From the other side, urbanization also led to the weakening centralization.
But in a general scope one the hand with military and economical advantages urbanization also led to cultural Hellenization, which is considered to be its main political achievement. it's important to note that a number of kingdoms in Asia Minor and Middle East adopted Greek law and Greek civil norms. Such changes had a very progressive effect on social life, as it led to the reduction of slavery and guaranteed protection of property rights to citizens in former despotic societies.
Cultural interaction of Greek polises with natives led to the penetration of local customs and cultural traits to the life of Greeks. Greek culture of polises experienced deep interaction with Persian and Indian achievements, as well as Chinese, which penetrated to Hellenistic world from India. Greeks enriched their mythological beliefs by religious beliefs of native peoples who in majority were polytheist (with exception of Jews and Zoroastrians). Polises founded by Greeks were populated by different peoples, it's enough to note that for example Jews formed 20% of Alexandria's population. As polis guaranteed freedoms and protection to its citizens, cities often turned into shelters for runaway peasants and slaves. Such interaction created favorable conditions for the...
Greek Mythology and Feminine Divinity Hesiod's Theogony tells of many goddesses who were wily, powerful and ruled many significant aspects of life. However, the Homeric Hymns to Demeter and Apollo show how limited and domesticated goddesses had become. Though the goddesses retained powers over human beings and their own fertility, they were nevertheless considerably weakened when dealing with other gods. Greek Mythology Limits and Domesticates a Previous Notion of Power in the
Greek and Roman Greek Mythology: Identification of Heroic Greek Myths in Modern Movies There are many effective and functional parallels in modern movies to ancient myths. They make us feel and think about many things. Modern movies that have been successful at the box office are inspired by Greek myths. We see common themes, characters and motifs of myth in the modern movies. The goal here is to identify the mythic elements
Death in Venice In Thomas Mann's novella Death in Venice, a writer goes to the title city in order to find inspiration and to ease his writer's block. During his time there, he discovers and then becomes obsessed with a young boy who he sees as incomparably beautiful. Instead of physically expressing his emotions for the boy, he forces the emotions to remain internal, something which eventually leads to his destruction.
it's also important to note that Greeks brought metallurgy innovations to the non-Greek world: iron, which dramatically increased strength of metal tools and weapons and cupro-nickel (used in coining). A number of Asian peoples also adapted Greek alphabet and papyrus. But in many cases influence of Greeks was considerably obvious only in Asian kingdoms, as most of Mediterranean non-Greek cultures stood on the same level of development as Greeks. For
Greek Sculpture A Timeline of Greek Sculpture Polykleitos, Doryphoros (early fourth century BC) As Paul Johnson (2003) records, this ancient example of Greek classicalism "epitomizes a canon of male beauty embodied in mathematical proportions" (p. 63). Showing the perfection of contraposto, Doryphoros (or the spear-carrier) is a balanced representation of the body's muscles. Polykleitos, a contemporary of Phidias, had his own school of young artists, which carried on into the third century BC.
Using this as a foundation, the Ancient Greeks built a society in which women had few rights and were basically the property of men. But women were only one aspect of Greek culture, a culture that seemed to be based on pessimistic beginnings. Hesiod's "The Five Ages of Man" describe a period in which the world slowly devolved from a paradise into the chaos and horror of the ancient world.
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