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GREECE

Jul 14, 2017

tags: Greece

GREECE

After tens of centuries, we still take the Hippocratic Oath and call music the music, and today is the biggest reward for a professional athlete to become a participant and winner of the Olympic Games! Here I want to briefly explain why this happened, who the Greeks are, and how today we are still inspired by Greek culture.

Ancient Greece is a whole period of history, which lasted from the III millennium BC. to the 2nd century BC up to the Roman conquest and decay. And most historians consider its culture as fundamental to Western civilization, and Greece itself is the birthplace of world democracy, Western philosophy, the basic principles of physical and mathematical sciences, the art of theater, and the Olympic Games. Yes, of course, you can agree with this and not strain yourself with other thoughts. But still, in a world where cultures such as Babylonian and Persian are so tightly intertwined, of course, Greece received the skills of different civilizations and converted them into its own convenient way.

In the III-II millennia, BC E. the first states arise in the Aegean Basin on the island of Crete and the Peloponnese. These were states of a monarchical type, similar to ancient Eastern despots, with an extensive bureaucratic apparatus and strong communities. The most powerful was the Cretan Kingdom, which occupied an exceptionally advantageous geographical position, had a strong fleet. The famous Trojan War, sung in the Iliad, which is attributed to Homer's authorship, is attributed to this period.

The disappearance of Mycenaean culture in the XII century BC. E. associated with the invasion from the north of the Balkan Peninsula by Dorian tribes, among whom the clan system still prevailed. The enslavement of the indigenous inhabitants by the Dorians led to the decline of Greek cities and their culture, in particular the loss of early Greek writing, the so-called Aegean writing.

From about the 11th to the 9th centuries, the Polis period in ancient Greek history lasts and is called the Dark Ages, as well as the Homeric period, since it is known primarily from the poems Iliad and Odyssey attributed to the authorship of Homer.

In the period VIII-VI centuries. BC. Greece marks the Archaic period. When in Greece itself, Delphi, with the oracle of Apollo and Olympia with the Temple of Zeus and the Olympic Games, acquired the significance of the Pan-Greek religious centers of the most revered gods. Greek trade became virtually international, and it was marketed in both western and eastern markets. In Athens, Archon Solon introduced a series of reforms, and most importantly, abolished debt slavery, which laid the foundations for Athenian democracy. Against the background of such a variety of political and economic reasons, Greek cities begin to compete, the Peloponnesian Union led by Sparta, a military alliance of the cities of the Peloponnese to jointly wage wars and suppress the uprisings of Helots.

The classical period of Greece in the context of V-IV centuries. BC. makes adjustments to Greek life. Athens reached its maximum power and cultural prosperity when an outstanding political figure, commander, supporter of the democratic party Pericles became the head of state, who was elected strategist 15 times. This period is known in historiography as the "Golden Age of Pericles," although it was relatively short. 431 BC e. The most massive war in the history of Ancient Greece is the Peloponnesian War began, ended with the crushing defeat of Athens, the loss of possessions and privileges, and Sparta established its hegemony. In the end, 395 BC. e. the Corinthian war broke out, as a result of which Persia imposed on the Greeks a humiliating Antalkid world, the fulfillment of which Sparta should monitor. Thus she became the main enemy. To fight Sparta, the Second Athenian Maritime Union was created. Although Thebes defeats Sparta under Leuctra, Athens' attempt to impose its will leads to a new Allied war, and the alliance breaks up.

In the period of weakness of the Greek policies, Macedonia begins its rise. King Philip II of Macedonia conquered Thessaly, Phocis, Chalcis, and Thrace. The Anti-Macedonian coalition, whose ideologist was Demosthenes, suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC. E. In 337 BC E., the Corinthian Union of Greek States was created, headed by Macedonia, Macedonian garrisons were introduced everywhere, and oligarchic regimes were established.

A new stage in the history of the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean is the stage of Hellenism, which begins with the campaigns of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. E. and ends with the conquest of Hellenistic states by Ancient Rome in the 1st century BC. E., by the way, Egypt was last captured. Macedonia, having conquered Greece, fully embraced its culture, therefore, after the victorious campaigns of Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek culture spreads over the conquered eastern countries. In turn, the conquered peoples were carriers of their own ancient culture, and themselves influenced the ancient civilization.

But the monarchy of Alexander collapsed immediately after his death in 323 BC. In most states, the oligarchy or kings were in power. The struggle of states led by Athens against Macedonia after the death of Alexander, the Lamian war ended with the victory of Macedonia and the reprisal against the Greek democrats.

After the defeat inflicted by the Romans of Macedonia at the Battle of Kinoskefalah in 197, the Romans regularly intervened in the internal affairs of the Greeks, supporting the oligarchic strata against democracy. In the summer of 196, the Roman commander Titus Quinctius Flamininus proclaimed “freedom” of the Greeks at the Isthmian Games, the belief in which for a short time made Rome popular in Greece. Since that time, Greece has continuously been under Roman influence. Macedonia lost its political significance, and in 148, after the suppression of the Andriscus uprising, it was transformed with Illyria and Epirus into a Roman province. The Romans disbanded the Aetolian Union. In 146, the Achaean Union was defeated. Thus, virtually all of Greece was under the rule of Rome. With the approval of the Roman Empire in 27 BC. Greece was turned into the Roman province of Achaea, with the exception of Athens, which was nominally considered a free city. After that, Greece was not much different from other eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. From the 4th century AD, Greece formed the core of the Eastern Roman Empire - Byzantium. But I will talk about this a little later in my next articles.

Here, also, I would like to pay attention to the incredibly rich ancient Greek culture. Imagine even today we are hosting the Olympic Games, and this is an entirely Greek magnificent event dedicated to the Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus.

In science, no less wealth is observed. The great philosopher Thales became the founder of the elemental-materialistic school of philosophy. The most prominent representatives of this school were Anaximander and Anaximenes, who studied the primary matter. Democritus, Heraclitus, Socrates are the great minds of Ancient Greece. Plato became the founder of the philosophical school of objective idealism and is one of the greatest philosophers of all time.

In Greece, there were several scientific medical schools. The most famous is the Knidos and Cos. The representative of the latter was Hippocrates, who lived in the classical era. His discussions on the causes of diseases, on four temperaments, on the role of prognosis in treatment, on the moral and ethical requirements for a doctor made a significant influence on the further development of medicine. The Hippocratic Oath is today the moral code of doctors around the world.

The most important scientific center of the Hellenistic world was the Alexandrian Museum and the library of Alexandria, which totaled more than half a million books. Outstanding scientists, poets, artists from all over the Mediterranean came here to work.

The appearance of the ancient Greek theater is associated with holidays in honor of the god of viticulture Dionysus - Dionysius. The actors were exclusively men, and they played in special masks. The most illustrious playwrights were the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Aristophanes, author of the works “Clouds,” “Wasps,” “Frogs,” was deservedly considered a master of comedy. The dramatic works of the ancient Greeks still remain in the repertoire of many theaters, and they have been filmed many times.

An essential place in the life of the Hellenes was occupied by music. The images of musicians are represented in ancient Greek mythology, such as Orpheus, Pan, Marsyos. The musical culture of the ancient Greeks preceded the cult music of Christian Europe of the following centuries, namely Byzantine music, Gregorian singing. Greece largely determined the further development of European music, giving the majority of European languages the very term “music”, because the word itself comes from the goddesses Muz, who were the patrons of poetry, arts, and sciences.

The architectural heritage of ancient Greece has saved to this day. The perfect architectural ensemble of classical Greece is the Acropolis of Athens. The construction of such famous “wonders of the world” as the tomb of the Tsar Mausoleum in Halicarnassus and the Pharos lighthouse at the entrance to Alexandria harbor, the temple of Dionysos in Theos, the creation of Hermogenes, dates back to this time.

If we are talking about the fine arts of Greece, then sculpture was a popular form of Hellenic art. Archaeologists have found dozens of very similar archaic statues of two types, and the so-called Kouros are statues of naked youths, and barks are draped female figures. The masterpieces of sculpture, which humanity never ceases to admire, were given to the world by the era of ancient Greek classics. Contemporaries rightly ranked the statue of Zeus, lined with gold and ivory, in the main temple of Zeus in Olympia to the seven wonders of the world.

The work of Skopas was bright, even to this day, a sculptural portrait of Alexander the Great has been preserved. Advances in science have expanded the technical capabilities of art. One of the "seven wonders of the world" is the Colossus of Rhodes, which was a bronze statue of the god of the sun Helios, and the height of the colossus reached about 35 meters.

Of course, fashion was an integral part of every Greek life and laid the foundation for a whole culture of wearing clothes, hairstyles, and jewelry. And I want to note that it is sculpture and frescoes that allow us to get acquainted with the fashion of that time.

Women's fashion in Greece is blue, red, purple, green colors. The Greeks preferred woolen, linen and silk fabrics. And the basis of the costume was drapery, decorated with embroidery, ornaments, appliques or drawings. Greece is clothing in the form of peplos, chitton, raincoat gimation, tunic, kolobos, etc. Women walked barefoot, but when leaving the courtyard the rich and free necessarily wore sandals or creeps, which were decorated with embroidery, gold metal overlays, pearls, precious stones. A very popular addition to the costume was a fan, which was made of colored feathers, painted boards, metal sheets. Other decorations included pendants, earrings, buckles, brooches.

Only in Greece that the first professional hairdressers appear, these are calamists. Among the hairstyles, corymbos, lampadion, hair curled and bundled, decorated with tiaras, rims, ribbons. Women practically did not wear hats but covered their hair with part of the coat of himation. The veil blanket was very popular, which was usually made of very thin fabric. But a little later you can meet a folia hat, which was made from straw.

Ancient Greek women used whitewash, blush, lipsticks, tinted eyes and eyebrows.

If we are talking about men's fashion, then the clothes were also like women's draped, but short, for example, tunic, tunic, kolobos, raincoat gimation, chlamydia, etc. Among the shoes are sandals, crepes, desks. Among the hats are the hats of kine, pili, petas, Phrygian cap, and everything is decorated with feathers or cut hair. Known persons wore wreaths with laurel, gold, silver, bronze, copper.

Mostly men wear a beard and mustache, but under the influence of the Roman Empire, shaving is becoming popular. The same thing happened with hairstyles, long hair throughout the history of Greece, and short haircuts already the Roman conquest.

Greece today is a small territory of the planet, but the memory of past Ancient Greece excites thoughts to this day, which we often see among the works of modern masters. Let's take a look at this all in abundance.

So, the interior in the Greek style or, as it is often called, in the Mediterranean style is, first of all, that is connected with the sea, the sun, and plentiful vegetation. This is a state of peace and tranquility.

Often Ancient Greece inspires the world of art.

The Odyssey movie by Andrei Konchalovsky, 1997

Troy movie by Wolfgang Petersen, 2004

The gorgeous Rachel Weisz in Agora movie by Alejandro Amenábar, 2009

Kellan Lutz and Gaia Weiss in The Legend of Hercules movie by Renny Harlin, 2014

Dwayne Johnson and Barbara Palvin in the Hercules movie by Brett Ratner, 2014

A couple of years ago, the greatest artist of our time, Karl Lagerfeld, introduced to the world Chanel Resort 2018 show in Paris.

A year later, Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda Fashion Show 2019 took place at the Temple of Concordia, an ancient Greek temple in the southern Sicilian town Valle Dei Templi in Agrigento.

And just incredibly cool shooting with the top model Bella Hadid for the April's Vogue Greece. The work of Daniela Agnelli is, of course, the pinnacle of taste, and all this we see through the camera of the photographer Txema Yeste.

One of the most famous Greek designers is Celia Kritharioti. Her name is synonymous with sophisticated elegance, designing perfection, and intriguing glamor.

Guys, this is all this time, and I will return to you with my next review of the life and culture of Ancient Rome. Follow minds, lifestyle, travel, subscribe, get inspired, ask questions.

pics: wikipedia.org, panoramio.com,vogue.com