Culture of Greece

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Parthenon is an enduring symbol of ancient Greece and the Athenian democracy. It is regarded as one of the world's greatest cultural monuments.

The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in

Venetian Republic and Bavarian and Danish
monarchies have also left their influence on modern Greek culture.

Modern democracies owe a debt to Greek beliefs in government by the people, trial by jury, and equality under the law. The ancient Greeks pioneered in many fields that rely on systematic thought, including biology, geometry, history,

Arts

Architecture

Ancient Greece

Palace of Knossos (Crete
), with some Minoan colourful columns

The first great ancient Greek civilization were the Minoans, a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on Crete and other Aegean Islands, that flourished from c. 3000 BC to c. 1450 BC and, after a late period of decline, finally ended around 1100 BC during the early Greek Dark Ages. At the height of their power, they built architecture ranging from city houses and Minoan palaces. Exemplary of this construction was the palace at Knossos, which was composed of two to three levels, had over 500 rooms, and many terraces with porticos and stairs. The interior of this palace included monumental reception halls, vast apartments for the queen and bridesmaids, bathtubs with complete sewage and drainage systems, food deposits, shops, theatres, sport arenas, and other amenities. The walls were built of high-quality masonry that was covered with highly decorated frescos.

Later, the Mycenaean civilization erected palatial structures at Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos.

The Temple of Hephaestus on the Agoraios Kolonos Hill (Athens, Greece), circa 449 BC, unknown architect

After the

Erectheion which are both based in the Acropolis of Athens, and theatres. Both temples and theatres used a complex mix of optical illusions and balanced ratios. Classical Ancient Greek temples usually consist of a base with stairs at each edges (known as crepidoma), a cella (or naos) with a cult statue in it, columns, an entablature, and two pediments, one on the front side and another in the back. By the 4th century BC, Greek architects and stonemasons had developed a system of rules for all buildings known as the orders: the Doric, the Ionic, and the Corinthian. They are most easily recognised by their columns (especially by the capitals). The Doric column is stout and basic, the Ionic one is slimmer and has four scrolls (called volutes) at the corners of the capital, and the Corinthian column is just like the Ionic one, but the capital is completely different, being decorated with acanthus leafs and four scrolls.[3]

Byzantine Greece