Greeks Who Made Us Who We Are

The Hellenic contributions to Western Civilization are acknowledged by all, but the details of this endowment are often poorly understood and under-appreciated. This volume is intended as a remedy for these shortcomings. In particular, it seeks to disclose two distinctive features of Western culture uniquely attributable to the ancient Greeks: a human-centered worldview that elevated humans to the threshold of divinity and a philosophical temperament which for the first time in history proffered unbridled operation of the human mind as a kind of cultural imperative. These features are demonstrated by a detailed examination of 18 seminal thinkers who left lasting impressions in such fields as ethics, medicine, religion, politics, poetry and art. Collectively, the efforts of these individuals helped establish a unique cultural pedigree unlike any other in world history. They invested the West with that restless, intrepid habit of mind that remains the hallmark of Western civilisation to this day.

M.A. Soupios is a professor of political philosophy and economics at Long Island University, Post Campus in Brookville, New York, USA.