Greece: Morality Vs Technology

Greece: Morality VS Technology

Ancient Greece was an advanced civilization responsible for many different technological ideas and tools that are still used to this day. Greek morality came from philosophy and honoring the gods; important, but a different priority than advancing civilization through technological progress.

One of the most important pieces of technology coming out of ancient Greece was water technology. Inventions like sewerage systems made using the "bathroom" more sanitary and disposed waste more efficiently so less people could catch diseases and get sick. Flood protection saved buildings and crops from being destroyed, while indoor baths made washing more easy and faster with a way to dispose dirty water. Another piece of technology we still use today are wide streets with gutters on the edges. The Porta Rosa was a main street of Elea, and had a gutter on one side for the drainage of rain water. These ideas made the city less dangerous from natural causes, pro longing crops, sanitation and human life.

Honoring the gods was a part of religious morality, and traditional religion was a source of guidance for some communities. Greece morality was a little backwards from what we call "morals" today in the states. If there were any doubt of the existence of the gods, you could be exiled or killed for corrupting the public's morals by conservatives in power.

Morality and technological progress both played a part in Greek culture, but I'd say technological progress played a bigger part. Advancing the people built a strong civilization that outlasted many other civilizations because of it. Its hard to know if a higher value of morality could have helped out the Greeks, or hurt them even more.

Bentley, Jerry. Traditions and Encounters: Essentials. New York: Mcgraw-Hill, 2006. Print.

"Ancient Greek Philosophy." Evolutionary Metaphysics - Science, Philosophy, Politics, Religion. The Academy of Evolutionary Metaphysics, 2005. Web. 09 Sept. 2011. <http://www.evolutionary-metaphysics.net/ancient_greek_philosophy.html>.

...