both(prenominal) that were partly adopted. macrocosmy a(prenominal) of these cultural traits ar evident in works of art that survived the collapse of the Greek civilization. Like many a(prenominal) another(prenominal)(a) antediluvian civilizations, their cultural traits can be identified through literary works. Cultural traits from the ancient Greeks can be found today in our current society. In the next three paragraphs I will discuss some of the ancient Greek cultural traits, how they are displayed in their literature and how some of these are still evident in present day society.The ancient Greek civilizati on, in my opinion, is one of the most interesting civilizations in history. It was during this time period that we take notice of new and important ways of thinking displayed by an ancient culture, in this case, the Greeks. The ancient Greeks were the first civilization to start stressing the importance of experience and having a natural understanding of the world around them. This particular trait is due mostly in part to the Sophists, more commonly known as the professors of the ancient world. The Sophists greatly encouraged being profound and asking questions in search of the truth. They believed the truth was relative to each individual situation and that there are no single truths. This trait is an important change that was beneficial for all societies preceding the Greeks even though it created trouble for them during this time period. As the common folk began to ask questions and improve their intelligence, the political organizations and the Greek political science had th eir hands full trying to keep the masses at bay. This trait would eventually contribute to the flow of the ancient Greek empire. The Greeks were a genuinely anthropocentric culture believing man was the center of everything. They lay out this through their religion, which was partly adopted by the earlier Mycenaeans, and the gods they believed in. Even though they worshipped the gods, to them they were only referees and man was essentially the master of his own destiny. The society was dominated by the male gender by not lending any power and very little rights to the women. However, this is not unusual among ancient civilizations. The ancient Greeks similarly valued morals and tried to keep them at a high standard. This trait was also very important to the advancement of this and later societies by trying to maintain ones family and hold it to fillher using steady-going morals.Two literary works that demonstrate the ancient Greeks cultural traits are Sophocles Oedipus the King and Aristophanes Lysistrata. Sophocles defines this evident at the very beginning of Oedipus the King when Oedipus rebukes to the commoners who are kneeling at an altar praying. He asks them wherefore they dont come along and voice their concerns to him instead of the Gods. Oedipus believes he could do more than the Gods to benefactor them and the city of Thebes. This is exemplary of the ancient Greek anthropocentric visual modality. The importance of holding a family together is also demonstrated by Oedipus. When he receives the prophecy stating he would kill his father and marry his mother, he leaves the city of Corinth. It would be morally haywire for this prophecy to come true and that is why Oedipus disappears to Thebes. Going against keen-witted council from Jocasta, Oedipus goes in search for the truth and discovers that in doing so he had fulfilled his prophecy and had ashamed his family. This embarrassment leads to the suicide of Jocasta and the blindness of Oedipu s who at this compass point has completely self-destructed. In this story, Sophocles is formulateing, stay morally true to your family or lose everything you once loved. Accepting wise council from the ones closest to you displays much intelligence. Aristophanes displays these same traits in Lysistrata. In this story, Lysistrata demonstrates a keen intellect by contrive the plan that eventually brings peace to Greece. This takes great insight into what is actually causing the problem and coming up with a clever solution. Aristophanes also demonstrates how the Greeks were a very patriarchal society. He does this when the women in the story talk about their normal duties around the home and in society, which wasnt much more than household slaves. Lysistrata also light ups an framework of how good morals keep a family together. Aristophanes does so when the women talk about how they never see their husbands and it makes them sad. Lysistrata and the other Greek woman make it known to the men how important the family is by taking away what they be intimate the most, in this case its sex.These same traits are the foundation of todays society. Thats the only reason Im taking this class. It is important to get an education. It increases my ability to make good decisions in life and find a good lineage. This will in turn make my life easier and give me the ability to spend more time doing the things that I love. purpose a mate in this world can be tough. Intelligence just happens to be one of the two most sought after qualities by a woman. To me, this is just a few of the many examples of how intelligence plays a intent in everything that I do. Morals are also essential to get down in todays society. That point has been stressed to me since the very beginning of my life. Without morals it would be very hard to make friends or keep a good reputation among co-workers at just about any job one could think of. It seems that good morals be possessed of been on de cline in recent years. As the divorce rate increases it seems that the crime rate has increased at almost the same pace. Research has shown that 90% of divorces are caused by finances. This could all be alleviated by getting an education to help make ones income more stable. Society has in my opinion made leaps and bounds in the treatment of women.Womens rights have come a long way in the last 50 years by gaining higher fairish wages and the right to vote. Most dont realize that women, logistically, were the reason America played a major role in ending World War II. I dont think that todays society has the same anthropocentric view of the world that ancient Greeks did. However, I do believe that a certain amount of anthropocentrism is constituent(a) in human nature. Even with religion playing a major role in todays society, I still observe men and women walking around believing that they ultimately have the final say on what happens in their environment. This doesnt mean people be lieve they are the center of the universe. It just means that we help ourselves before we help our environment. This in turn may eventually lead to the demise of the human look sharp because we need our environment to surviveIn conclusion, I have identified several traits that were possessed by the ancient Greek culture and how these traits were evident in their literary works. It is important to understand how ancient civilizations worked so that we can learn from their mistakes. This will help people in todays society progress as a whole. If we hadnt learned from our past, we wouldnt have but a small portion of the technology and artistic culture that we have today. I think that people as a whole really want the best for other people. By understanding other cultures, ancient or present, we can better understand who we are and where we are headed.