Connor Moore
CIV 201-03
April 9, 2015
Ted Belue
Thesis
Author Thomas Cahill’s book Sailing the Wine Dark Sea describes six reasons on why the Greeks matter How to fight, How to Feel, How to Party How to Rule, How to Think and How to see. He compares and argues that Ancient Greece and their early leaders are similar to Early America and leaders of the past. Though their art and literature, Cahill shows that the Greeks were free thinkers and were a morale people.
3. How to rule
Cahill starts off by introducing Solon who I would call the main character in this chapter. Solon was a Chief Magistrate of Athens, who was elected for just a brief time but did so much for his people. Cahill compared Solon to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who during his…show more content… How we fight.
In Homer’s the Iliad, Achilles is to show the downfalls of a warrior. Even thought he is supposed to be this larger then life character, his anger and rage hold him back from being the hero. The real hero in the Iliad is Hector due to his attitude inspiring his troops to win the battle, even though he was not a good fighter. Cahill believed that Homer even though blind could write with so much detail that he may of served in battle before going blind in his later years. The Iliad describing and projecting the thoughts of soldiers mind and teach how to act within society.
With the Iliad Grecians understood the necessity for war, they considered as a necessary evil. They knew that their means to fight were not immoral or bad as long as good will come from war, also they thought if the losers were meant to be winners they would have been the winners. Even though Greeks knew the need for war, Homer seemed to favor peace in his writings. He also favored intelligence and wit, over brute force and violence. 2. How to…show more content… Greeks were especially fascinated with creation and the cycle of life. They shared myths of how the Earth was formed and believed that the universe was eternal and everything on Earth had a pattern and thought that the only reason why things changed were because of “accidents”. Philosophers determined that there are four basic elements. They are Fire, Earth, Air and water. These elements would be the basis of medical and scientific breakthroughs for centauries to come. The main goal of the Greek philosophers was to explain the formation of man and Earth without just saying that the gods created everything, Cahill stated that some philosophers believed that there were small particles called untouchables that were later found to be atoms. Although most philosophers convinced some, the Grecian people did not universally accept these