The Re Emergence of Greek Culture in the Western World

The burden of history lies heavily on Greece. In the early 1990s, as new subway tunnels were being excavated under Athens, Greece's museums were being filled to overflowing with the material remains of the past: remnants of houses from the Turkokratia (the era of Ottoman rule); coins and shops from the period of the Byzantine Empire; pottery remains from the Greek workshops that flourished during the Roman Empire; and graves, shrines, and houses from the classical period when Athens stood at the head of its own empire. The glories of ancient Greece and the splendor of the Christian Byzantine Empire give the modern Greeks a proud and rich heritage. The resilience and durability of Greek culture and traditions through times of turmoil provide a strong sense of cultural destiny. These elements also pose a considerable challenge to Greeks of the present: to live up to the legacies of the past. Much of the history of the modern state of Greece has witnessed a playing out of these contradictory forces. The re emergence of Greek culture in the western world is due in large part to the work of Arabic scholars and the renaissance.
The rebirth, or re-naissance, was seen largely as a movement away from the darkness, barbarism and superstition which characterized the prior era. In contrast, scholars and thinkers of the Renaissance self-consciously saw their own time as a reflection of the much earlier societies, namely those of classical Greece and Rome. The works and philosophy of the Ancient Greeks such as Aristotle, Plato, Euclid, Pythagoras and Romans, particularly Cicero, were all influential in terms of shaping the Renaissance sensibly. In Italy, first, and then France, England, Germany and the Netherlands, this association with classical antiquity, catalyzed efflorescence in the arts and sciences. Similarly, the Renaissance would also generate a philosophical outlook that would place categorical man at the center of human interests, activities and concerns. The centrality of humans would in time give rise to the term humanities to describe the arts of humans, and to the philosophy of humanism.
The Islamic contribution to scientific learning is an important one and is widely taught in schools. They played a vital role both in the advancement of science and in its transmission to the West, specifically through Spain. What is frequently overlooked, however, is the Byzantine underpinnings of that achievement. Unlike the West where the pagan aspects of the classical past made it taboo, the East viewed it as inseparable from Christian society. The fourth century Church father Basil of Caesarea summed up the Byzantine position neatly in a pamphlet he wrote called ‘To Young Men, On How They Might Derive Profit from Pagan Literature’. The classical world, in other words, was a treasure trove to be mined- though with extreme caution. This is not to say that the Byzantines continued the Greek spirit of inquiry full bore, merely that they preserved the Greek legacy more or less intact. After the initial shock of Islamic conquest, when it became apparent that the empire wasn’t going to be swept away, relations with the rising Caliphate became more stable, allowing a cultural exchange. The Arabic world absorbed Greek learning and improved on it, pushing the frontiers of medicine and science during the brilliant High Caliphate. Those advances in learning fully belong to Arab genius, but they couldn’t have been accomplished without the preserved texts or tutors and scholars to translate them. These were all ultimately provided by Byzantium.
Greek Language was important to the middle ages as well as today - ancient Greek was, and maybe still is (along with Latin) the language of scholars and many of our modern words have Greek (or Latin) origins. You could tie this in to the influence Greek culture has had on education. Government and politics might be another area - Democracy (demokratia) in 5th century BC Athens (Classical Greece) may have been different from what we recognize as democracy today, but it's roots are there - it was an Athenian invention, traditionally ascribed to Kleisthenes and it was government by the people, for the people (whereas today we elect representatives to speak/vote on our behalf) You might also look at the influence of Greek culture on the arts - both medieval and modern - sculpture, architecture, poetry (Homer's Iliad and Odyssey are still widely read and have been thought the best examples of epic poetry by people from many time periods, including our own) , literature, vase painting, philosophy, drama, sport (Olympic Games for example) etc. Medicine is another area where ancient Greek culture has influenced medieval and modern societies. Many might argue that although Greece slipped from the collective conscious for a while its influences never left. Everywhere you look you see Greek roots, firmly in place. Much of the knowledge we so rely on would have been lost had it not been for Arab scholars who preserved and translated works by Aristotle and Socrates. But it was the renaissance and its renewed focus on classicalism that brought the Greek culture back to the western world. It is remarkable to think that you can read a piece of Greek literature, see a sculpture, or look at a building and know that it’s been there for thousands of years. The culture of ancient Greece has truly stood the test of time.