I sympathize very much with what is happening to Greece. The country is being asked to swallow the terms of big banks which are charging interest for the loans she has taken out in the past. Yet when we look at Greece and history, we will note that the borrowed loans are minuscule compared to the priceless contributions of her people to humanity. Just look at the clippings below -- from Sociology to Philosophy, Theatre, Medicine, Drama, Movies and Novel writing. The expanse of the Greek thoughts is mind-blowing. It is no wonder that the Greeks have maintained their dignity all throughout the economic problems they have gone through.
I think that the economists of the world should go beyond looking at pence and pennies they are collecting from Greece. Let us ask for them to be more kind and generous as Greece is a part of everyone. In College at the University of the Philippines where I am typing this now, I learned about Greek drama -- the agora theatre where the Greeks watched the dramas unfold. I came to know Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides who wrote Medea, a very strong woman. And who wrote Lysistrata written by Aristophanes- where women withheld sex from their men in order to stop them from creating and going to wars?
My sister Evangeline studied Fine Arts and there in her college were Greek statues that they studied to become sculptors themselves -- Venus in Roman or Aphrodite in Greek , Adonis, (Greek demi-god). Then I had classmates studying medicine and learned from them about the Hippocratic oath which I have clipped below. What about philosophy-- who can forget Socrates who wrote "the unexamined life is not worth living," Plato, who wrote about the philosopher-king, and Aristotle whose contributions to biology is unbeatable. "Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of forms." (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/)
My sister Evangeline studied Fine Arts and there in her college were Greek statues that they studied to become sculptors themselves -- Venus in Roman or Aphrodite in Greek , Adonis, (Greek demi-god). Then I had classmates studying medicine and learned from them about the Hippocratic oath which I have clipped below. What about philosophy-- who can forget Socrates who wrote "the unexamined life is not worth living," Plato, who wrote about the philosopher-king, and Aristotle whose contributions to biology is unbeatable. "Aristotle is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically-minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato's theory of forms." (http://www.iep.utm.edu/aristotl/)
It was also in my student years that I came to see Zorba the Greek written by Nikos Kazantzakis and played by Anthony Quinn as well as Melina Mercouri who appeared in Never on Sunday. What I have learned of the Greeks is that they have joie de vivre or joy of life in French.
In sports, did you know that Nike is the name of a Greek goddess who personified victory?
Lastly, I cannot forget the many Gods and Goddesses in Greek mythology whose lives I read in a Greek Mythology given me by my teacher in the grades atop that aratiles tree at the side of our house in Bacood. I learned about Athena (from whom Ateneo University got its name) the goddess of wisdom, of Zeus the fiery god of all the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus (come to think of it that camera took that name from the Greeks too), Aphrodite or Venus to the Romans, the goddess of love; of Hermes or Mercury in Roman literature -- a name that that drugstore in our midst is using; of Poseidon or Neptune, the god of the seas, and many, many more.
Maybe as the earth is rotating on its axis and the world of finance moves, then we should not forget the past as it impinges on our present. We are the products of the past and though some sectors have more money than us, still we cling to that dream that we can still have a very humane leadership that will value culture and history on equal terms as everything else.
CLIPPINGS
Sociological reasoning pre-dates the foundation of the discipline. Social analysis has origins in the common stock of Western knowledge and philosophy, and has been carried out from as far back as the time of ancient Greek philosopher Plato, if not before. The origin of the survey, i.e., the collection of information from a sample of individuals, can be traced back to at least the Domesday Book in 1086,[10][11] while ancient philosophers such as Confucius wrote on the importance of social roles. There is evidence of early sociology in medieval Islam. Some consider Ibn Khaldun, a 14th-century Arab[12][13] Islamic scholar from North Africa (Tunisia), to have been the first sociologist and father of sociology (seeEarly Islamic philosophy#Branches); his Muqaddimah was perhaps the first work to advance social-scientific reasoning on social cohesion and social conflict.[14][15][16][17][18][19]
The word sociology (or "sociologie") is derived from both Latin and Greek origins. The Latin word: socius, "companion"; the suffix -logy, "the study of" from Greek -λογία from λόγος, lógos, "word", "knowledge
Western philosophy has a long history, conventionally divided into four large eras - the Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Contemporary. The Ancient era runs through the fall of Rome and includes the Greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle.
- Origins ·
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_theatre
The history of theatre charts the development of theatre over the past 2,500 years. While performative elements are present in every society, it is customary to ...
The Theatre of Ancient Greece, or Ancient Greek drama, is atheatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece 700 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political, and military power during this period, was its centre, where it wasinstitutionalised as part of a festival called the Dionysia, which honoured the god Dionysus.
MEDICINE: Hippocrates, known as the "Father of Modern Medicine",
This is the original version of the Hippocratic Oath:
I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius the surgeon, likewise Hygeia and Panacea, and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath, to the utmost of my power and judgment.
I will reverence my master who taught me the art. Equally with my parents, will I allow him things necessary for his support, and will consider his sons as brothers. I will teach them my art without reward or agreement; and I will impart all my acquirement, instructions, and whatever I know, to my master's children, as to my own; and likewise to all my pupils, who shall bind and tie themselves by a professional oath, but to none else.
With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgment and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.
Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman, with a view to destroy the child.
Further, I will comport myself and use my knowledge in a godly manner.
Drama is now commonly used to refer to a genre of film or television which is more serious than comedy. An older meaning of 'drama' was the specific modeof fiction represented in performance.[1] The term comes from a Greek word meaning action (Classical Greek: δρᾶμα, drama), which is derived from the verb meaning to do or to act (Classical Greek: δράω, draō).
MOVIES: Melina Mercouri (Greek: Μελίνα Μερκούρη, born as Maria Amalia Mercouri, Μαρία Αμαλία Μερκούρη; 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994), was a Greek actress, singer and politician.
She was born to a former cavalry officer and member of parliament,Stamatis Mercouris, and his wife Eirini Lappa. When she completed her secondary education, she attended the National Theatre's Drama School. She graduated in 1944. Her first husband was a wealthy landowner Panos Harokopos, and they stayed together until 1962 when they divorced.
As an actress she made her film debut in Stella (1955) and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday,Phaedra, Topkapi, and Promise at Dawn. She won the award forBest Actress at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival, and she was also nominated for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two BAFTA Awards.
Zorba the greek Zorba the Greek (Greek title: Αλέξης Ζορμπάς, Alexis Zorba(s)) is a 1964 British-Greek drama film directed by Cypriot Michael Cacoyannis and starring Anthony Quinn as the title character. It is based on the novel Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis.
NOVELIST Nikos Kazantzakis (Greek: Νίκος Καζαντζάκης; 18 February 1883 – 26 October 1957) was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus. He became known globally after the 1964 release of theMichael Cacoyannis film Zorba the Greek, based on the novel. He gained renewed fame with the 1988 Martin Scorsese adaptation of his book The Last Temptation of Christ.
*photo - Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, a 2nd-century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory).
*photo - Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, a 2nd-century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory).
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