greeks and their impact on us

             The ancient Greeks had a huge impact on western civilization. They have made major contributions to the world. They have done this through politics/democracy, the arts, literature, philosophy, science/math and war/military. To this day we see many of their practices still in us. Many countries govern through a democracy, which started in ancient Greece. Modern day militaries use ancient Greek strategies. The ancient Greeks started the alphabet, building structures and literature.
             The most influential and oldest national literature in the Western world comes from the Greeks. Ancient Greek literature became the model for all later literature. Many different and significant types of literature were introduced. These include lyric and epic poetry, philosophical essays and dialogues, tragic and comic drama, literary letters and critical and biographical history. .
             The first important form of Greek literature was epic poetry. Epics are long narrative poems. Most of them inform us about the heroic deeds of mortals or divine beings. Homer is considered the greatest Greek poet. He composed the "Iliad" and "The Odyssey", which are two famous epic poems. He composed these during the 700's BC. Both of these poems emphasized bravery and honor and had a huge impact on Greek education, culture and literature. The first major Greek poet after Homer was Hesiod. Hesiod was the founder of the didactic epic. In his poem "Theogony", which he wrote in .
             the 600's BC, he put some meaning to Greek mythology in a philosophical sense. His other great poem "Works and Days" describes the life of Greek peasants, emphasizing on their hard work, Good judgment and thriftiness. Hesiod shows us another way of how people are looked at as heroes. Hesiod, who was a farmer, also praised the farmer's for enduring in a long silent struggle with the earth and its elements.
             Lyric poetry was introduced right after 650 BC.