Waukesha High School - Megaphone Yearbook (Waukesha, WI)

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CHAPTER SIX Character fan 8292 9222 1-Sbswdli HE following essay, entitled Our Heritage from Greece, was written by Hugh Hulburt, of the Class of June, 1933: We are proud of our freedom in America, but do we realize that our form of government was first practised by the ancient Greeks? We are glad that we can say what we think without fear of jail, but do we know that freedom of speech was first advocated in the age of Pericles? We point with some pride to our successful business, yet the Greeks originated many of our basic principles of finance. It was in Greece that most of our literary forms were first produced. Greek architecture is still copied in our buildings. The founder of the science of medicine, Hippocrates, was a Greek. His oath of professional ethics is still admin- istered to our medical school graduates. Most of us know well, or should know well, Euclid's book on geometry. Greek philosophers still guide our thought to a certain extent, and we are still trying to answer questions, which they raise. Thus, all through our lives we have been, and will be influenced by Greek practises and methods of thought. Greece is not nearly so dead as we might suppose. Perhaps we are nearest today to old Greece in our love of sports. The Greeks placed much emphasis upon physical development. They, like us, included it as a major study in their education. They had their Bobby Jones, and their Babe Ruth, whom they followed with just as much vigor and interest as any twentieth century American. Speaking of Babe Ruth, ball games were popular in Greece. So great a place did athletics hold in the Greek mind that formal games were often held in honor of a national hero. Most of us know of the Clympic Games. These, held every four years, were so important that time was reckoned by them. Truces were often declared, if Greece was at war, so that nothing would interfere with the games. They consisted of races of various kinds: two hunderd yard sprints, distance runs, chariot races, races in full armor, and boxing and wrestling Page One Hundred Nine

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JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY-FIRST SEMESTER. 1931-32 First Row, left to right-I-Icy, Bohrman, Elliott, Jones. Pope. Christoph, Loebl. Second Row-Miss Hanson. Jordan, Baird, J. A., Scrima, Graffenberger, Rowlands, Callen. Third Row-Anderson, Poetsch, Morton, Davies, lNIcI:arlane. matches. All-around contests were also held to determine the best general athlete. The winner was crowned with an olive or laurel wreath, and went home the local hero. Beside these formal games, others, less important, were played. Reliefs found in Athens in 1921 show us two games which even today are very popular. One is field-hockey, apparently played much as today. The other is a type of volley- ball, played with three on a side. These games were not limited to boys: girls often played many of them. In time, a group of professional athletes grew up, but they were looked upon with disfavor. The Roman conquest aided the commercialization of physical ability. Thus, even in our own school, we are closely linked with this old Grecian culture. But Greece is not noted for its athletics alone. Everywhere we see copies of Grecian architecture. During the time of Thomas Jefferson, Greek architecture was much in vogue. Even our colonial architecture was based upon Italian Renaissance palaces, derived from the Greek. Classical architecture again became popular after the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Thus we see that Greek architecture is far from dead. XVhat has caused it to be so long-lived? Upon first sight, its simplicity seems to be the predominant feature, yet in modern copies there is apt to be a certain coldness that the original does not possess. Investigation has found that Greek architecture is not made up of the straight lines it seems to be, but is composed of curves that, however slight they may be, give an added degree of warmth and beauty to Greek buildings. Many other slight irregularities give relief from the stiff formality which this type of architecture would otherwise possess. Because of these little deviations, Greek architecture has endured through the ages. Page One Hundred Ten