Greek Values

In the begginning, I thought that all of the Greek values that we studied are very important. When I first looked at them in my notebook, I was thinking of our school values, and I thought that they were exactly the same. But then again, they had different names, but almost same meanings.

What values were most important to early Greeks and why were they considered important?

The most important Greek values are Hospitality, Respect, Justice (fairness), Loyalty, Intuition, Ingenuity (which appeared to be on 4 excerpts out of 8), Teamwork, and Athletitism. The most important Greek values FROM the excerpts ware Ingenuity, Teamwork, and Athletitism.

• Ingenuity means skill or cleverness. This means that Oddyssey was extremely clever in each excert, he found his way to accomplish his goal, which was returning to Penelope. For example, in "Odysseus and the Cyclops," he killed the cyclops with his men, by shooting a branch into his big eye. After this, they headed back to the boat.

• Teamwork means working in team to survive and succeed. One example of how Odysseus and his men showed teamwork was in the excert "Odysseus and the Sirens." Stories tell that the sirens attract men each time they sing. Once the men get close to them, the sirens kill them. Odysseus wanted to hear the sirens sing so much, that he decided to make a plan with his team mates. He asked them to tie him strongly to a spot, so he wouldn't be able to get close to the sirens. This shows teamwork.

• Athletitism, means having the strength to do anything, because you have a sturdy and well proportioned body. Some examples of athletitism would be in the excert "The Archery Contest." When Odysseus arives from his 'long journey' he comes back to his home and finds out that there is an Arhcery contest. The suitors forced Penelope to marry the man that can string Odysseus's bow and shoot an arrow from it. Nobody could do this, so when Odysseus had arrived, he did it, and of course, he succeeded. This is where he became king. Athletitism in this excert was used when the men used bow and arrow.

In what ways are early Greeks values found in modern society?

There are a lot of examples of how Greek values are used in modern society today. And some values are even very similar to todays values.
 For instance, Ingenuity is used in schools and jobs. In schools, you have to be extremely clever and find your way through in tests, essays and projects. This goes to jobs as well. Another example of ingenuity in modern society would be while playing a fun game. You're supposed to reach your goal and win. You have to be skillfull in order do this task.
Athletitism today is used all over the world. For example, sports. Everybody trains something, right? Volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer, hockey etc... are all part of athletitism. Washing your clothes, running to the bathroom, writing intentionally fast, throwing a ball into someone's face, are also some examples of athletitism, because you use your strong muscles to cooperate with other things.
Teamwork is very important in modern society. It applies to everything that I mentioned above. ou can't succeed in a lot of things without teamwork. For example, working in a team sport allows you to pass a ball to your team mate, and win. Working with a partner to finish up a project also requires working in a team. However, a different kind of teamwork also exists. For example, if you want somebody to help you complete a task, you gather up and they help you.
Teamwork is the most common value we have today. However, athletitism and ingenuity don't really seem right if you were to use them today. However, in my oppinion, the meaning of those words are similar to today's.


So as you can see, the Greek values existed a VERY long time ago and still exists today. People use these values in many different ways- and every different way makes a difference in the world.