Ancient Cultures and Human Life

Paper Summary:

In this paper, the writer notes that in ancient cultures human life was the center of interest for everything. The writer maintains that the entire construction of civilization was based on the human as the main preoccupation and the most important element in the world. The writer points out that modern concerns about the environment, animals and other conflicts that place humans on an equal position with the rest of the planet were weak or nonexistent many centuries back, when the sole interest that captured the attention of common people was to understand how their own society worked. The writer discusses that in every culture, from the very beginning of the civilized world, humans have tried to achieve control over their lives, to understand how it functions and to dominate it. The writer concludes that the concept of human life has changed dramatically during the past centuries and society has started to develop based on practical progress, material achievements and palpable ideas that appear from the same curiosity that inspired the ancient societies to develop.

From the Paper:

"The human was the main subject for all the forms of expression in ancient societies, from art forms like poetry and theatre, to practical activities like politics. Their humanist vision left messages about their way of living and thinking, their spirit and preoccupations, ideas and feelings. The human life itself is the very subject they reflect in all of their artistic and intellectual expression.
"Roman and Greek society had almost the same vision about human life and manifested their ideas almost in parallel ways, due to the great influence that the Greek society had over the Roman world. They valued their leisure and commodities in a way that modern civilization would never understand. For them time was relaxed and positive feelings cultivated. In the ancient conception human life was created to enjoy and grow spiritually, not to constrain and suffer as it was conceived in later centuries. They worshipped leisure and inner peace in the same way that modern society worships hard work and effort."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Burckhardt, J. (2002). History of Greek Culture. New York: Dover publications.
• Hingley, R. (2005). Globalizing Roman Culture: Unity, Diversity And Empire. London: Routledge
• Hurwit, J M. (1987). The Art and Culture of Early Greece, 1100-480 B.C. New York: Cornell University press.

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