Greek Ideals: Excellence and Concern for Community

The Ideals of ancient Greece took the Greeks to cultural, architectural, philosophical, and creative heights and advancements. Two ideals, in particular, Excellence and Concern for Community had Greeks constantly challenging and changing their ways of life to achieve the highest form of each ideal. I will give examples of Excellence and Concern for Community, showing how the Greeks challenged these ideals and developed further due to them.
The ideal of excellence is shown in the pursuit of perfection in Greek architecture. This search for excellence took place mainly in the Hellenic Age 479-323 B.C. It is in this time the Greeks took the architecture of the Doric Order temples and created the Ionic Order. “Influenced by the Pythagorean quest for harmony through mathematical rules, the eastern builders had standardized six as the perfect number of columns for the ends of temples and thirteen, or twice the number of end columns, for the sides. These balanced proportions, al...