The Role Of The Enlightenment In Ancient Greece
Beginning in the late eighteenth century, the values of freedom, liberty, and independence, surrounded the state of Greece, making the way for the period in Greek history known as the Modern Greek Enlightenment. The enlightenment represented the idealization and growing dream of a one day, unified and free Greek state. Greece had been under Ottoman rule for over three and a half centuries of slavery and oppression. For many Greeks, the idea of the Enlightenment was the only hope left to answering their dreams of independence. One very important figure of the Modern Greek Enlightenment who is now believed to be the “Greatest Greek Nationalist” is Adamantios Korais. His passion for education and radical ideas paved the way for the Greek War
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This age of reason was the economic, political, scientific and ideological movement that focused on improving the lives of Greek people. The greater goal of the Modern Greek Enlightenment was the realization of the greater need of education in Greece. Korais believed that educated people would better understand reasons for freedom and change. Therefore, Greek literature was important because it involved work about history and philosophy relating to Ancient Greece. Spreading literary works would create a wholesome understanding of past achievements that were critical for restoring Greek nationalism and cultural pride. This is why during the Enlightenment, many writers turned to different pieces of work to help create national awareness and education among the Greeks. The philosophes of the movement believed that education and intellectual awakening of the Greek nation would result in freedom from the Ottoman oppression. What sparked the motivation was seeing the ideas from the European Enlightenment, the French revolution, and romantic nationalism and how well they worked. Therefore, by following the fundamentals of Western Enlightenment, Greek scholars throughout Europe managed to take on the task of spreading education through the increased accessibility of text to the Greek
This age of reason was the economic, political, scientific and ideological movement that focused on improving the lives of Greek people. The greater goal of the Modern Greek Enlightenment was the realization of the greater need of education in Greece. Korais believed that educated people would better understand reasons for freedom and change. Therefore, Greek literature was important because it involved work about history and philosophy relating to Ancient Greece. Spreading literary works would create a wholesome understanding of past achievements that were critical for restoring Greek nationalism and cultural pride. This is why during the Enlightenment, many writers turned to different pieces of work to help create national awareness and education among the Greeks. The philosophes of the movement believed that education and intellectual awakening of the Greek nation would result in freedom from the Ottoman oppression. What sparked the motivation was seeing the ideas from the European Enlightenment, the French revolution, and romantic nationalism and how well they worked. Therefore, by following the fundamentals of Western Enlightenment, Greek scholars throughout Europe managed to take on the task of spreading education through the increased accessibility of text to the Greek