Greatest civilization?

[DuPidh]

You got it round the wrong way. Greeks are superior to the Romans by a long, long long way. And the Romans polluted and corrupted everything they copied.

Even though I am by no mean a Greek fan, since I have some ALB heritage, I have to agree with you at this point. There is no civilization of ancient times, great as the Greek one! I have my reasons to think this way.
1) Greeks perfected the maritime knowledge that they got from Arabs ( I mean shipbuilding and navigation). Chinese, Indians, and all others that you call civilizations learned 4000 years after Greeks what sea navigation was.
2) Greeks put strong foundations in arts, architecture, foundation that still exist today. What Chinese, Indians and others did? Nothing.
3) Greeks started what was a genuine science which as time went by grew in what it is today.. What others did? Nothing.
Greeks taught the west how to write. Nobody wants to learn how the Indians and Chinese write
Roman civilization is a continuation of Greek one. Of course Romans pushed what was Greek at new heights, but they had the foundations build by others.(Greeks)
Not to confuse modern Greeks with Ancient ones. Modern Greeks are hybrids with Turks, so their intellectual level is corrupted with Turks and other inputs that diluted the power and the greatness of the ancient. Modern Greeks have the moral right to be called the hairs of that ancient civilization but make no mistake, they are not the same. The `level of ineptitude and behavior of today Greeks, proves that beyond any doubts. Its the ancient Greeks that keeps alive the modern Greece. Had not been for them the west would happily called modern Greece as west Turkey.

 

[DuPidh]

Which civilization do you think is the greatest? I'm torn between Greek, Chinese and Roman civilizations, because they all have a very important part in world history.

To help you reach a conclusion which ancient civilization is the greatest, answer this few questions;
1) Which civilization came up with the letters you are actually writing right now ? ( hint: a civilization in southern Europe)
2) Where did the literature ( comedy, tragedy, history, philosophy )started? (hint: a civilization in southern Europe)
3) Where proof based math and science started?(hint: A civilization in southern Europe)
4) If Chinese, Indian and others civilizations were great what do we inherit from them today?( hint: nothing)
I could have written more questions but I think these few are enough to have an Idea.

 

[LeBrok]

To help you reach a conclusion which ancient civilization is the greatest, answer this few questions;
1) Which civilization came up with the letters you are actually writing right now ? ( hint: a civilization in southern Europe)

Phoenicians. Greeks adopted their alphabet.

2) Where did the literature ( comedy, tragedy, history, philosophy )started? (hint: a civilization in southern Europe)

We don't know where they had started but surly Greeks perfected them nicely.

3) Where proof based math and science started?(hint: A civilization in southern Europe)

Again Greeks perfected and organized these, though some math could have been Phoenician. After all they invented money.

4) If Chinese, Indian and others civilizations were great what do we inherit from them today?( hint: nothing)

What about guns and canons for China, and many independent inventions (from the West) like clock, philosophy, schools, math, etc.
I think the mathematical numbers came from India. And I'm sure with them some basic math and geometry.

 

[Angela]

Not to take anything from the Greeks, but...

Isn't the Epic of Gilgamesh literature?

How about the Old Testament? History, fable, myth, folklore, poetry, love stories, you name it, and begun in the 7th century BC.

I could go on.

"Ex Oriente Lux, Ex Occidente Lex"

Algebra came from India.

 

[LeBrok]

How about the Old Testament? History, fable, myth, folklore, poetry, love stories, you name it, and begun in the 7th century BC.

[/QUOTE]
Not to mention Babylonian creative writing or law codex. Many biblical stories were copied from Babylonian literature, when Jews were enslaved there around 1,000 BC.

 

[DuPidh]

Phoenicians. Greeks adopted their alphabet.
We don't know where they had started but surly Greeks perfected them nicely.
Again Greeks perfected and organized these, though some math could have been Phoenician. After all they invented money.
What about guns and canons for China, and many independent inventions (from the West) like clock, philosophy, schools, math, etc.
I think the mathematical numbers came from India. And I'm sure with them some basic math and geometry.

No gun came from China. The crude form of gun was invented in Europe. Gunpowder came from China. It was brought to Europe by Marco Polo. The invention of gunpowder was a random event than a scientific formula. With science that Archimedes was doing at his time I can get a PHD today and a professorship at MIT.
Clock was invented in Europe. When Europeans introduced clocks in China they were shocked for a century.
The first book about Geometry was written by a Greek named Euclid. It is still taught today his geometry since there are a number of other geometries in modern mathematics. Algebra is an Arab thing. Numbers also are Arab inventions. The only thing Indians brought were number 0. Since 0 is nothing, Europeans were not writing it as a symbol, and in today computing 0 is significant.
Yes ancient Greeks build some of their knowledge from their neighbors civilizations but they left significant fingerprints in many sciences and social sciences. Again, all you have to do is go and visit a museum and you will see something Greek.

 

[DuPidh]

Not to take anything from the Greeks, but...

Isn't the Epic of Gilgamesh literature?

How about the Old Testament? History, fable, myth, folklore, poetry, love stories, you name it, and begun in the 7th century BC.

I could go on.

"Ex Oriente Lux, Ex Occidente Lex"

Algebra came from India.

Yes, there was literature in other civilizations but Greeks organised literature in science. There are different criteria in writing a tragedy, from a comedy, or a narrative. Aristotle put boundaries and definitions to different types. B

 

[The_Lyonnist]

The greatest civilization is... Lyon !

 

[Mikedabest]

All these civilizations were great, but the Greco-Roman one had the bigger impact on the current world