Introduction
Greek culture has experienced evolution over thousands of years, with the first followed culture being Moan among Mycenaean, classical Greece, and impacting successors of Roman and Byzantine kingdoms. Danish monarchies and the Venetian Republic have also influenced modern Greek culture, the Ottoman Empire, Frankish states, and other cultures (“Greek culture,” n.d.). Greece has been widely regarded as the cradle of democracy and Western civilization. Greeks developed an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art. Ancient Greeks pioneered in numerous areas such as philosophy, history, geometry, physics, and biology.
Thus, it is vital to interrogate whether Greek culture is hinged on Greeks’ beliefs about diseases, the performance of head-to-toe assessments, values, religion, communication considerations, family roles, dietetic considerations, and health beliefs.
Main Body
Greeks experience the prevalence of diseases due to engaging in multiple activities. Some common illnesses in Greek culture include cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other dementia. In Greek culture, head-to-toe assessment is believed as the appropriate physical examination for alleviating most health conditions like stress resulting from cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. Over the years, Greeks have had diverse beliefs and values of intelligence, hospitality, glory, and loyalty in their daily life. Loyalty has been the most significant value of civilization that Greeks put into everything they perform. Greeks greatly believe in loyalty toward the supreme God, family, and community (“Greek culture,” n.d.). Young men in ancient Greek perceived glory to be equivalent to fame in the current society. They involved themselves in battles and wars. Another essential aspect of Greek society was helping people by offering them protection, shelter, food, and accommodation without question. Greeks also believed in education as a form of gaining intelligence.
Greeks believe in gods involved in all aspects of human life, including work, battle, and marriage. Greek worshippers relate their gods to humans as they perceive them to make mistakes and have flaws. In Greek culture, people believe in Christ and deities, with the most striking characteristic of Greek religion being the belief in a municipality of anthropomorphic deities under one supreme God (Fokas, 2019). Greek culture has two types of communication that is verbal and non-verbal. Verbally, Greeks use quite verbose, theoretical, and intense language showing emotions in their speech. Greeks also tend to avoid the topic and try to interrelate subjects. Men raise their voices when talking to one another as an expression of excitement or conviction rather than a sign of anger at each other. During communication, Greeks use many hand gestures and tend to be expressive in their body language (“Greek culture,” n.d.). Direct eye contact during conversation is embraced to convey honesty and sincerity while pointing at someone with an index finger is regarded as impolite.
Among Greeks, family is considered the important pillar of society, offering individuals economic, emotional, and social support. Most Greeks deeply entail extended families and relatives in their social life, which play a significant role in their livelihood. They are proud of their families, with the majority living in the nuclear family while extended families keep close and visit regularly. Marriage is a highly respected convention in society, especially among Greek Orthodox Christians (“Greek culture,” n.d.). They believe physical and mental health are intertwined and need a balance due to their influence on the mind and body. Greeks believed music was used to heal the soul and the body as they understood that a healthy mind in a healthy body was the key to physical and mental health.
Traditional eating habits in Greek culture include olive oil, lamp, yogurt, and bread accompanied by other meals. Traditional food consumption involves dairy products eaten in fermented forms like cheese and yogurt, while milk is used in desserts and puddings (Kasapis, 2020). The lamb was the widely eaten meat in Greek culture, and each meal was accompanied by bread and cereals in the form of wheat. Greek culture’s most common ways of preparing meat were stewing, grinding, frying, and grilling. A special dish prepared during ceremonies and festive gatherings involved a whole roasted lamb. Greeks’ beliefs about death and grief depend on Christian and ancient orthodox traditions. They believe in commemorative practices and burial rituals for the diseased. However, the introduction of Christianity preached the resurrection of the dead and immortality of the soul, thereby changing the way of mourning the dead.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Greek culture has experienced changes from classical times compared to earlier periods. Greek culture has evolved around the beliefs of diverse aspects such as health beliefs, dietary considerations, family roles, communication, religion, values and traditions, and diseases. It is depicted that Greeks solely believed that gods existed, and they performed sacrifices and rituals through which gods received their due. In addition, Greeks believe in the family as the foundation for social and emotional support in society.
References
Fokas, E. (2019). Greek orthodoxy and European identity. In Mitsos, Achilleas and Mossialos, Elias, (Eds.) Contemporary Greece and Europe (pp. 275-300). Routledge.
Greek culture. (n.d.). Cultural Atlas.
Kasapis, S. (2020). Textural characteristics of Greek foods. In Nishinari, Kohyama, Kumagai, Bourne, (Eds.) Textural characteristics of world foods (pp. 293-303). Wiley.