why did the greeks become the model for the western world?

Answer 1

They were the first great western civilization. They invented democracy. Their architecture, theater, art, science, etc became the standard for later civilizations to emulate. Today when we talk about "classical art" we are referring to the ancient Greeks. Whenever you see a building with columns and pediment it harks back to classical Greek architecture. Many styles of architecture like Georgian, Federal, and Greek Revival have Greek features. Our alphabet, which is the Roman alphabet, is based on the earlier Greek. All through history many great paintings had ancient Greek mythological themes.

Answer 2

Because most of the advanced civilisations in the west were destroyed after the destruction of the West Roman Empire by the northern tribes, which were notoriously known for their ruthlessness. This era called the Dark Age which began around the 5th century AD to 10th century AD. And succeeded by the Middle Age (10-14 century AD).

In the Dark Age, many technologies, arts, & cultural works were lost. The society had a backwardness, chaos & instability era. After centuries of instability & backwardness, the situation become gradually stabil, and then followed by Renaissance era. This era are said to spark at late 13th century, for 3 centuries. In this era many scientists discovered many things, ex: Leonardo Da Vincei, Copernicus, Galileo etc. The principal features of this era were the revival of learning based on classical sources, the rise of courtly and papal patronage, the development of perspective in painting, and the advancements of science.

Some opinions says, this era is sparked by the rediscovery of ancient Romans & Greeks ruins, which contained many artworks & manuscripts. The scientist & philosopher that time were very excited by this discovery. They were trying to study and applying the knowledge to their then situations. This movement of going "Greeks & Latin" trend were said to be boosted by the growth of west european economic by Europe-Asia trading route. Many people become rich & cash flowed in. Greeks & Romans style of arts were widely demanded by these rich people. Many development based on Greeks occured in this era. They used the past advaced knowledge rather than figured them out by themselves. These things nailed the Greeks & Latins as the basis for almost everything in the wetern culture.

Cash & gold leads to corruptions & greed. The Europeans greed led them to the discovery of America (New World), which were motivated to reach the spice rich India & the silk & ceramic maker China by shortcut to the west. Then, they began to colonise & enslave Africa.

Answer 3

I am from Romania and and I know many things of Greece:the olive oil,the olives ,the fish,the history...and so on...The Greek kitchen is one of the most safe kitchen of the world:feta cheese,the fish with salad...many things are imported from Greece because they are more unfailing and in this mode we can live longer...we can eat safely and appetising without E-s and fast-food,for example a salad or fish...

Answer 4

The perfect statue of Venus , made following the model of a grek woman I suppose , became the origin of arts...meaning beautiful , perfect things made by people...reperesenting humans..

Answer 5

they became a model because of their water harvesting system.