Why We Are All Greeks Now

A few weeks ago, I asked my 16-year-old daughter Hannah if she would like to join us on our upcoming Oxford Club tour of Greece in June.

She said she didn’t know much about Greece and wondered whether it would be worth her time. I assured her that it would…

Modern drama, poetry, literature, architecture and philosophy all evolved from Greek ways. Their way of life, their emphasis on reason, their ideals still shape every aspect of Western life.

Rational inquiry, individualism, private ownership of property, the idea of a middle class, civilian control of the military, political freedom, equal justice before the law, constitutional government, even democracy itself – these are all Greek inventions.

The Greeks made us who we are today – and their art and philosophy have rarely been rivaled.

Homer wrote the first epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, still considered among the finest classics. Late in life Thomas Jefferson declared that the most edifying books were written by "Homer and Virgil and perhaps Homer alone."

No sculptures surpass the ancient Greeks’, no buildings are more beautiful. The poetry and odes of Sappho, Pindar and Hesiod set a high-water mark. And three of the four great masters of the tragic stage were Greek: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. (The fourth, of course, is Shakespeare.)

And we aren’t even sure we have the best Greek work. Most sculptures are missing, defaced or broken. (Even Myron’s iconic Discus-thrower is based on a Roman copy.) Almost all of their buildings have fallen, the great exception being the Parthenon, which has stood for almost 25 centuries. And only fragments remain of much of their poetry and prose.

The Greeks promoted an active, vigorous life and celebrated excellence in athletics. They held foot races, horse races, chariot races and boat races. There was discus and javelin throwing, boxing, wrestling, and dance competitions. The first Olympic Games took place in 776 B.C. and continued for nearly 12 centuries until Emperor Theodosius banned all such "pagan cults."

The Greeks were the first scientists. Observation and experimentation trumped tradition and superstition:

– Pythagoras proved that the universe operates according to mathematical laws.
– Archimedes calculated the value of pi – the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter – and demonstrated the principle of leverage. ("Give me a place to stand," he famously said, "and I will move the earth.")
– Euclid wrote treatises on geometry, optics and music theory.
– Ptolemy attempted to diagram the heavens, laying the foundation of modern astronomy.
– Hippocrates was the father of Western medicine, advising physicians to "First, do no harm." Many of his heath rules remain relevant today, including "walking is a man’s best medicine" and "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food."
– Socrates, Plato and Aristotle founded Western philosophy with their sophisticated inquiries into metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. In many ways, the Greeks launched what scholar Robert Maynard Hutchins called "The Great Conversation," a dialogue about what the good life is and how it can be achieved.

Alexander the Great set out to conquer the world and created the largest empire in history up to that time. His conquests, of course, were really nothing more than one immense raid for plunder. But he was also the great disseminator of Greek culture.

The Greeks invented the idea of freedom. Historically, personal freedom belonged solely to royalty, aristocracy or the strongest male warriors. The Greeks expanded personal and political freedom to the majority. As Pericles wrote, "In Athens, we live exactly as we please." This notion existed nowhere else in the ancient world.

True, the Greeks owned other Greeks as slaves. Women were denied basic rights. And political freedom was limited to male citizens. But this was the ancient world. It was a start.

(It’s also worth remembering that slaves were present at our own founding and voting rights were reserved for property-owning males.)

Perhaps the defining feature of Athenian culture was intellectual freedom. The Greeks were the first to idealize the development of the mind, not for the good of the government or the state but for the benefit of the individual.

Everything was open to argument and discussion, including religion and government. The Greeks’ curiosity, relentless questioning and intellectual rigor led to enormous achievements in logic, physics, mathematics, rhetoric and analysis. These, in turn, laid the groundwork for progress in science, technology, engineering and medicine.

There have been countless contributions from other cultures along the way. But it is the Greek legacy of reason, investigation and individual freedom that led to the remarkable ascendancy of the West.

I explained most of this to Hannah, who listened to my rhapsody for a minute or two, then rolled her eyes and said, "Sorry I asked."

But I must have made some impression. After all, she is joining us next month.

Carpe Diem,

Alex