Ancient Greek Contributions Dbq

The ancient Greeks made many lasting contributions to Western civilizations. Many achievements of the ancient Greek civilization have positively affected the west. Roots in the most influenced areas of math, art, philosophy, and drama can be traced back to the ancient Greeks. The ancient Greek mathematician Euclid influenced mathematics in a large way after developing the Pythagorean theorem. His theorem (written around 300 B.C.) stated that “If two straight lines cut one another, the vertical, or opposite, angles shall be the same” (Doc. 5). Euclid wrote this theorem to set a base rule to help find the sum of the angles of a triangle. The Pythagorean theorem is still used today in mathematics thanks to Euclid’s contribution to society. Perhaps the most famous piece of ancient Greek art work is Myron’s famous marble sculpture of The Discus Thrower (Diskobolus) (Doc. 8). Myron’s art represents an Olympic event called Discus (Doc. 8). The marble sculpture is notable because it reveals the ancient Greek value of athletics. The ancient Olympics was made up of a series of athletic matches that the people of the city-states within Greece would participate in. The city-states would put aside all differences to participate in these events to show their victory. The Olympics, that the ancient Greeks held, inspired other civilizations to hold an Olympics to test their athletes as well. A world Olympics is still held today every four years. The ancient Greek philosophers Socrates was a radical thinker of his time. Socrates (470-399 B.C.) was an Athenian philosopher who believed in questioning life (Doc. 1). He did not want people to except things as they were and thought that things were meant to be pondered upon. The Socratic seminar is a teaching method that was developed based on Socrates’ quote “The unexamined life is not worth living” (Doc.1). A Socratic seminar is made up of a group of people who are presented with an open-ended question that they may add to or