Thinkpiece 2: Legacy of the Greeks

Filipinos are Greeks! All of us are Greeks, Everybody lives a Hellenic way of life. From our concept of beauty, our idea of democracy, art, poetry, and the way we think are at some point influenced by the Greeks.

Government by the people, trial by jury, and equality under the law, ideas that seems to be product of the modern world, think again, these ideas were formulated by people who we associate with olives, Olympics, the Parthenon. The people of Ancient Greece, like most, of us prized their freedom and way of life. They stressed the importance individual and encouraged creative thought. They believe that each and everyone has the responsibility to rule and take part society.

Euclid is Geometry, Hippocrates is Medicine, Homer is an epic, Herodotus is History and Plato and Aristotle together is Philosophy. Great names that is synonymous to their fields. Greeks were trailblazers in the inventions of sciences and fields of thought. Greek thinkers laid the foundations of science and philosophy by seeking logical explanations to events around them. Greek writers created an art, a new form of expression, which explored human personalities and emotions.

The Olympics for one is a Greek heritage, Today hundreds of nations and athletes come together to celebrate the ideals peace, unity, excellence, and fair play. Remembering those athletes a thousand years ago competing for the honor of Zeus gives us an idea on how the people of the Aegean created a lasting legacy for the rest of the world to continue.

In their pursuit of order and proportion, they created and idea of beauty that strongly influenced western art. Our notions of beauty are products of Greek thought, look at our paintings, our sculptures, or our buildings. Look at those towering government offices, they remind of the Acropolis.

How about our universities? Ever heard of the Academy or the Lyceum, these are pioneers of higher learning. Education or giving importance to formal education is also a Greek influence.

The list goes on and on. Almost every grand and big ideas of human civilization were formulated in Ancient Greece. Mighty Olympus is very proud of that, he casts a shadow of legacy that transcends geography and time.

The Greeks educated as to strive for excellence, for grandeur, for perfection. This is what we need as a nation, a motivation to excel, a motivation to unite, a motivation set aside differences, set aside individual goals, work for the benefit of the society, the nation.