Sunday, May 27, 2007

Holberg' s inspiration

RomanComedy: "Plautus and Terence

The Greek world came to fruition sometime in the 7th c. BC, and was still culturally active throughout the period in which the Roman Empire flourished. By 300 BC Greek culture had subtly shifted over to what would later be called Hellenistic, which refers to the transplanting of Greek ideas and techniques to all parts of the then known world, both East and West. The Jews of Palestine, the populace of Egypt, the Syrians, Armenians and the Romans in their turn were exposed to the indelible influence of Greek thought, just as the Arabs of the 7 c. AD were to be influenced in the same way. It was this fermentative quality in the Greek mind which proved so attractive to less cultivated peoples, and although everybody benefitted, nobody was ever the same again."

1 comment:

Sya said...

I would take issue with the phrase "less cultivated peoples". Non-Greeks had a different kind of culture which does not mean that it's any better or worse. Perhaps they adopted Greek techniques because they found them useful. Or maybe they were forced to adopt them because of Western imperialism.