They [the Greeks] were the first Westerners; the spirit of the West, the modern spirit, is a Greek discovery and the place of the Greeks is in the modern world.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Hamilton argues that the essence of Western culture and modernity originates from ancient Greek thought and values.
- In plain terms
- The modern Western world is built on ideas first discovered by the Greeks.
- What can you take from it?
- Recognize Greek heritage as the foundation of modern Western identity.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How much of our modern spirit is truly Greek?
- What other cultures contributed to the modern west?
Another view
This view may oversimplify the diverse influences that shaped the modern world beyond Greece.
More from Edith Hamilton
Great literature, past or present, is the expression of great knowledge of the human heart; great art is the expression of a solution of the conflict between t…
Permalink to quote #6 The anthropologists are busy, indeed, and ready to transport us back into the savage forest where all human things ... have their beginnings; but the seed neve…
Permalink to quote #8 Mind and spirit together make up that which separates us from the rest of the animal world, that which enables a man to know the truth and that which enables h…
Permalink to quote #5
Related quotes
Many clever Babylonians, many clever Egyptians, many clever men at the end of Rome. Can you tell me, in a world that is flagrant with the failures of civilisat…
Gilbert Keith ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton quote #8 Geography was not furthered by the achievement, scientific progress was scarcely hastened, and nothing new was discovered. Yet the names of Hillary and Tenzing…
Edmund HillaryEdmund Hillary quote #26 But Greece and her foundations are Built below the tide of war, Based on the crystalline sea Of thought and its eternity; Her citizens, imperial spirits, Rule …
Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley quote #125