Two centers of Europe culture from before the Christian
Era are Greece and Rome. Greece which is located the
eastern corner of Europe developed earlier then Rome
with modern concept of politic and thinking in general.
The origin of democracy and athletic which are current
today in every country in the world are definitely from
Greece. There are some centers of culture of the world
known so far which started already around 3,000 years
before Christian era such as Egyptian, Rome, Greece
and Indian ( now Pakistan ). These 3 oldest developed
cultures had given much influence to the whole world
in the form of politic, art, language, and myths. The
culture of Rome and Greece especially lending the terminologies
of science while Indian lending the terminologies of
religion. Yet this modern thinking inherited from the
west seems did not continue to influence the East as
has been proved by countries in the East which looks
backward to put the concept of god in their life, except
Japan is different and today some countries in Asia
such as China and India which will be expected to dominate
the culture of Asia in the future.
Greece which is located the most eastern part of Europe
bordering with asia has the most beautiful country with
dozens of islands on her beach. The history of Greece
has been starting as old as 3.000 years BC when the
remnant of early bronze age was found on the island
of Crete and since then until 1.400 BC known to live
a culture called Minoa, and on the mainland is found
the culture of Mycenae people up to 300 BC the name
of Greece under the rule of Macedonia reached the peak
which was almost comparable with the Mongol empire in
1221 AD in the size of land. Greece become he birth
place of sciences in all kinds including art known as
famous era of Hellenistic age.
The words politic is originated from Greece city state
that is called polis, a unit of settlement with complete
elements just like current state including its supporting
environment. for example is acropolis, it was the highest
city state stood on Athens which remnants are still
can be seen today after various renovation. The city
state of Athens is the most interesting place to visit
in Greece. Athens now the capital city of modern Greece,
Sparta, Corinth, Thebes and Argos were the famous city
states around 431 BC. During this time a true science
sprang led by Aristotle who was seeking the answer about
how best people are governed, as all type of systems
so far failed, he wrote " politic ' by studying
158 constitutions evolved by generations. Plato ask
the question about republic as an ideal state. Question
about what is actually the underlying principle of visible
phenomena. Greece thinkers seek the answer not to the
invisible substance such as Hebrew or Eastern counties
in later era such as India and Arab where the answer
was God. Then God prevents men to think.
From the era of Greece classical period now we know
some heritages such as various acropolises, structures
nd real thoughts.This is the main reason people visit
this country, and is one of Europe most popular tourist
destination. Among those acropolises, the Acropolis
of Athens is said the most important one. it is said
that on the hill was already found reminds of structures
from Mycenaean era which is thought as a palace. In
6th century BC the site was taken by Kylon people and
built 9 gates wall near spring water, and a temple to
the goddess protector of the polis was built in mid
6th century called ' Athena Polias ' This temple is
called also "Blue Beard' This name is taken from
a sculpture of serpent with 3 bodied men with beard
colored blue. A temple known as Archaios Naos also had
been built on this acropolis site, but both temple place actually unknown.
in 490 BC on the site of Acropolis was built the older
temple or Ur-Parthenon, but was damaged by Persian army
who attacked Greece for the first time known as the
battle of Marathon. Second invasion was launched by
the Persian only after 10 years later. The temple was
renovated between 460 and 430 BC, during the golden
age of Athens known as Hellenistic age, the meeting
of east and west cultural elements. Phidias as great
sculptor, Ictinus nd Callicrates the 2 great architects
and finished accropolis in 5th century BC. in 437 BC
the monumental gates known as propylaea was built by
Mnescicles, since then various constructions were started,
including construction by Roman Emperor during the dynasty
of Julio-Claudian era. The construction on the hill
was continuously added more nd more to become a complex
of great high city in Greece, the Acropolis.
The Acropolis then experience various events, or more
precisely as the object and witness of history. When
the Byzantium Empire was on life, the temple of Parthenon
changed into Church and the Acropolis as the center
of administration, and a large tower was added winch
is not exist anymore. On the west at the time Byzantium
was the center of Culture which in the East was Constantinople,
now Istanbul under ottoman dynasty. The Turks who already
follow Islam, after the fall of Rome also extended their
influence. Byzantium was also invaded by the Turks and
acropolis was taken over and changed into Governor's
private house. A mosque was built in the middle of the
acropolis complex. In 1687 AD the Venetians invaded
Byzantine and acropolis was used as the base to lunch
canon which caused great damage on the buildings. Acropolis
is the reflection of mixed cultural elements mainly
the blend of east and west, it contains styles of Latin,
Prankish and Turkish. To many memories are preserved
by this ancient city as the true foundation of modern
world. Greece as the tourist destination has more places
to see originate from classical or Hellenistic period
with the amazing concept of realism. Today Acropolis
is continually researched and renovated, as it doesn't
mean much for the Greece in the field of economy, but
it has more deeper meaning in the history of human struggle
to understand the world and its purpose.
Ali marsaban, XSM ondang, Nazar : Iskandar
Zulkarnaen, disadur dari Dr. J.M. Pluvier's Alexander
de GROTE, Ganaco NV, 1974.
Jouquet P. : Macedonian Imperialism and the Helenization
of the East, New York Alfred A Knop Inc., 1928
Tarn W.W. : Helenistic Civilization, Edward Arnold & Co, London 1952
Stuart C. Easton : The Western Heritages, From Earliest
Times to the Present, Holt, Reinhart and Watson, Inc., 1965
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