Greek Beliefs About Human Beings

Humanity was very important to the Greek society as well as in art. Protagoras, a philosopher, said that humans were the "measure of all things". The Greeks were the first to create this idea of humanism with the belief of the human body being simple perfection. This concept of perfection is still living with us today in society. Today we still believe in the fact that the human being is superior to all living things. The body itself is believed to be perfect. In ancient times, the Greeks were most interested in the male figure. The male figure was depicted more in art rather than the female and of course the male figure was known to be the dominant of the two. Today, in society we have begun to witness a shift in dominance. The male has always been superior, but with females taking over more and more male roles the male figure has begun to lose that superiority. Recently, we even had a woman running for president! That surely would never have occurred in ancient times. And sure enough, art has also began the shift. The woman's body is, today, more admired and perfected through art. The Greeks also created their gods to model the human form. They made the gods to represent the perfect human individual. The figures in art were shown with perfect muscle form and strength, perfect hair and curls, and every inch of their body was depicted nude in order to show perfection. Most society today is still unaware of the origin of this important concept of humanity and human perfection in which they live by and believe.

Egyptians and the Afterlife

The Egyptians are, by far, the most mysterious culture in history. The Egyptians were very serious about continuity and permanence. Their lives revolved around the survival of the spirit in the afterlife. It seems to me that these people were more focused on the afterlife rather than their daily life. They went to great lengths to build spectacular monuments for the dead, instead of building them for the living. For the Egyptians, dead was not the end, instead it was the beginning or a transformation into a new life. Each human identity was marked by a body, heart, and name. Each person had several elements and at death, each element became separate. In order for the person to have a safe passage into the afterlife they had to treat death very seriously. Building spectacular tombs, such as Khafre's pyramid in Gizeh, in which the king and his every belonging were to be placed was very important. When a king was placed in his tomb, things such as furniture, food, and treasures were kept with him for him to use in his afterlife. The body was preserved and wrapped with the organs removed and placed in jars. They believed that the body had to be in tact for the spirit to recognize it in the afterlife. I believe that the reason for all of this great belief was that these people truly loved their culture and material things. They loved life. They wanted to believe that they would continue to live after death, and they wanted to continue to have everything they had from their previous life. They did everything in their power to make the tombs like recurring every day human activities so that it would insure immortality. Maybe these people were afraid of death and this was their way of attempting to stay around on earth even after death. Their spiritual beliefs were unlike any other culture in history. And their bazare and facinating ways will always be a mystery.