Culture of Greece

The culture of Greece has evolved over thousands of years, beginning in Minoan and later in Mycenaean Greece, continuing most notably into Classical Greece, while influencing the Roman Empire and its successor the Byzantine Empire. Other cultures and states such as the Frankish states, the Ottoman Empire, the Venetian Republic and Bavarian and Danish monarchies have also left their influence on modern Greek culture, but historians credit the Greek War of Independence and democracy. 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, philosophy, and physics. They introduced such important literary forms as epic and lyric poetry, history, tragedy, and comedy. In their pursuit of order and proportion, the Greeks created an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art. Ancient Greek architecture 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 royal palaces. Exemplary of this construction was the palace of king Minos, located 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, baths with complete sewage and drainage systems, food deposits, shops, theatres, sport arenas, and other amenities. The walls were built of polished marble or masonry that was covered with highly-decorated frescos. Besides the palace, on the island of Santorini, an entire Minoan city was discovered in 1967, called Akrotiri. Later, the Mycenaean civilization erected palatial structures at Mycenae, Tiryns and Pylos.