False Believes About Ancient Civilizations 5/5 The Myth: Before the Roman Empire came along and conquered the world, reason, logic, and civility ruled in ancient Greece, where during any random late-night beer run you could run into Aristotle and Plato in line at the cash register. The whole country was a liberal arts majors wet dream. Truly, the era was a golden age for humanity. The Reality: Ancient Greece resembled a modern-day sectarian war zone with constantly warring bands. Thats not to say there werent bright spots, or that Western culture doesnt owe a great deal to said bright spots -- wed just like to remind you that the ancient Greeks exiled, lynched, or executed some of the brighter among them. Ever heard of a guy named Socrates? Yep, executed. See, the Greece of popular imagination never actually existed, because there was no one Greece. The Hellenic peninsula was home to over 1,000 city-states. And ancient Greeks identified with their city-state like patriotic gang members. Also, each gang had its own armies, governments, customs, and religions. Oh, and they all had slaves -- enough slaves to make the antebellum South seem downright forward-thinking by comparison. Because for all that talk about lofty ideas like freedom and democracy, the ancient Greeks possessed no qualms about enslaving their fellow man. Sure, some philosophers said enslaving fellow Greeks wasnt super cool, but then city-states like Sparta and Thessaly told them to take their philosophy and get bent by enslaving the entire populations of other city-states. Oh, and freedom-loving, democratic Athens had more slaves than anybody. And while were on the subject of the only democratic city-state, nows probably a good time to mention that democracy lasted in Athens for less than two centuries. Almost every ancient leading mind couldnt wait to return to tyranny, or literally any form of government other than democracy. Plato and Socrates werent buying it, while Aristotles shining defense for it was simply that it didnt suck quite as hard as other governments. So, while philosophical and cultural achievements were made in ancient Greece, they didnt spread too quickly or too far. Constant warfare and rivalry between city-states was only one impediment. The other? Less than 5 percent of those living in ancient Greece were literate. Most Greeks werent the urban intellectuals of popular imagination; they were rural farmers and herders who most likely never ventured beyond their own city-state. See, part of the problem is that we interpret the ancient Greeks through the works and words of those who were most prominent ... and those who were most prominent also happened to be their most exceptional minds. But the average ancient sheepherder didnt give two shits about logic, literature, or the theater -- he was too busy being a sheepherder who preferred the comfort and familiarity of superstition. So, expounding that situation to modern society, we can safely assume that in 2,000 years some future culture will be trying to construct an accurate picture of the U.S. based solely off of reality TV and superhero movies. And that picture will be awesome. ~Admin Sanraizu~
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 20:00:01 +0000
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