The Ancient Greeks were from the land we still know today as Greece and came from the cultures of two ancient societies the Minoans and the Mycenaeans who started on an island called Crete. Some of the ways Ancient Greeks have influenced us is with Language, Medicine, Sporting events and Astronomy. The Ancient Greeks have influenced the English language greatly from not only the alphabet but also a major proportion of its vocabulary. Their direction of writing was inconsistent for a while but finally settled on Left to Right which we then adopted as our writing direction after a period of time.
All of the alphabets of the world commenced from the Phoenician alphabet and it took the Greeks 900 years to use it consisting only of 19 characters. It didn’t have any vowels. We then used their ideas to make vowels into our alphabet. That’s where the idea of vowels originated. Which means the way we write, speak, read and our alphabet have all been influenced tremendously by the Ancient Greeks. The Ancient Greeks have swayed the ways we use medicine today. Most Ancient Greeks believed that sickness or disability was a punishment from the gods.
Hippocrates was the first doctor to suggest that a person’s medical condition had nothing to do with religion, and more to do with diet, living conditions and fitness. Aristotle also helped to advance early medicine thinking. He was called the ‘ father of biology’ who made detailed observations about how the human body worked. The ancient Greeks have helped us to understand how the human body works and was the foundation of our knowledge about our diet and the reasons why we get sick. The Ancient Greeks have had an impact on the way we see astronomy.
Some of the world’s first astronomers come from Ancient Greek. To describe the relationship between the Earth and the Universe men put forward ideas based on what they observed. About a thousand years later Aristarchus was proved right about the Earth does Orbit the sun. This information has contributed to our knowledge of the universe significantly. The Ancient Greeks have contributed largely to the way we embrace our Olympic games today. The Olympics were first held as a religious festival to honour Zeus the Greek god of heaven and Earth.
It was not until 1896 when the wealthy Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin revived the Olympics and that’s when they became just a sporting event. The ancient Greek Olympics started and ended with a ceremony or celebration, which is one of the things we still do today. Back in the ancient Greek Olympics only men were allowed to compete in the events. Today both men and women have equal rights to compete. Physical fitness is very important to todays Olympians. It was also important to the Ancient Olympians, as it meant they were ready for battle. Every Ancient competitor wanted the olive wreath that was given to the winner.
There were no awards for second or third. The ancient Olympics were in some ways the same as today. We have taken some of there ancient practices and changed them to suit our needs today in modern society. The Ancient Greeks as mentioned above have contributed greatly to our modern ways of living. From their ancient ways of medicine and science to the modern English language and ways we conduct our Olympic games. We have adopted a vast portion of Ancient Greeks practices over the years. We have a huge percentage of things to thank them for.