Why Were the Greeks So Clever?

[alfred russel]

How do all of you feel about questioning the extent to which the greeks were actually exceptional. Their cultural achievements were admired and preserved by the Romans, while other empires didn't have similar benefactors.

I would say the Romans are overrated, not the Greeks. The Roman rule destroyed much of the originality of the Greek culture: look at the banquet in "Satyricon": nobody discusses Plato, Homer or other original thinkers; the rich roman patrons are obsessed with mediocre stories, copies of famous sculptures and philosophical discussions that would have made Thales laugh his ass off... nobody in Rome would invest money and patronage for true genius.

The greek great moment was arguably the Hellenistic period. The Roman one is the consummerist age.

Have you taken a survey of current western civilization? Titanic is the film that has accumulated the most awards, Tom Clancy writes best sellers, and Britney Spears is among the top musical performers.

[Alexandru H.]

What's really weird is that we have people who aren't even part of western civilization going on about it.

Since your theory says Western Civilization is something else than the Greek-Roman one, it's clear greeks aren't your intellectual forefathers. I would think the semi-naked celt is a much better ancestor.

[Alexandru H.]

How do all of you feel about questioning the extent to which the greeks were actually exceptional. Their cultural achievements were admired and preserved by the Romans, while other empires didn't have similar benefactors.

I would say the Romans are overrated, not the Greeks. The Roman rule destroyed much of the originality of the Greek culture: look at the banquet in "Satyricon": nobody discusses Plato, Homer or other original thinkers; the rich roman patrons are obsessed with mediocre stories, copies of famous sculptures and philosophical discussions that would have made Thales laugh his ass off... nobody in Rome would invest money and patronage for true genius.

The greek great moment was arguably the Hellenistic period. The Roman one is the consummerist age.

Have you taken a survey of current western civilization? Titanic is the film that has accumulated the most awards, Tom Clancy writes best sellers, and Britney Spears is among the top musical performers.

We are the Modern Romans...

[Razgovory]

Are you still a religious nut or have you gone back to anarchist.

[Alexandru H.]

Are you still a religious nut or have you gone back to anarchist.

I'm a bit of both.

Just like Tolstoi.

[Capetan Mihali]

Paid the nerds to do it for them.