The Rise of Greek Civilization - Part 1

The History of Western Philosophy
Bertrand Russell
1972

Chapter 1 - The Rise of Greek Civilization

The rise of the Greeks to such extraordinary heights is surprising. Civilization had existed thousands of years prior to the Greeks popping up on the scene in Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. But, the Greeks supplied a number of crucial inventions to society: their art and literature is incredible, but their invention of mathematics, science and philosophy were crucial. They were the first to history rather than merely annals and "they speculated freely about the nature of the world and the ends of life, without being bound in the fetters of any inherited orthodoxy" (Russell, 3).

In Mesopotamian and Egyptian histories the civilizations were supported by great rivers. A king rose up and aristocracies formed by military men and priests grew up around the king to check his powers. The people were often serfs of the king and/or the aristocrats. While there are huge differences between Egyptian and Mesopotamian religions there was a strong connection between law and lawgivers (deities) that transformed both cultures. "The connection between religion and morality became continually closer throughout ancient times" (Russell, 5). Since the laws were associated with the state and the gods, breaking a law was sinful as well.

The Greek civilization seems to have sprung from the classical Cretan civilization The Minoans. The Minoan civilization was a commercial empire that transacted with Egypt and ancient Syria/Asia Minor. At some point they traveled to mainland Greece and became the Mycenaean Civilization either by conquest or integration with the local population. "The Mycenaean civilization, seen through a haze of legend, is that which is depicted in Homer" (Russell, 7).

"The Greeks came to Greece in three successive waves, first the Ionians, then the Achaeans, and last the Dorians" (Russell, 7). The Ionians adopted the Cretan civilization pretty much fully. The Achaeans displaced the Ionians and some of the remaining Mycenaean civilization. The Dorians destroyed the weakened Mycenaean civilization altogether.

"The Dorians retained the original Indo-European religion of their ancestors. The religion of Mycenaean times, however, lingered on, especially in the lower classes, and the religion of classical Greece was a blend of the two" (Russell, 8).

Some of the Greeks became farmers, but the ones who made impacts moved further into islands, Asia Minor, Sicily and Southern Italy where they became seafaring commercial opportunists. It was these Greeks that first impacted the world.

Because of the Greek landscape, independent communities sprang up on the mainland that were isolated from one another. Thus, various social systems developed simultaneously. Generally speaking though the development of society began with a sort of limited monarchy, then aristocracy before devolving into a rotating door of tyranny and democracy.