Ancient Greek Culture and Civilization Facts
The ancient Greek civilization dominated the world for hundreds of years from approximately 800 BC to 146 BC. This amazing culture made very important contributions in areas including philosophy, government, science, math, arts, politics, literature and architecture. This ancient culture is regarded as the birthplace of Western civilization due to the influence it has had on shaping today's western civilizations.
On this page is a list of interesting facts about the culture and civilization of ancient Greece, written for both kids and adults. You will find links to detail pages of information about many topics including what great contributions this culture made to the world, what their government was like, and who some of the great people of this society were.
Interesting Ancient Greek Culture and Civilization Facts
- Ancient Greece was not a united civilization; it was a series of city-states; Athens and Sparta being the most famous. At times these city-states would fight each other as in the Peloponnesian Wars and at other times they would form alliances to battle outside threats such as when the Persians invaded Greece.
- The two main city-states of Athens and Sparta were quite culturally different. Sparta's culture was centered around the military and produced some of the greatest warriors the world has ever seen; Athens culture was centered around science and art and is responsible for most of the great contributions to civilization that we attribute to ancient Greece.
- Western civilization owes the ancient Greeks for the development of the concept of democracy; a government in which the citizens have a say in how things are run. In fact the word democracy is derived from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power); therefore meaning power of the people.
- Ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle greatly influenced modern day philosophy and modern day science.
- Great Greek's such as Archimedes, Euclid, Thales of Miletus, and Pythagoras made extremely important contributions to various fields of study such as science, astronomy, mathematics, and medicine.
- This ancient culture made incredible contributions to architecture. They built all sorts of buildings but their most famous are their temples. Their greatest architectural achievement is often considered the Parthenon and the other structures located on the Acropolis of Athens. Numerous modern day buildings have mimicked the Greek style.
- The ancient Greek's also developed theater. Amazing theaters were built throughout this ancient civilization; many of which have survived to today. The most famous being the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus. These structures served as both a place for plays and for public meetings.
- The Greeks developed an advanced alphabet in fact the word alphabet is derived from the first two letters of the ancient Greek alphabet; alpha and beta.
- Every four years the greatest athletes in the world compete in the Olympic Games. The very first Olympic Games were held in the year 776 BC in the ancient Greek city of Olympia when the greatest athletes of that civilization met for various athletic contest.
- An important part of ancient Greek culture was their mythology. Their mythology was their beliefs and stories involving numerous gods and mythical beings; it was an important part of their religion. Almost every kid today has heard of the Greek mythological characters Zeus, Apollo, Atlas, and Hercules (Heracles); just to mention a few.
