Greece achievements. Culture of Ancient Greece: briefly

The culture of Ancient Greece has existed since the 28th century. BC. and until the middle of the II century. BC. It is also called ancient - to distinguish it from other ancient cultures, and Ancient Greece itself - Hellas, since the Greeks themselves called their country that. Ancient Greek culture reached its highest rise and flourishing in the 5th-4th centuries. BC, becoming an exceptional, unique and largely unsurpassed phenomenon in the history of world culture.

The heyday of the culture of Ancient Hellas turned out to be so amazing that it still causes deep admiration and gives reason to talk about the real mystery of the “Greek miracle”. The essence of this miracle consists primarily in the fact that only the Greek people, almost simultaneously and in almost all areas of culture, managed to reach unprecedented heights. No other nation, before or since, has been able to do anything like it.

Giving such a high assessment of the achievements of the Hellenes, it should be clarified that they borrowed a lot from the Egyptians and Babylonians, which was facilitated by the Greek cities of Asia Minor - Miletus, Ephesus, Halicarnassus, which served as a kind of windows open to the East. However, they used everything borrowed rather as source material, bringing it to classical forms and true perfection.

And if the Greeks were not the first, then they were the best, and to such an extent that in many respects they remain so today. The second clarification concerns the fact that in the field of economics and material production, the successes of the Hellenes may not have been so impressive. However, here they not only did not concede to some of their contemporaries, but also surpassed them, as evidenced by the victories in the Persian wars, where they acted not so much in numbers as in skill and intelligence. True, in military terms, Athens - the cradle of democracy - was inferior to Sparta, where the whole way of life was military. As for other areas of public life and especially spiritual culture, in all this the Greeks knew no equal.

Hellas has become the birthplace of all modern forms of state and government, and above all - the republic and democracy, the highest flowering of which fell on the years of the reign of Pericles (443-429 BC). For the first time in Greece Two distinct types of work stand out physical and mental, the first of which was considered unworthy of a person and was the lot of a forced slave, while the second was the only one worthy of a free person.

Although city-states also existed in other ancient civilizations, it was the Greeks who had this type of social organization, which adopted policy form, with the greatest force showed all its advantages. The Greeks successfully combined public and private ownership, collective and individual interest. Similarly, they connected the aristocracy with the republic by spreading the values of the aristocratic ethic - adversarial principle, the desire to be the first and the best, achieving this in an open and honest struggle - on all citizens of the policy.

Competitiveness was the basis of the whole way of life of the Hellenes, it permeated all its spheres, whether Olympic Games, a dispute, a battlefield or a theatrical stage, when several authors took part in the festive performances, bringing their plays to the audience, from which the best one was then chosen.

Polis democracy, excluding despotic power, allowed the Greeks to fully enjoy the spirit freedom which was the highest value for them. For her sake, they were ready to die. They viewed slavery with deep contempt. This is evidenced by the well-known myth of Prometheus, who did not want to be in the position of a slave even to Zeus himself, the main deity of the Hellenes, and paid for his freedom with martyrdom.

Lifestyle of the ancient Greeks cannot be imagined without an understanding of the place occupied by them a game. They loved the game. That is why they are called real children. However, the game for them was not just fun or a way to kill time. It permeated all activities, including the most serious ones. The game beginning helped the Greeks move away from the prose of life and rough pragmatism. The game led to the fact that they received pleasure and enjoyment from any business.

The way of life of the Hellenes was also determined by such values as truth, beauty and goodness that were in close association. The Greeks had a special concept of "kalokagatia", which meant "beautiful-kind". "Truth" in their understanding was approaching what the Russian word "truth-justice" means, i.e. it went beyond the boundaries of "truth-truth", correct knowledge, and acquired a moral value dimension.

Equally important to the Greeks measure, which was inextricably linked with proportionality, moderation, harmony and order. From Democritus, the well-known maxim has come down to us: "Adequate measure in everything is beautiful." The inscription above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi called for: "Nothing too much." Therefore, the Greeks, on the one hand, considered own an inalienable attribute of a person: along with the loss of property, the Hellenes lost all civil and political rights, ceasing to be a free person. At the same time, the pursuit of wealth was condemned. This feature was also observed in architecture, the Greeks did not create, like the Egyptians, gigantic structures, their buildings were commensurate with the possibilities of human perception, they did not suppress a person.

The ideal of the Greeks was a harmoniously developed, free person, beautiful in soul and body. The formation of such a person was provided by a thoughtful system of education and upbringing. which included two directions - "gymnastic" and "musical". The goal of the first was physical perfection. Its peak was participation in the Olympic Games, the winners of which were surrounded by glory and honor. At the time of the Olympic Games, all wars ceased. The musical, or humanitarian, direction involved teaching all kinds of arts, mastering scientific disciplines and philosophy, including rhetoric, i.e. the ability to speak beautifully, to conduct a dialogue and an argument. Pse types of education rested on the principle of competition.

All this has done Greek polis exceptional, unique phenomenon in the history of mankind. The Hellenes perceived the policy as the highest good, not imagining their life outside its framework, they were its true patriots.

True, pride in their polis and patriotism contributed to the formation of Greek cultural ethnocentrism, due to which the Hellenes called their neighboring peoples "barbarians", looked down on them. Nevertheless, it was precisely such a policy that gave the Greeks everything they needed to show unprecedented originality in all areas of culture, to create everything that constitutes the “Greek miracle”.

In almost all areas, the Greeks put forward the "founding fathers" who laid the foundation for their modern forms. First of all, it concerns philosophy. The Greeks were the first to create a modern form of philosophy, separating it from religion and mythology, starting to explain the world from itself, without resorting to the help of the gods, based on the primary elements, which for them were water, earth, air, fire.

The first Greek philosopher was Thales, for whom water was the basis of all things. The peaks of Greek philosophy were Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The transition from a religious-mythological view of the world to a philosophical understanding of it meant a fundamental change in the development of the human mind. At the same time, philosophy became modern both in terms of the method - scientific and rational, and in the way of thinking, based on logic and proof. The Greek word "philosophy" has entered almost all languages.

The same can be said about other sciences and, first of all, about mathematics. Pythagoras, Euclid and Archimedes are the founders of both mathematics itself and the main mathematical disciplines - geometry, mechanics, optics, hydrostatics. AT astronomy Aristarchus of Samos was the first to express the idea of heliocentrism, according to which the Earth moves around the fixed Sun. Hippocrates became the founder of modern clinical medicine, Herodotus is rightfully considered the father stories like science. Aristotle's "Poetics" is the first fundamental work that no modern art theorist can bypass.

Approximately the same situation is observed in the field of art. Almost all types and genres of contemporary art were born in Ancient Hellas, and many of them reached the classical forms and the highest level. The latter applies primarily to sculpture, where the Greeks are rightly given the palm. It is represented by a whole galaxy of great masters, led by Phidias.

This equally applies to literature and its genres - epic, poetry. The Greek tragedy, which has reached the highest level, deserves special mention. Many Greek tragedies are still on stage today. Born in Greece order architecture, which has also reached a high level of development. It should be emphasized that art was of great importance in the life of the Greeks. They wanted not only to create, but also to live according to the laws of beauty. The Greeks were the first to feel the need to fill all spheres of human life with high art. They quite consciously strove for the aestheticization of life, for comprehending the "art of existence", in order to make a work of art out of their lives.

The ancient Greeks showed exceptional originality in religion. Outwardly, their religious and mythological ideas and cults are not too different from others. Initially, the growing array of Greek gods was quite chaotic and conflicted. Then, after a long struggle, the Olympian gods of the third generation are approved, between which a relatively stable hierarchy is established.

Zeus becomes the supreme deity - the lord of the sky, thunder and lightning. The second after him is Apollo - the patron of all arts, the god of healers and a bright, calm beginning in nature. Apollo's sister Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and the patroness of youth. An equally important place was occupied by Dionysus (Bacchus) - the god of the productive, violent forces of nature, viticulture and winemaking. Many rituals and merry festivities were associated with his cult - Dionysia and Bacchanalia. The god of the sun was Gelios (Helium).

The goddess of wisdom, Athena, who was born from the head of Zeus, enjoyed special reverence among the Hellenes. Her constant companion was the goddess of victory, Nike. The owl was the symbol of Athena's wisdom. No less attention was attracted by the goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite, who was born from sea foam. Demeter was the goddess of agriculture and fertility. Apparently, the greatest number of duties were included in the competence of Hermes: he was the messenger of the Olympic gods, the god of trade, profit and material wealth, the patron of deceivers and thieves, shepherds and travelers, orators and athletes. He also escorted the souls of the dead to the underworld. into the domain of the god Hades (Hades, Pluto).

In addition to those named, the Greeks had many other gods. They liked to invent new gods, and they did it with passion. In Athens, they even set up an altar with a dedication: "to an unknown god." However, in inventing the gods, the Hellenes were not very original. This has been observed in other nations as well. Their real originality lay in the way they treated their gods.

At the heart of the religious ideas of the Greeks there was no idea of the omnipotence of the gods. They believed that the world is governed not so much by divine will as by natural laws. At the same time, over the whole world, all the gods and people soars irresistible rock whose prejudice even the gods cannot change. Fatal fate is not subject to anyone, so the Greek gods are closer to people than to supernatural forces.

Unlike the gods of other peoples, they are anthropomorphic, although in the distant past the Greeks also had zoomorphic deities. Some Greek philosophers claimed that people themselves invented gods in their own image, that if the animals would decide to do the same, their gods would be like themselves.

The smooth and most significant difference between gods and people was that they were immortal. The second difference was that they were also beautiful, although not all of them: Hephaestus, for example, was lame. However, their divine beauty was considered quite achievable for a person. In all other respects, the world of the gods was similar to the world of people. The gods suffered and rejoiced, loved and were jealous, quarreled among themselves, harmed and took revenge on each other, etc. The Greeks did not identify, but did not draw an insurmountable line between people and gods. mediators between them were heroes, who were born from the marriage of a god with an earthly woman and who, for their exploits, could be introduced to the world of the gods.

The proximity between man and God had a significant impact on the religious consciousness and practice of the Hellenes. They believed their gods, worshiped them, built temples for them and made sacrifices. But they did not have blind admiration, trepidation, and even less fanaticism. We can say that long before Christianity, the Greeks already adhered to the well-known Christian commandment: "Do not make yourself an idol." The Greeks could afford to be critical of the gods. Moreover, they often challenged them. A vivid example of this is the same myth about Prometheus, who daringly challenged the gods, stealing fire from them and giving it to people.

If other peoples deified their kings and rulers, then the Greeks excluded such a thing. The leader of the Athenian democracy, Pericles, under which it reached its highest point, had at his disposal nothing else to convince his fellow citizens of the correctness of his point of view, except for an outstanding mind, arguments, oratory and eloquence.

Has a special uniqueness Greek mythology. Everything that happens in it is as human as the gods themselves, which are described in Greek myths. Along with the gods, a significant place in the myths is occupied by the deeds and exploits of the "god-like heroes", who are often the main actors in the narrated events. In Greek mythology, mysticism is practically absent, mysterious, supernatural forces are not very important. The main thing in it is artistic imagery and poetry, the game principle. Greek mythology is much closer to art than to religion. That is why it formed the foundation of great Greek art. For the same reason, Hegel called the Greek religion "the religion of beauty."

Greek mythology, like all Greek culture, contributed to the glorification and exaltation not so much of the gods as of man. It is in the face of the Hellenes that man first begins to realize his boundless powers and possibilities. Sophocles remarks on this: “There are many great forces in the world. But there is nothing stronger than man in nature.” Even more meaningful are the words of Archimedes: "Give me a point of support - and I will turn the whole world upside down." In all this, the future European, the transformer and conqueror of nature, is already quite visible.

The evolution of ancient Greek culture

Preclassic periods

In the evolution of the culture of ancient Greece, they usually distinguish five periods:

Aegean culture (2800-1100 BC).
Homeric period (XI-IX centuries BC).
The period of archaic culture (VIII-VI centuries BC).
Classical period (V-IV centuries BC).
The era of Hellenism (323-146 BC).

Aegean culture

Aegean culture often called Crete-Mycenaean, while considering the island of Crete and Mycenae as its main centers. It is also called the Minoan culture, after the legendary king Minos, under whom the island of Crete, which occupied a leading position in the region, reached its highest power.

At the end of the III millennium BC. in the south of the Balkan Peninsula. In the Peloponnese and the island of Crete, early class societies were formed and the first centers of statehood arose. This process was somewhat faster on the island of Crete, where by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. the first four states appeared with palace centers in Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia and Kato-Zakro. Given the special role of palaces, the resulting civilization is sometimes called "palace".

economic basis Cretan civilization was agriculture, which primarily grew bread, grapes and olives. Animal husbandry also played an important role. Crafts reached a high level, especially bronze smelting. Ceramic production also developed successfully.

The most famous monument of Cretan culture was the Palace of Knossos, which went down in history under the name "Labyrinth", of which only the first floor has survived. The palace was a grandiose multi-storey building, which included 300 rooms on a common platform, which occupied more than 1 hectare. It was provided with an excellent water supply and sewerage system and had terracotta baths. The palace was simultaneously a religious, administrative and commercial center, it housed craft workshops. The myth of Theseus and the Minotaur is associated with him.

reached a high level in Crete sculpture small forms. In the cache of the Palace of Knossos, statuettes of goddesses with snakes in their hands were found, which are full of grace, grace and femininity. The best achievement of Cretan art is painting, as evidenced by the surviving fragments of the murals of Knossos and other palaces. As an example, one can point to such bright, colorful and juicy drawings as "The Flower Picker", "The Cat Waiting for the Pheasant", "Playing with the Bull".

The highest flowering of Cretan civilization and culture falls on the XVI-XV centuries. BC, especially during the reign of King Minos. However, at the end of the XV century. BC. flourishing civilization and culture suddenly perish. The cause of the disaster, most likely, was a volcanic eruption.

Emerging in the south of the Balkans part of the Aegean culture and civilization was close to Cretan. She also rested on the centers-palaces that developed in Mycenae, Tiryns, Athens, Nilose, Thebes. However, these palaces differed markedly from the Cretan ones: they were powerful citadels-fortresses surrounded by high (more than 7 m) and thick (more than 4.5 m) walls. At the same time, this part of the Aegean culture can be considered more Greek, since it was here, to the south of the Balkans, in the 3rd millennium BC. came the actual Greek tribes - the Achaeans and the Danaans. Due to the special role of the Achaeans, this culture and civilization is often called Achaean. Each center-dvorep was an independent state; there were a variety of relationships between them, including contradictions and conflicts. Sometimes they united in an alliance - as was done for the march on Troy. Hegemony among them more often belonged to the Mycenae.

As in Crete, the basis economy Achaean civilization consisted of agriculture and cattle breeding. The owner of the land was the palace, and the whole economy had a palace character. It included all kinds of workshops in which agricultural products were processed, metals were melted, fabrics were woven and clothes were sewn, tools and military equipment were made.

The earliest monuments of the Achaean culture were of a cult, funeral nature. These include, first of all, the so-called "shaft tombs", hollowed out in the rocks, where many beautiful items made of gold, silver, ivory, as well as a huge amount of weapons, have been preserved. Golden funeral masks of Achaean rulers were also found here. Later (XV-XIIJ centuries BC), the Achaeans build more grandiose mortuary structures - "dome tombs", one of which - "Agamemnon's tomb" - included several rooms.

A magnificent monument to the secular architecture was the Mycenaean palace, decorated with columns and frescoes. Also reached a high level painting, as evidenced by the paintings of the surviving walls of Mycenaean and other palaces. Among the most striking examples of murals are the frescoes "Lady with a Necklace", "Fighting Boys", as well as images of hunting and battle scenes, stylized animals - monkeys, antelopes.

The apogee of the culture of Achaean Greece falls on the 15th-13th centuries. BC, but by the end of the XIII century. BC. it begins to decline, and during the XII century. BC. all palaces are destroyed. The most likely cause of death was the invasion of the northern peoples, among whom were the Dorian Greeks, but the exact causes of the disaster have not been established.

Homeric period

Period XI-IX centuries. BC. in the history of Greece it is customary to call Homeric. since the main sources of information about him are the famous poems " Iliad" and "Odyssey". It is also called "Dorian" - referring to the special role of the Dorian tribes in the conquest of Achaean Greece.

It should be noted that the information from the Homeric poems cannot be considered completely reliable and accurate, because they actually turned out to be mixed narratives about three different eras: the final stage of the Achaean era, when the campaign against Troy was made (XIII century BC); Dorian period (XI-IX centuries BC); early archaic, when Homer himself lived and worked (VIII century BC). To this we must add the fiction, hyperbolization and exaggeration, temporary and other confusions, which are characteristic of epic works, and so on.

Nevertheless, based on the content of the Homeric poems and the data of archaeological excavations, we can assume that from the point of view of civilization and material culture, the Dorian period meant a certain gap in continuity between eras and even a rollback, since some elements of the already achieved level of civilization were lost.

In particular, was lost statehood, as well as the urban, or palace way of life, writing. These elements of Greek civilization were actually born anew. At the same time, emerged and became widespread the use of iron contributed to the accelerated development of civilization. The main occupation of the Dorians was still agriculture and cattle breeding. Horticulture and winemaking developed successfully, and olives remained the leading crop. Trade retained its place, where cattle acted as a "general equivalent". Although the rural patriarchal community was the main form of organization of life, the future urban policy was already emerging in its depths.

Concerning spiritual culture, here the continuity was preserved. This is convincingly evidenced by the Homeric poems, from which it is clear that the mythology of the Achaeans, which forms the basis of spiritual life, remained the same. Judging by the poems, there was a further spread of the myth as a special form of consciousness and perception of the surrounding world. There was also an ordering of Greek mythology, which acquired more and more complete, perfect forms.

Period of archaic culture

Archaic period (VIII -VI centuries BC) became a time of rapid and intensive development of Ancient Greece, during which all the necessary conditions and prerequisites for the subsequent amazing take-off and flourishing were created. Profound changes are taking place in almost every area of life. For three centuries, ancient society made the transition from the village to the city, from tribal and patriarchal relations to relations of classical slavery.

The city-state, the Greek policy becomes the main form of socio-political organization of social life. Society, as it were, tries all possible forms of government and government - monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, aristocratic and democratic republics.

The intensive development of agriculture leads to the release of people, which contributes to the growth of handicrafts. Since this does not solve the “employment problem”, the colonization of near and far territories, which began in the Achaean period, is intensifying, as a result of which Greece is growing territorially to an impressive size. Economic progress contributes to the expansion of the market and trade, based on the emerging money circulation system. Started coinage speeds up these processes.

Even more impressive successes and achievements take place in spiritual culture. An exceptional role in its development was played by the creation alphabetic writing, which became the greatest achievement of the culture of archaic Greece. It was developed on the basis of the Phoenician script and is distinguished by its amazing simplicity and accessibility, which made it possible to create an extremely effective education system, thanks to which there were no illiterates in ancient Greece, which was also a huge achievement.

During the archaic period, the main ethics and values ancient society, in which the assertive sense of collectivism is combined with an agonistic (competitive) beginning, with the assertion of the rights of the individual and the individual, the spirit of freedom. A special place is occupied by patriotism and citizenship. Protecting one's policy is perceived as the highest virtue of a citizen. During this period, the ideal of a person is also born, in which the spirit and body are in harmony.

The embodiment of this ideal was facilitated by the appearance in 776 BC. Olympic Games. They were held every four years in the city of Olympia and lasted five days, during which the "sacred peace" was observed, stopping all hostilities. The winner of the games enjoyed great honor and had significant social privileges (tax exemption, life pension, permanent places in the theater and on holidays). The one who won the games three times ordered his statue from the famous sculptor and placed it in the sacred grove that surrounded the main shrine of the city of Olympia and all of Greece - the temple of Zeus.

In the archaic era, such phenomena of ancient culture arise as philosophy and spider. Their ancestor was Fal ee, in which they are not yet strictly separated from each other and are within the framework of a single natural philosophy. One of the founders of ancient philosophy and science is also the semi-legendary Pythagoras, in whom science, which takes the form mathematics, is a completely independent phenomenon.

Artistic culture reaches a high level in the archaic era. At this time it develops architecture, resting on two types of orders - Doric and Ionic. The leading type of construction is the sacred temple as the abode of God. The most famous and revered is the temple of Apollo at Delphi. There is also monumental sculpture - first wooden, and then stone. Two types are most widespread: a naked male statue, known as a “kouros” (figure of a young athlete), and a draped female one, an example of which was a bark (upright girl).

Poetry is experiencing a real flowering in this era. The epic poems of Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey, already mentioned above, became the greatest monuments of ancient literature. A little later, Homer was created by another famous Greek poet - Hesiod. His poems "Theogony", i.e. the genealogy of the gods, and the "Catalogue of Women" supplemented and completed what Homer created, after which ancient mythology acquired a classic, perfect form.

Among other poets, the work of Archilochus, the founder of lyric poetry, deserves special mention, whose works are filled with personal suffering and feelings associated with the difficulties and hardships of life. The lyrics of Sappho, the great ancient poetess from the island of Lesvos, who experienced the feelings of a loving, jealous and suffering woman, deserve the same emphasis.

The work of Anacreon, who sang beauty, love, joy, fun and enjoyment of life, had a great influence on European and Russian poetry, in particular on A.S. Pushkin.

Classical period and Hellenism

The classical period (V-IV centuries BC) was the time of the highest rise and flourishing of ancient Greek civilization and culture. It was this period that gave rise to everything that would later be called the "Greek miracle."

At this time, it is affirmed and fully reveals all its amazing possibilities. antique polis, in which lies the main explanation of the "Greek miracle". becomes one of the highest values for the Hellenes. Democracy also reaches its peak, which it owes primarily to Pericles, the outstanding politician of antiquity.

In the classical period, Greece experienced a rapid economic development, which was further intensified after the victory over the Persians. The basis of the economy was still agriculture. Along with it, handicrafts are intensively developing, especially metal smelting. Commodity production is growing rapidly, in particular grapes and olives, and as a result, there is a rapid expansion of exchange and trade. Athens is becoming a major trading center not only within Greece, but throughout the Mediterranean. Egypt, Carthage, Crete, Syria, and Phenicia are actively trading with Athens. Construction is underway on a large scale.

Reaches the highest level . It was during this period that such great minds of antiquity as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle created. Socrates was the first to focus not on questions of the knowledge of nature, but on the problems of human life, the problems of good, evil and justice, the problems of man's knowledge of himself. He also stood at the origins of one of the main directions of all subsequent philosophy - rationalism, the real creator of which was Plato. With the latter, rationalism fully becomes an abstract-theoretical way of thinking and extends to all spheres of being. Aristotle continued the line of Plato and at the same time became the founder of the second main direction of philosophy - empiricism. according to which the real source of knowledge is sensory experience, directly observable data.

Along with philosophy, other sciences are also successfully developing - mathematics, medicine, history.

An unprecedented flourishing in the era of the classics is experienced by artistic culture, and first of all - architecture and urban planning. A significant contribution to the development of urban planning was made by Hippodames, an architect from Miletus, who developed the concept of a regular city planning, according to which functional parts were distinguished in it: a public center, a residential area, as well as commercial, industrial and port areas. The main type of monumental building is still the temple.

The Acropolis of Athens has become a true triumph of ancient Greek architecture, one of the greatest masterpieces of world art. This ensemble included the front gates - the Propylaea, the temple of Nike Apteros (Wingless Victory), the Erechtheion and the main temple of Athens Parthenon - the temple of Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). The Acropolis, built by the architects Iktin and Kalikrat, was located on a high hill and, as it were, hovered over the city, was far visible from the sea. Particularly admirable was the Parthenon, which was decorated with 46 columns and rich sculptural and relief decoration. Plutarch, writing about his impressions of the Acropolis, noted that it included buildings "grand in size and inimitable in beauty."

Among the famous architectural monuments there were also two buildings classified as one of the seven wonders of the world. The first was the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, built on the site of a beautiful predecessor temple of the same name, burnt by Herostratus, who decided to become famous in such a monstrous way. Like the previous one, the restored temple had 127 columns, inside it was decorated with magnificent statues by Praxiteles and Scopas, as well as beautiful picturesque pictures.

The second monument was the tomb of Mausolus, the ruler of Cariy, which later received the name "Mausoleum in Galikarnassus." The construction had two floors with a height of 20 m, the first of which was the tomb of Mausolus and his wife Artemisia. In the second floor, surrounded by a colonnade, sacrifices were kept. The roof of the mausoleum was a pyramid crowned with a marble quadriga, in the chariot of which stood sculptures of Mausolus and Artemisia. Around the tomb were statues of lions and galloping horsemen.

In the era of the classics, the highest perfection reaches the Greek sculpture. In this genre of art, Hellas is recognized as undeniable superiority. Antique sculpture is represented by a whole galaxy of brilliant masters. The greatest among them is Phidias. His statue of Zeus, which was 14 m high and adorned the temple of Zeus at Olympia, is also one of the seven wonders of the world. He also created a 12 m high statue of Athena Parthenos, which was located in the center of the Athenian Acropolis. Another of his statues - a statue of Athena Promachos (Athena the Warrior) 9m high - depicted a goddess in a helmet with a spear and embodied the military power of Athens. In addition to the named creations. Phidias also took part in the design of the Athenian Acropolis and in the creation of its plastic decoration.

Among other sculptors, the most famous are Pythagoras Regius, who created the statue "Boy taking out a splinter"; Miron - the author of the sculptures "Discobolus" and "Athena and Marsyas"; Polykleitos is a master of bronze sculpture who created the Doryphoros (Spearman) and the Wounded Amazon, and also wrote the first theoretical work on the proportions of the human body - Canon.

The late classics are represented by the sculptors Praxiteles, Skopas, Lysippus. The first of these was glorified primarily by the statue "Aphrodite of Cnidus", which became the first nude female figure in Greek sculpture. The art of Praxiteles is characterized by a wealth of feelings, exquisite and subtle beauty, hedonism. These qualities were manifested in such works of his as “Satyr pouring wine”, “Eros”.

Skopas participated together with Praxiteles in the plastic design of the temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the mausoleum in Halicarnassus. His work is distinguished by passion and drama, elegance of lines, expressiveness of postures and movements. One of his famous creations is the statue "Bacchae in dance". Lysippus created a bust of Alexander the Great, at whose court he was an artist. From other works, one can point to the statues “Hermes Resting”, “Hermes tying a sandal”, “Eros”. In his art, he expressed the inner world of a person, his feelings and experiences.

In the era of the classics, the Greek literature. Poetry was represented primarily by Pindar. who did not accept Athenian democracy and expressed nostalgia for the aristocracy in his work. He also created iconic hymns, odes and songs in honor of the winners of the Olympic and Delphic Games.

The main literary event is the birth and flourishing of the Greek tragedy and theatre. The father of tragedy was Aeschylus, who, like Pindar, did not accept democracy. His main work is "Chained Prometheus", whose hero - Prometheus - became the embodiment of the courage and strength of man, his godliness and willingness to sacrifice his life for the sake of freedom and well-being of people.

In the work of Sophocles, who glorified democracy, Greek tragedy reaches a classical level. The heroes of his works are complex natures, they combine adherence to the ideals of freedom with the richness of the inner world, the depth of psychological and moral experiences, and spiritual subtlety. Oedipus Rex was his most famous tragedy.

The art of Euripides, the third great tragedian of Hellas, reflected the crisis of Greek democracy. His attitude towards her was ambivalent. On the one hand, she attracted him with the values of freedom and equality. At the same time, she frightened him by allowing an unreasonable crowd of citizens, according to their mood, to decide too important questions. In the tragedies of Euripides, people are shown not "as they should be", as was the case, in his opinion, in Sophocles, but "what they really were." The most famous of his creations was "Medea".

Along with the tragedy is successfully developing comedy, whose "father" is Aristophanes. His plays are written in a lively, close to spoken language. Their content was made up of topical and topical topics, among which one of the central ones was the theme of peace. The comedies of Aristophanes were accessible to the common people and were very popular.

Hellenism(323-146 BC) became the final stage of ancient Greek culture. During this period, the high level of Hellenic culture as a whole is preserved. Only in some areas, for example in philosophy, does it fall somewhat. At the same time, the expansion of Hellenic culture took place on the territory of many eastern states that arose after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. where it connects with oriental cultures. It is this synthesis of Greek and Eastern cultures that forms that. what is called Hellenistic culture.

Her education was influenced primarily by the Greek way of life and the Greek education system. It is noteworthy that the process of spreading Greek culture continued after Greece became dependent on Rome (146 BC). Politically, Rome conquered Greece, but Greek culture conquered Rome.

Of the areas of spiritual culture, science and art developed most successfully in the Hellenistic era. In science the leading positions are still occupied mathematics, where such great minds as Euclid and Archimedes work. Through their efforts, mathematics not only progresses theoretically, but also finds wide applied and practical applications in mechanics, optics, statics, hydrostatics, and construction. Archimedes also owns the authorship of many technical inventions. Astronomy, medicine, and geography also have significant successes.

In art, the greatest success accompanies architecture and sculpture. AT architecture along with traditional sacral temples, civil public buildings are widely built - palaces, theaters, libraries, gymnasiums, etc. In particular, the famous library was built in Alexandria, where about 799 thousand scrolls were stored. Museyon was also built there, which became the largest center of science and art of antiquity. Of the other architectural structures, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, 120 meters high, is included among the seven wonders of the world. Its author was the architect Sostratus.

Sculpture also continues the classical traditions, although new features appear in it: internal tension, dynamics, drama and tragedy increase. Monumental sculpture sometimes takes on grandiose proportions. Such, in particular, was the statue of the sun god Helios, created by the sculptor Kheres and known as the Colossus of Rhodes. The statue is also one of the seven wonders of the world. She had a height of 36 m, stood on the shore of the harbor of the island of Rhodes, but crashed during an earthquake. This is where the expression "colossus with feet of clay" comes from. Famous masterpieces are Aphrodite (Venus) de Milo and Nike of Samothrace.

In 146 BC. Ancient Hellas ceased to exist, but the ancient Greek culture still exists today.

Ancient Greece had a huge impact on the entire world culture. Without it, there would be no modern Europe. The Eastern world without Hellenic culture would be very different.

Hellenistic civilization

While Athens and Sparta defended their freedom in battles against the Persians, and then fought among themselves, a young state grew stronger in the north of the Balkan Peninsula Macedonia. In 338, the Macedonian king Philip II in the battle of Chaeronea defeated the Greek army, which marked the beginning of the conquest of Greece. He took some policies by persuasion, others by bribery, others by military force. The position of the Greek policies was complicated by the internal struggle between the demos and the nobility and the external threat from the Persians. The defeated Greeks swore allegiance to Philip and recognized him as the leader in the fight against the Persians, after which Philip created a pan-Greek union of policies. Father's business was continued by his son Alexander the Great(356-323 BC). As a result of his military campaigns against the Persian state, a vast world empire was created, which included Greece, Persia, Egypt, Babylonia, Central Asia, part of India, stretching from the Danube to the Indus and from the Caucasus to Egypt. Only sudden death prevented Alexander from capturing Arabia and North Africa. The empire of Alexander the Great contributed to the spread of Greek culture, science, mythology, political and economic traditions over vast territories, - local civilization acquired the features of the world. However, this empire was short-lived and soon after the death of Alexander broke up into a number of Hellenistic states: Bithynia, Pergamum, Cappadocia, Pontus, the Aetolian Union, the Achaean Union, which were a kind of unity of the Eastern despotisms and the Greek polis system.

The Hellenistic era lasted three centuries. But in such a short time, the young Hellenistic states managed to become conductors of Greek civilization in the Middle East and Eastern civilizations in Greece. In various versions of the synthesis, with a predominance of both Greek and Middle Eastern elements, was the strength and, at the same time, the weakness of Hellenism. Diversity stimulated a progressive search for the new. However, precisely because of this, the acuteness of the developing contradictions turned out to be insurmountable. The reason for the death of the Hellenistic states was not only their internal instability and mutual wars, but also the growing ambitions of the young Ancient Roman civilization, from the III century. BC. launched an offensive against the Hellenistic world, culminating in the conquest in 30 BC. the last Hellenistic state of Ptolemaic Egypt.

The role of the Ancient Greek civilization in the history of mankind is great, complex and multifaceted. It was not only a powerful civilizational breakthrough. Ancient Greece acted as a kind of historical workshop, where many blanks were created, which received their further processing and improvement within subsequent civilizations. Democracy and private property, human freedom and civic duty, materialism and idealism, all these most important components of modern civilizational development were born in ancient Greece. It is no coincidence that in the history of Europe the concept of rebirth is associated with Antiquity, with the Ancient Greek civilization. People of subsequent centuries sought in it a fulcrum for the further development of the spiritual world of man, science and culture, for the most important achievement of the Ancient Greek civilization was the flourishing of the human personality.

It is to the first free community of Greeks in history that we owe the emergence of scientific thinking as a type of worldview. The Greeks created the foundations of philosophical science in its dialectical unity of the idealistic and materialistic view of the world. It was they who, realizing the significance of the past for the present and future, created the science of history. Ethics and geography, psychology and trigonometry, physics and anatomy, these and many other sciences owe the ancient Greeks not only their birth, but also their names. Ancient Greece was the birthplace of many conceptual ideas that have become scientific truth today: the atomic structure of matter, the rotation of the Earth around its axis, planets around the Sun, etc. But many of their specific inventions have also entered our today's world. It's hard to believe, but the first alarm clock was invented by Plato, and the modern taxi meter has its prototype mechanism created by the Alexandrian mechanic Godon.

The contribution of Ancient Greece to world culture and art is unique. Today, in our stores, next to the books of Tolstoy, Nabokov, Hemingway, you can see Homer's Iliad and Sappho's poems. And we perceive them as a natural part of our modern culture. Ancient Greece gave the world theater, the genres of tragedy and comedy. Their best examples still do not leave the stage, and many generations discover their innermost and purely contemporary meaning in the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles, the comedies of Aristophanes. The architecture, sculpture and painting of Ancient Greece have long been included in the treasury of world culture, among its highest examples, which equally include the Temple of Athena the Virgin Parthenon, and the discus thrower of Myron, and Aphrodite of Kindus Praxiteles, and Nike of Samothrace - a symbol of triumphant victory. Speaking of ancient Greek art, we often use the word for the first time. In the first half of the 5th BC. the painter Polygont was the first to overcome the archaic flatness and stiffness of images. His multi-figured compositions created the illusion of depth in space. Miron was the first in sculpture who managed to convey the moment of transition of the body from one movement to another. The first painter in the modern sense of the word, who applied chiaroscuro (the basis on which the painting of modern times developed), was Apollodorus of Athens. But, probably, the most important thing that the Ancient Greek civilization gave us is that ideal of the harmonious beauty of a person, which, with all the diversity of culture of the subsequent millennia, has remained unsurpassed. Not hiding from themselves the tragic underside of being, the Greeks had an amazing ability to enjoy life, to see and sing of its beauty.

The sages and inventors of ancient Greece were ahead of their time in many ways, reaching unprecedented heights in a number of areas of life from astronomy to medicine and from mathematics to geography. The authors of scientific discoveries and inventions were often deified, since there were no analogues of the projects they implemented in the entire known world, and ordinary people refused to believe that such a thing could be created by the hand of a mere mortal.

Despite the fact that dozens of centuries have passed since then, and humanity itself is just a step away from space expansion to Mars, many of the achievements of the ancient Greeks still find their application in our daily lives.

water mills

Photo from the site - www.kalavrytanews.com

Not so long ago, water mills were widely used for blacksmithing, various agricultural needs and, of course, grinding grain crops. To date, this building has undergone many changes, becoming in a sense high-tech. However, even with this, the classic water mill still serves faithfully in many less developed corners of our planet.

If you believe the work of Philo of Byzantium under the title "PNEUMATICA", then the creator of the very first sample of the mill, using the energy of water, is considered Greek scientist of the 3rd millennium BC Perachor. He, in particular, guessed how to direct the energy of water into the channel required by a person by inventing a wheel with a gear transmission. This theory was subsequently confirmed by the study of the British historian Michael Lewis, who proved that Greece was the birthplace of the water mill.

Odometer

Odometer. Photos from the site -www.archaiologia.gr

The name of this device is familiar to every car owner, since the odometer fixing the mileage is installed today in all cars without exception. In our age of advanced technology, odometers are digital, but just a couple of decades ago, mankind used traditional mechanical variations of this device, and they only slightly differed in principle from those used by the ancient Greeks millennia ago.

The fact that the odometer was invented by the Greeks is indicated primarily by its name, which consists of two Greek words: odos = road and metron = measure. The creation of the device is attributed to various inventors of ancient Greece, including Archimedes. Despite disagreements in the scientific community, the majority tends to believe that the author of the first odometer is mathematician and mechanic of the 1st century AD Hero of Alexandria.

Alarm

Which of us is not familiar with this malicious opponent of sweet morning sleep and at the same time an indispensable assistant in everyday life?! Have any of you ever thought to whom we owe this invention? Since we have raised this question in this article, the answer is obvious - ancient Greeks. Although, to be more precise, only the idea of an alarm clock belongs to the inhabitants of antiquity, since outwardly the device that we use today and its ancient counterpart are completely different from each other.

In ancient times, the Greeks used two types of such a mechanism. One of them was a water clock, from which, at a given moment in time, water began to flow drop by drop. The drops fell into a container of a special shape that amplifies the sound.

Another device, working on a similar principle, was attached to a drum, on which, at a certain moment, pebbles began to fall. The noise from falling pebbles was still the same! Both types of alarm clock were very popular in ancient Greece around the 5th-4th centuries BC. They say that even the famous philosopher Plato resorted to the help of his water variety, who, however, used the mechanism as a bell, notifying students about the start of lectures. By the way, by the 3rd century BC. the Greeks came up with a more advanced and complex type of alarm clock with a dial and hands for measuring time, as well as gongs and pipes for signaling.

Cartography

Map of Ptolemy. Photos from the site -history-of-macedonia.com

The science of map-making was born not in Greece, but in Babylon, but it was the Greeks who improved it so much that it made it possible to travel great distances. But the first map of the world was created in Greece, its author was the philosopher Anaximander (he lived in 610-546 BC). Of course, only those corners of our planet that were known to the ancient Greeks were indicated on it, but even so, the Anaximander map is considered one of the greatest achievements of its time, and the scientist himself is called a pioneer in the field of cartography.

Olympic Games

Born over 2,700 years ago in Ancient Greece, the Olympic Games are now considered one of the most exciting sporting events on the planet. They played an even more significant role in antiquity, when, due to the lack of radio and television, it was possible to see the competition of the most powerful, courageous and dexterous men, if not from all over the world, but from all over Greece, only once every 4 years.

At the same time, Greece gave us not just a sports and entertainment event, but the idea of cultural exchange and, as a result, a means to achieve harmony and understanding between peoples. Do not forget that in ancient times, Hellas was not a single country, and its policies, independent from each other, were actually a miniature model of today's world with its many states.

Ancient Greece: The ideal of a free, politically active, harmoniously developed person in spirit and body has been created. Greek mythology marks the end of the understanding of nature as a formidable force that personifies the cosmos. The Greeks had no ideas about the sinfulness of man before God, just as there was no huge gap between them. There was an ethical system. law, laws based on human wisdom, and not on the basis of the deeds of the gods. The concepts that we habitually use when talking about music originated in DG. At the heart of the ancient idea of music lies the belief that the world itself is rhythmic and harmonious, i.e. musical. Aesthetics dominates ethics. The citizen of the policy comes to naught. There is a "feeling of the world open spaces."

Civilizational: roads, bridges, water pipes, common Greek market, city-states, minted coinage, developed sciences, republican government, democratic principles, abolition of debt slavery, constitution, Many theorems that formed the basis of modern sciences.

cultural: the epic of the Trojan War, the Theater for musical and poetic competitions during the Panathenaic festivities; the magnificent temple of Athena the Virgin - the Parthenon; the precious portal of the Propylaea has been restored; temple of Athena Polias - city guards, choral singing, ensemble of the Athenian Acropolis, "Iliad" "Odyssey". solemn or military-patriotic odes, fables and epigrams. love lyrics. A novel was born. 5 have come down to us in their entirety: Kharey and Kalliroya by Khariton, The Tale of Gabrokom and Antia by Xenophon of Ephesus, Leucippe and Clitophon by Achilles Tatia, Daphnis and Chloe by Long. The rapid development of architecture tending to gigantic proportions. "Laocoön" by sculptors Alessandro, Polydor, Athenador.

Ancient Rome: Unlike previous civilizations, Rome is oriented to the west. Brave sailors and experienced traders. In religion, the deities of death play an important role.

Civilizational: Although the architecture was similar to Greek, it differed in the construction method: stone on the foundation, wood frame, brick walls. Terracotta sculpture. Roads, aqueducts, baths, hippodromes. on the forum (central square) there are public buildings. The Roman Republic and Roman law became an example for later generations. Everyone bowed to the state. An analogue of parliament is being created.

cultural: The transfer of individual traits of people. There were no human sacrifices. Oratory is part of the education system. Philosopher: Titus Lucretius Car - the doctrine of the primary elements (atoms and emptiness). Marcus Tullius Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods. Marcus Aurelius. Statue on a horse. - a model for subsequent European equestrian monuments. Poetry is diverse in terms of genre: moralizing, fighting, philosophical and love. The ancient Roman novel continues to develop the genre of the Greek adventure adventure novel. "Satyricon" by Petronius "Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass" by Apuleius.

In the 5th grade, the history of Ancient Greece occupies a special place, because it was there that the origin and strengthening of philosophical thought took place, from which many fundamental modern sciences and a view of the world came out.

Aegean era

The period in ancient history, covering the time of the cultural rise and flourishing of Hellas, is of the greatest interest, because it was then that many genres of modern art were formed. The development of the culture of Ancient Greece is divided into five periods, the first of which is called the Aegean.

The highest cultural achievement of Ancient Greece at this time are the palaces in Mycenae and Knossos. It was in Crete that the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur was born, because in Knossos the palace had more than three hundred rooms and was a real miracle of building thought, because it had two floors!

Rice. 1. Map of Ancient Greece.

Homeric Period

During this period, which lasted from the 11th to the 9th century BC, the development of mankind in the south of the Balkans rolled back to the communal system.

Rice. 2. Fall of Troy.

The period of Homer began for Greece from scratch because the previous civilization, which was the Cretan-Mycenaean, perished. According to scientists, this was due to a volcanic eruption.

It is noteworthy that against the backdrop of moral decline, culture and its values were preserved and continued to develop. Confirmation of this fact can be found on the pages of the Iliad and the Odyssey written by Homer. In addition to these works and archaeological excavations at the site of Troy, nothing more is known about this period.

archaic period

In the archaic centuries, the growth of Greek policies is observed, the minting of money begins, the Greek alphabet and writing are formed.

It was during this era that the first Olympic Games were held, and the cult of body beauty was formed.

classical period

It was a real boom of scientific thought and cultural development! During this period, Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Diogenes, Aesop lived and worked. Eratosthenes compiled a map of the ecumene - the world that was known to the Greeks. During these years, Herodotus became the father of history, and Pericles carried out his famous reforms. The Parthenon was built in Athens, the construction of temple complexes using columns was widely deployed. The theater of drama and comedy enjoyed unprecedented popularity. The only documentary mention of Atlantis in the literary works of Plato "Timaeus" and "Critias" is connected with the classical period. The foundations of mathematics and geometry were formed, the author of which was Euclid. Vase painting reached wide popularity.

In the classical period, oratory, painting, science and other genres of art are experiencing a rise and development. At that time, Greece was the leading country in the world.

Rice. 3. Diogenes in a barrel.

Hellenism

The last period in the history of Ancient Greece. During this period, there was a unification of the Hellenic and Eastern traditions, which occurred due to the conquests of Alexander the Great. In the same period, Rome conquers Greece and it loses its sovereignty, turning into an ordinary province of the empire.

What have we learned?

Speaking briefly about the most important thing about the culture of Ancient Greece, it should be noted that buildings and poems, great philosophers and sculptures - this is the "Greek miracle" that laid the foundations for the current civilization.