Was Europa den Griechen verdankt

Thomas A. Szlezák provides an introduction to the fundamentals of Greek culture and its significance for present-day Europe. It is the specifically European concept of freedom in its two main aspects as political and personal freedom which is essential for the way we see ourselves. Both of these aspects can be traced back to the Greeks, who endeavored to achieve political freedom as a direct democracy and personal freedom as the all-round development of the individual. The Greek roots of our concepts of literature, science and philosophy as well as critical historiography and political analysis are just as obvious. With its willingness to open up to other cultures and to enable intercultural understanding, the European culture has proven to be the heir to the Greek concept of the common nature of all human beings.