Western culture

For other uses, seeWestern culture (disambiguation).

Western culture,also known asWestern civilization,European civilization,Occidental culture,Western society,or simplythe West,refers to the internally diversecultureof theWestern world.The term "Western" encompasses thesocial norms,ethical values,traditional customs,belief systems,political systems,artifactsandtechnologiesprimarily rooted inEuropeanandMediterraneanhistories. A broad concept, "Western culture" does not relate to a region with fixed members or geographical confines. It generally refers to the classical era cultures ofAncient GreeceandAncient Romethat expanded across theMediterranean basinandEurope,and later circulated around the world predominantly throughcolonizationandglobalization.

Leonardo da Vinci'sVitruvian Man,based on the correlations of idealhuman proportionswith geometry described by the ancient Roman architectVitruviusin Book III of his treatiseDe architectura

Plato,arguably the most influential figure in earlyWestern philosophy,has influenced virtually all of subsequent Western and Middle Eastern philosophy and theology

Historically, scholars have closely associated the idea of Western culture with the classical era ofGreco-Roman antiquity.However, scholars also acknowledge that other ancient cultures, likeAncient Egypt,thePhoenician city-states,and severalNear-Eastern culturesstimulated and fostered Western civilization.TheHellenistic periodalso promotedsyncretism,blending Greek, Roman, and Jewish cultures. Major advances in literature, engineering, and science shaped theHellenistic Jewishculture from which theearliest Christiansand the GreekNew Testamentemerged.The eventualChristianizationof Europe inlate-antiquitywould ensure thatChristianity,particularly theCatholic Church,remained a dominant force in Western culture for many centuries to follow.

Western culture continued to develop during the Middle Ages as reforms triggered by themedieval renaissances,theinfluence of the Islamic worldviaAl-AndalusandSicily(including the transfer of technology from the East, andLatin translationsofArabic texts on scienceandphilosophyby Greek and Hellenic-influenced Islamic philosophers),and theItalian RenaissanceasGreek scholarsfleeing thefall of Constantinoplebrought ancient Greek and Roman texts back to central and western Europe.Medieval Christianityis credited with creating the modern university,the modern hospital system,scientific economics,andnatural law(which would later influence the creation ofinternational law).European culture developed a complex range of philosophy,medieval scholasticism,mysticismandChristianandsecular humanism,setting the stage for theProtestant Reformationin the 16th century, which fundamentally altered religious and political life. Led by figures likeMartin Luther,Protestantismchallenged the authority of the Catholic Church and promoted ideas ofindividual freedomandreligious reform,paving the way for modern notions ofpersonal responsibilityand governance.

TheEnlightenmentin the 17th and 18th centuries shifted focus toreason,science,andindividual rights,influencingrevolutionsacross Europe and the Americas and the development of modern democratic institutions. Enlightenment thinkers advanced ideals ofpolitical pluralismandempirical inquiry,which, together with theIndustrial Revolution,transformed Western society. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the influence of Enlightenmentrationalismcontinued with the rise ofsecularismandliberal democracy,while the Industrial Revolution fueled economic and technological growth. The expansion ofrights movementsand thedecline of religious authoritymarked significant cultural shifts. Tendencies that have come to define modern Western societies include the concept ofpolitical pluralism,individualism,prominentsubculturesorcountercultures,and increasing culturalsyncretismresulting fromglobalizationandimmigration.

Terminology

Further information:Western world

The West as a geographical area is unclear and undefined. There is some disagreement about which nations should or should not be included in the category, when, and why. Certainly related conceptual terminology has changed over time in scope, meaning, and use. The term "western" draws on an affiliation with, or a perception of, a sharedphilosophy,worldview,political, and religious heritage grounded in theGreco-Roman world,thelegacy of the Roman Empire,and medieval concepts ofChristendom.For example, whether theEastern Roman Empire(anachronistically/controversially referred to as theByzantine Empire),or those countries heavily influenced by its legacy, should be counted as "Western" is an example of the possible ambiguity of the term. These questionscan be traced back to the affiliation between theculture of ancient Romeand that ofClassical Greece,a persistentGreek East and Latin Westlanguage-split within theRoman Empire,and an eventual permanent splitting of the Roman Empire in 395 intoWesternandEasternhalves. And perhaps, at its worst,culminating in Pope Leo III'stransfer of the Roman Empirefrom the Eastern Roman Empire to theFrankishKingCharlemagnein the form of theHoly Roman Empirein 800, theGreat Schismof 1054, and the devastatingFourth Crusadeof 1204. Conversely, traditions of scholarship aroundPlato,Aristotle,andEuclidhad been forgotten in the Catholic west and were rediscovered by Italians from scholars fleeing the 1453 fall of theEastern Roman Empire.The subsequentRenaissance,a conscious effort by Europeans to revive and surpass the ideas and achievements of the Greco-Roman world, eventually encouraged theAge of Discovery,theScientific Revolution,Age of Enlightenment,and the subsequentIndustrial Revolution.Similarly, complicated relationships between virtually all the countries and regions within a broadly defined "West" can be discussed in the light of a persistently fragmented political landscape resulting in a lack of uniformity and significant diversity between the various cultures affiliating with this shared socio-cultural heritage. Thus, those cultures identifying with the West and with what it means to be "western" change over time as the geopolitical circumstances of a place changes and what is meant by the terminology changes.

It is difficult to determine which individuals or places or trends fit into which category, and the East–West contrast is sometimes criticized asrelativisticand arbitrary.Globalization has spread Western ideas so widely that almost all modern cultures are, to some extent, influenced by aspects of Western culture. Stereotypical views of "the West" have been labeled "Occidentalism",paralleling"Orientalism"—the term for the 19th-century stereotyped views of" the East ".

Somephilosophershave questioned whether Western culture can be considered a historically sound, unified body of thought.For example,Kwame Anthony Appiahpointed out in 2016 that many of the fundamental influences on Western culture - such as those ofGreek philosophy- are also shared by theIslamic worldto a certain extent.Appiah argues that the origin of the Western and Europeanidentitycan be traced back to the 8th-century Muslim invasion of Europe viaIberia,when Christians would start to form a common Christian or European identity.Contemporary Latin chronicles from Spain referred to the victors in theFrankishvictory over theUmayyadsat the 732Battle of Toursas "Europeans" according to Appiah, denoting a shared sense of identity.

A former, now less-acceptable synonym for "Western civilisation" was "thewhite race".

As Europeans discovered the extra-European world, old concepts adapted. The area that had formerly been considered theOrient( "the East" ) became theNear Eastas the interests of the European powers interfered withMeiji JapanandQing Chinafor the first time in the 19th century. Thus theSino-Japanese Warin 1894–1895 occurred in the "Far East"while troubles surrounding thedecline of the Ottoman Empireoccurred simultaneously in the Near East.The term "Middle East" in the mid-19th century included the territory east of theOttoman Empirebut west of China—Greater PersiaandGreater India—but is now used synonymously with "Near East" in most languages.

History

Further information:History of Western civilization

The earliestcivilizationswhich influenced the development of Western culture were those ofMesopotamia;the area of theTigris–Euphrates river system,largely corresponding to modern-dayIraq,northeasternSyria,southeasternTurkeyand southwesternIran:thecradle of civilization.Ancient Egyptsimilarly had a strong influence on Western culture.

Phoenicianmercantilism and the introduction of the Alphabetic script boosted state formation in the Aegean and current-day Italy and current-day Spain, spawning civilizations in the Mediterranean such asAncient Carthage,Ancient Greece,Etruria,andAncient Rome.

TheGreekscontrasted themselves with both theirEastern neighbours(such as theTrojansinIliad) as well as their Northern neighbours (who they consideredbarbarians).Concepts of what isthe Westarose out of legacies of theWesternand the Eastern Roman Empire. Later, ideas of the West were formed by the concepts ofLatin Christendomand theHoly Roman Empire.What is thought of as Western thought today originates primarily fromGreco-Romanand Christian traditions, with varying degrees of influence from theGermanic,CelticandSlavicpeoples, and includes the ideals of theMiddle Ages,the Renaissance,Reformationand theEnlightenment.

The West of the Mediterranean Region during the Antiquity

Alexander the Great

While the concept of a "West" did not exist until the emergence of theRoman Republic,the roots of the concept can be traced back toAncient Greece.SinceHomericliterature (theTrojan Wars), through the accounts of thePersian WarsofGreeksagainstPersiansbyHerodotus,and right up until the time ofAlexander the Great,there was aparadigmof a contrast between Greeks and other civilizations.Greeks felt they were the most civilized and saw themselves (in the formulation ofAristotle) as something between the advanced civilizations of theNear East(who they viewed as soft and slavish) and the wildbarbariansof most of Europe to the north. During this period writers like Herodotus andXenophonwould highlight the importance of freedom in the Ancient Greek world, as opposed to the perceived slavery of the so-called barbaric world.

Alexander's conquests led to the emergence of aHellenistic civilization,representing a synthesis of Greek andNear-Easterncultures in theEastern Mediterraneanregion.The Near-Eastern civilizations ofAncient Egyptand theLevant,which came under Greek rule, became part of the Hellenistic world. The most important Hellenistic centre of learning wasPtolemaic Egypt,which attracted Greek,Egyptian,Jewish,Persian,Phoenicianand evenIndianscholars.Hellenistic science, philosophy,architecture,literatureand art later provided a foundation embraced and built upon by theRoman Empireas it swept up Europe and theMediterranean world,including the Hellenistic world in its conquests in the 1st century BCE.

Following the Roman conquest of the Hellenistic world, the concept of a "West" arose, as there was a cultural divide between theGreek East and Latin West.The Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire consisted of Western Europe and Northwest Africa, while the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire consisted of theBalkans,Asia Minor,EgyptandLevant.The "Greek" East was generally wealthier and more advanced than the "Latin" West.With the exception ofItalia,the wealthiest provinces of the Roman Empire were in the East, particularly Roman Egypt which was the wealthiest Roman province outside of Italia.Nevertheless, the Celts in the West created some significant literature in the ancient world whenever they were given the opportunity (an example being the poetCaecilius Statius), and they developed a large amount of scientific knowledge themselves (as seen in theirColigny Calendar).

TheMaison CarréeinNîmes,one of the best-preservedRoman temples

TheRoman Empire(red) and itsclient states(pink) at its greatest extent in 117 AD under emperorTrajan

The Roman Empire in 330. The area in red shows the zone of influence of the Latin West, while the area in blue shows the eastern Greek part.

For about five hundred years, the Roman Empire maintained theGreek Eastand consolidated a Latin West, but an east–west division remained, reflected in many cultural norms of the two areas, including language. Eventually, the empire became increasingly split into a Western and Eastern part, reviving old ideas of a contrast between an advanced East, and a rugged West.

From the time of Alexander the Great (theHellenistic period), Greek civilization came in contact with Jewish civilization. Christianity would eventually emerge from thesyncretismofHellenic culture,Roman culture,andSecond Temple Judaism,gradually spreading across the Roman Empire and eclipsing its antecedents and influences.

The Greek and Romanpaganismwas gradually replaced by Christianity, first with its legalisation with theEdict of Milanand then theEdict of Thessalonicawhich made it theState church of the Roman Empire.CatholicChristianity, served as a unifying force in Christian parts of Europe, and in some respects replaced or competed with the secular authorities. TheJewish Christiantradition out of which it had emerged was all but extinguished, andantisemitismbecame increasingly entrenched or even integral to Christendom.Much of art and literature, law, education, and politics were preserved in the teachings of the Church.

In a broader sense, theMiddle Ages,with its fertile encounter between Greek philosophicalreasoningand Levantinemonotheismwas not confined to the West but also stretched into the old East. The philosophy and science of Classical Greece were largely forgotten in Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, other than in isolated monastic enclaves (notably in Ireland, which had become Christian but was never conquered by Rome).The learning ofClassical Antiquitywas better preserved in the Eastern Roman Empire. Justinian'sCorpus Juris CivilisRoman civil law code was created in the East in his capital of Constantinople,and that city maintained trade and intermittent political control over outposts such asVenicein the West for centuries. Classical Greek learning was also subsumed, preserved, and elaborated in the rising Eastern world, which gradually supplanted Roman-Byzantine control as a dominant cultural-political force. Thus, much of the learning of classical antiquity was slowly reintroduced to European civilization in the centuries following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

The birth of European West during the Middle Ages

Mosaic ofJustinian Iwith his court, circa 547–549,Basilica of San Vitale(Ravenna,Italy)

Two main symbols of the medieval Western civilization on one picture: the gothicSt. Martin's cathedralinSpišské Podhradie(Slovakia) and theSpiš Castlebehind the cathedral

Stone bas-relief of Jesus, from theVézelay Abbey(Burgundy,France)

Notre-Dame,the most iconicGothiccathedral,built between 1163 and 1345

The Medieval West referred specifically to the Catholic "Latin" West, also called "Frankish" duringCharlemagne's reign, in contrast to the Orthodox East, where Greek remained the language of the Byzantine Empire.

After thefall of Rome,much of Greco-Roman art, literature, science and even technology were all but lost in the western part of the old empire. However, this would become the center of a new West. Europe fell into political anarchy, with many warring kingdoms and principalities. Under the Frankish kings, it eventually, and partially, reunified, and the anarchy evolved intofeudalism.

Much of the basis of the post-Roman cultural world had been set before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, mainly through the integration and reshaping of Roman ideas through Christian thought. TheEastern Orthodox Churchfounded manycathedrals,monasteriesandseminaries,some of which continue to exist today.

After thefall of the Roman Empire,many of the classical Greek texts were translated into Arabic and preserved in themedieval Islamic world.TheGreek classicsalong withArabic science,philosophyand technology weretransmitted to Western Europeandtranslated into Latin,sparking theRenaissance of the 12th centuryand 13th century.

Thomas Aquinas,aCatholic philosopherof theMiddle Ages,revived and developed natural law fromancient Greek philosophy.

Medieval Christianityis credited with creating the first modern universities.The Catholic Church established a hospital system in Medieval Europe that vastly improved upon the Romanvaletudinariaand Greek healing temples.These hospitals were established to cater to "particular social groups marginalized by poverty, sickness, and age," according to the historian of hospitals, Guenter Risse.Christianity played a role in ending practices common among pagan societies, such as human sacrifice, slavery,infanticide and polygamy.Francisco de Vitoria,a disciple ofThomas Aquinasand a Catholic thinker who studied the issue regarding the human rights of colonized natives, is recognized by the United Nations as a father of international law, and now also by historians of economics and democracy as a leading light for the West's democracy and rapid economic development.Joseph Schumpeter,an economist of the twentieth century, referring to theScholastics,wrote, "it is they who come nearer than does any other group to having been the 'founders' of scientific economics."

Later Middle Ages (Rome and Reformation)

The rediscovery of theJustinian Codein Western Europe early in the 10th century rekindled a passion for the discipline of law, which crossed many of the re-forming boundaries between East and West. In theCatholicorFrankishwest,Roman lawbecame the foundation on which all legal concepts and systems were based. Its influence is found in all Western legal systems, although in different manners and to different extents. The study ofcanon law,the legal system of the Catholic Church, fused with that of Roman law to form the basis of the refounding of Western legal scholarship. During the Reformation and Enlightenment, the ideas ofcivil rights,equalitybefore the law,procedural justice,and democracy as the ideal form of society began to be institutionalized as principles forming the basis of modern Western culture, particularly in Protestant regions.

In the 14th century, starting from Italy and then spreading throughout Europe,there was a massive artistic, architectural, scientific and philosophical revival, as a result of the Christian revival of Greek philosophy, and the long Christian medieval tradition that established the use of reason as one of the most important of human activities.This period is commonly referred to as theRenaissance.In the following century, this process was further enhanced by an exodus of Greek Christian priests andscholarsto Italian cities such asFlorenceandVeniceafter the end of the Byzantine Empire with the fall of Constantinople.

Christopher Columbusarrives at the New World.

FromLate Antiquity,through the Middle Ages, and onwards, while Eastern Europe was shaped by theEastern Orthodox Church,Southern and Central Europe were increasingly stabilized by theCatholic Churchwhich, as Roman imperial governance faded from view, was the only consistent force in Western Europe.In 1054 came theGreat Schismthat, following theGreek East and Latin Westdivide, separated Europe into religious and cultural regions present to this day. Until the Age of Enlightenment,Christian culturetook over as the predominant force in Western civilization, guiding the course of philosophy, art, and science for many years.Movements in art and philosophy, such as theHumanistmovement of the Renaissance and theScholasticmovement of theHigh Middle Ages,were motivated by a drive to connectCatholicismwith Greek and Arab thought imported by Christian pilgrims.However, due to the division inWestern Christianitycaused by theProtestant Reformationand the Enlightenment, religious influence—especially the temporal power of the Pope—began to wane.

Expansion of the West: the Era of Colonialism (15th–20th centuries)

TheUnited States Constitution

Early modern era

From the late 15th century to the 17th century, Western culture began to spread to other parts of the world through explorers and missionaries during theAge of Discovery,and byimperialistsfrom the 17th century to the early 20th century. During theGreat Divergence,a term coined bySamuel Huntingtonthe Western world overcame pre-modern growth constraints and emerged during the 19th century as the most powerful and wealthy worldcivilizationof the time, eclipsingQing China,Mughal India,Tokugawa Japan,and theOttoman Empire.The process was accompanied and reinforced by the Age of Discovery and continued into the modern period. Scholars have proposed a wide variety of theories to explain why the Great Divergence happened, including lack of government intervention, geography, colonialism, and customary traditions.

TheAge of Discoveryfaded into theAge of Enlightenmentof the 18th century, during which cultural and intellectual forces in European society emphasized reason, analysis, and individualism rather than traditional lines of authority. It challenged the authority of institutions that were deeply rooted in society, such as the Catholic Church; there was much talk of ways to reform society with toleration, science andskepticism.

Philosophers of the Enlightenment includedFrancis Bacon,René Descartes,John Locke,Baruch Spinoza,Voltaire(1694–1778),Jean-Jacques Rousseau,David Hume,andImmanuel Kant,who influenced society by publishing widely read works. Upon learning about enlightened views, some rulers met with intellectuals and tried to apply their reforms, such as allowing for toleration, or accepting multiple religions, in what became known asenlightened absolutism.New ideas and beliefs spread around Europe and were fostered by an increase in literacy due to a departure from solely religious texts. Publications includeEncyclopédie(1751–72) that was edited byDenis DiderotandJean le Rond d'Alembert.TheDictionnaire philosophique(Philosophical Dictionary, 1764) andLetters on the English(1733) written byVoltairespread the ideals of the Enlightenment.

Coinciding with the Age of Enlightenment was thescientific revolution,spearheaded by Newton. This included the emergence ofmodern science,during which developments inmathematics,physics,astronomy,biology(includinghuman anatomy) andchemistrytransformed views of society and nature.While its dates are disputed, the publication in 1543 ofNicolaus Copernicus'sDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium(On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres) is often cited as marking the beginning of the scientific revolution, and its completion is attributed to the "grand synthesis" of Newton's 1687Principia.

Industrial Revolution

TheIndustrial Revolutionwas the transition to new manufacturing processes in the period from about 1760 to sometime between 1820 and 1840. This included going from hand production methods to machines, new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes, improved efficiency ofwater power,the increasing use ofsteam power,and the development ofmachine tools.These transitions began in Great Britain and spread to Western Europe and North America within a few decades.

AWatt steam engine.Thesteam engine,made of iron and fueled primarily by coal, propelled the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and the world.

The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in history; almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. In particular, average income and population began to exhibit unprecedented sustained growth. Some economists say that the major impact of the Industrial Revolution was that thestandard of livingfor the general population began to increase consistently for the first time in history, although others have said that it did not begin to meaningfully improve until the late 19th and 20th centuries.The precise start and end of the Industrial Revolution is still debated among historians, as is the pace of economic and social changes.GDP per capita was broadly stable before the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of the moderncapitalisteconomy,while the Industrial Revolution began an era of per-capita economic growth in capitalist economies.Economic historians are in agreement that the onset of the Industrial Revolution is the most important event in the history of humanity since the domestication of animals, plantsand fire.

The First Industrial Revolution evolved into theSecond Industrial Revolutionin the transition years between 1840 and 1870, when technological and economic progress continued with the increasing adoption of steam transport (steam-powered railways, boats, and ships), the large-scale manufacture of machine tools and the increasing use of machinery in steam-powered factories.

Post-Industrial era

Tendencies that have come to define modern Western societies include the concept ofpolitical pluralism,individualism,prominentsubculturesorcountercultures(such asNew Agemovements) and increasing culturalsyncretismresulting fromglobalizationand immigration. Western culture has been heavily influenced by the Renaissance, the Ages ofDiscoveryand Enlightenment and theIndustrialandScientific Revolutions.

In the 20th century,Christianity declinedin influence in many Western countries, mostly in the European Union where some member states have experienced falling church attendance and membership in recent years,and also elsewhere.Secularism(separating religion from politics and science) increased. Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western world, where 70% are Christians.

The West went through a series of great cultural and social changes between 1945 and 1980. The emergent mass media (film, radio, television and recorded music) created a global culture that could ignore national frontiers. Literacy became almost universal, encouraging the growth of books, magazines and newspapers. The influence of cinema and radio remained, while televisions became near essentials in every home.

By the mid-20th century, Western culture was exported worldwide, and the development and growth of international transport and telecommunication (such astransatlantic cableand theradiotelephone) played a decisive role in modern globalization. The West has contributed a great many technological, political, philosophical, artistic and religious aspects to modern international culture: having been a crucible ofCatholicism,Protestantism,democracy, industrialisation; the first major civilisation to seek toabolish slaveryduring the 19th century, the first toenfranchise women(beginning inAustralasiaat the end of the 19th century) and the first to put to use such technologies assteam,electricandnuclear power.The West invented cinema, television, the personal computer, the Internet and video games; developed sports such as soccer,cricket,golf,tennis,rugby,basketball,andvolleyball;and transported humans to anastronomical objectfor the first time with the 1969Apollo 11Moon Landing.

Arts and humanities

See also:Western canon

Detail of theBayeux TapestryshowingWilliam the Conqueror(centre), his half-brothersRobert, Count of Mortain(right) andOdo,Bishop ofBayeuxin theDuchy of Normandy(left). The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the NormanRomanesque.

While dance, music, visual art, story-telling, and architecture are human universals, they are expressed in the West in certain characteristic ways.

In Western dance, music, plays and other arts, the performers are only very infrequently masked. There are essentially no taboos against depicting a god, or other religious figures, in a representational fashion.

Music

In music, Catholic monks developed the first forms of modern Western musical notation to standardize liturgy throughout the worldwide Church,and an enormous body of religious music has been composed for it through the ages. This led directly to the emergence and development of European classical music and its many derivatives. TheBaroquestyle, which encompassed music, art, and architecture, was particularly encouraged by the post-Reformation Catholic Church as such forms offered a means of religious expression that was stirring and emotional, intended to stimulate religious fervor.

Thesymphony,concerto,sonata,opera, andoratoriohave their origins in Italy. Manymusical instrumentsdeveloped in the West have come to see widespread use all over the world; among them are the guitar, violin, piano,pipe organ,saxophone, trombone, clarinet,accordion,and thetheremin.In turn, it has been claimed that some European instruments have roots in earlier Eastern instruments that wereadopted from the medieval Islamic world.The solo piano,symphony orchestra,and thestring quartetare also significant musical innovations of the West.

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  Claudio Monteverdi,1567–1643
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  Antonio Lucio Vivaldi,1678–1741
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  George Frideric Handel,1685–1759
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  Johann Sebastian Bach,1685–1750
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  Franz Joseph Haydn,1732–1809
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  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,1756–1791
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  Ludwig van Beethoven,1770–1827
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  Frédéric François Chopin,1810–1849
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  Franz Liszt,1811–1886

Painting and photography

Jan van Eyck,among other renaissance painters, made great advances inoil painting,andperspectivedrawings and paintings had their earliest practitioners inFlorence.In art, theCeltic knotis a very distinctive Western repeated motif. Depictions of the nude human male and female in photography, painting, and sculpture are frequently considered to have special artistic merit. Realisticportraitureis especially valued.

Photography and the motion picture as both a technology and basis for entirely new art forms were also developed in the West.

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  Restoration of a fresco from an Ancient Roman villa bedroom, circa 50-40 BC, dimensions of the room: 265.4 × 334 × 583.9 cm, in theMetropolitan Museum of Art(New York City)
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  Mona Lisa,byLeonardo da Vinci,c. 1503 – 1506, perhaps continuing until circa 1517, oil on poplar panel, 77 cm × 53 cm,Louvre(Paris)
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  Las Meninas,byDiego Velázquez,1656, oil on canvas, 318 cm × 276 cm,El Prado(Madrid)
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  Dance at Le moulin de la Galette,byPierre-Auguste Renoir,1876, oil on canvas, height: 131 cm,Musée d'Orsay(Paris)
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  Photo of the interior of the apartment ofEugène Atget,taken in 1910 in Paris
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  Rêverie,byAlphonse Mucha,poster for the publishing house Champenois (1897)

Dance and performing arts

Classical music, opera and ballet:Swan Lakepictured

The ballet is a distinctively Western form of performance dance.Theballroom danceis an important Western variety of dance for the elite. Thepolka,thesquare dance,theflamenco,and the Irishstep danceare very well known Western forms offolk dance.

GreekandRoman theatreare considered the antecedents of modern theatre, and forms such asmedieval theatre,Passion Plays,morality plays,andcommedia dell'arteare considered highly influential.Elizabethan theatre,with playwrights includingWilliam Shakespeare,Christopher Marlowe,andBen Jonson,is considered one of the most formative and important eras for modern drama.

The soap opera, a popular culture dramatic form, originated in the United States first on radio in the 1930s, then a couple of decades later on television. The music video was also developed in the West in the middle of the 20th century. Musical theatre was developed in the West in the 19th and 20th Centuries, frommusic hall,comic opera,andVaudeville;with significant contributions from theJewish diaspora,African-Americans,and other marginalized peoples.

Literature

TheDivine Comedyis anepic poembyDante Alighieri.Engraving byGustave Doré.

Western literature encompasses the literary traditions of Europe, as well as North America, Oceania and Latin America.

While epic literary works in verse such as theMahabharataand Homer'sIliadare ancient and occurred worldwide, the prose novel as a distinct form of storytelling, with developed, consistent human characters and, typically, some connected overall plot (although both of these characteristics have sometimes been modified and played with in later times), was popularized by the Westin the 17th and 18th centuries. Of course, extended prose fiction had existed much earlier; both novels of adventure and romance in theHellenisticworld and inHeianJapan. BothPetronius'Satyricon(c. 60 CE) and theTale of GenjibyMurasaki Shikibu(c. 1000 CE) have been cited as the world's first major novel but they had a very limited long-term impact on literary writing beyond their own day until much more recent times.

The novel, which made its appearance in the 18th century, is an essentially European creation. Chinese and Japanese literature contain some works that may be thought of as novels, but only the European novel is couched in terms of a personal analysis of personal dilemmas.

As in its artistic tradition, European literature pays deep tribute to human suffering.Tragedy,from its ritually and mythologically inspired Greek origins to modern forms where struggle and downfall are often rooted in psychological or social, rather than mythical, motives, is also widely considered a specifically European creation and can be seen as a forerunner of some aspects of both the novel and of classical opera.

The validity of reason was postulated in bothChristian philosophyand the Greco-Roman classics.Christianity laid a stress on the inward aspects of actions and on motives, notions that were foreign to the ancient world. This subjectivity, which grew out of the Christian belief that man could achieve a personal union with God, resisted all challenges and made itself the fulcrum on which all literary exposition turned, including the 20th–21st century novels.

Architecture

Important Western architectural motifs include theDoric,Corinthian,andIonicorders ofGreek architecture,and theRomanesque,Gothic,Renaissance,Baroque,andVictorianstyles, which are still widely recognized and used in contemporary Western architecture. Much of Western architecture emphasizes repetition of simple motifs, straight lines and expansive, undecorated planes. A modern ubiquitous architectural form that emphasizes this characteristic is theskyscraper,their modern equivalent first developed in New York and Chicago. The predecessor of the skyscraper can be found in themedieval towers erected in Bologna.

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  TheParthenonunder restoration in 2008, the most iconicClassicalbuilding, built from 447 BC to 432 BC, located inAthens
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  The facade ofAngoulême Cathedralwas built between 1110 and 1128 in theRomanesquestyle.
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  Stained glass windows of theSainte-Chapellein Paris, completed in 1248, mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220 in theGothicstyle
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  ThePalazzo Farnese,inRome,built from 1534 to 1545, was designed bySangalloandMichelangeloand is an important example ofrenaissance architecture.
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  ThePalais Garnierin Paris, built between 1861 and 1875, aBeaux-Artsmasterpiece

Cuisine

See also:Western cuisineandWestern food

Westernfoodwayswere, until recently, considered to have their roots in thecuisines of Classical Romeand Greece, but the influence of Arab andNear Eastern cuisineon the West has become a topic of research in recent decades. TheCrusaders,known mostly for fighting over holy land, settled in the Levant and acclimated to the local culture and cuisine.Fulcher of Chartressaid "For we who were occidentals have now become orientals." These cultural experiences, carried back to France by notables likeEleanor of Aquitaineinfluenced Western European foodways. Many Oriental ingredients were relatively new to the Western lands. Sugar, almonds, pistachios, rosewater, and dried citrus fruits were all novelties to the Crusaders who encountered them in Saracen lands. Pepper, ginger and cinnamon were the most widely used spices of the European courts and noble households. By the end of the Middle Ages,cloves,nutmeg,mastic,galingale,and other imported spices had become part of the Western cuisine.

Saracen influence can be seen in medieval cookbooks. Some recipes retain their Arabic names in Italian translations of theLiber de Coquina.Known asbruet Sarassinoisin the cuisine of North France, the concept of sweet and sour sauce is attested to in Greek tradition whenAnthimusfinishes his stew with vinegar and honey. Saracens combined sweet ingredients like date-juice and honey with pomegranate, lemons and citrus juices, or other sour ingredients. The technique of browning pieces of meat and simmering in liquid with vegetables is used in many recipes from theBaghdad cookery book.The same technique appears in the late-13th centuryViandier.Fried pieces of beef simmered in wine with sugar and cloves was calledbruet of Sarcynessein English.

Scientific and technological inventions and discoveries

Medieval Christians believed that to seek the geometric, physical and mathematical principles that govern the world was to seek and worship God. Detail of a scene in the bowl of the letter 'P' with a woman with a set-square and dividers; using a compass to measure distances on a diagram. In her left hand she holds a square, an implement for testing or drawing right angles. She is watched by a group of students. In the Middle Ages, it is unusual to see women represented as teachers, in particular when the students appear to be monks. She is most likely the personification of Geometry, based on Martianus Capella's famous book De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii [5th c.], a standard source for allegorical imagery of the seven liberal arts. Illustration at the beginning of Euclid's Elementa, in the translation attributed to Adelard of Bath.

A doctor of philosophy of theUniversity of Oxford,in full academic dress. The typical dress for graduation are gowns and hoods or hats adapted from the daily dress of university staff in the Middle Ages, which was in turn based on the attire worn by medieval clergy.

The GreekAntikythera mechanismis generally referred to as the first knownanalogue computer.

Apollo 11astronautBuzz Aldrin,Apollo Lunar Modulepilot of the first crewed mission to land on the Moon, poses for a photograph beside the deployedUnited States flagduring his Extravehicular Activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.

A notable feature of Western culture is its strong emphasis and focus on innovation and invention through science and technology, and its ability to generate new processes, materials and material artifacts with its roots dating back to the Ancient Greeks. Thescientific methodas "a method or procedure that has characterized natural science since the 17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses" was fashioned by the 17th-century ItalianGalileo Galilei,with roots in the work of medieval scholars such as the 11th-centuryIraqi physicistIbn al-Haythamand the 13th-century English friarRoger Bacon.

By thewillof the Swedish inventorAlfred NobeltheNobel Prizeswere established in 1895. The prizes inChemistry,Literature,Peace,Physics,andPhysiology or Medicinewere first awarded in 1901.The percentage of ethnically European Nobel prize winners during the first and second halves of the 20th century were respectively 98 and 94 percent.

The West is credited with the development of thesteam engineand adapting its use into factories, and for the generation ofelectric power.The electricalmotor,dynamo,transformer,electric light,and most of the familiar electrical appliances, were inventions of the West.TheOttoand theDieselinternal combustion enginesare products whose genesis and early development were in the West.Nuclear powerstations are derived from the firstatomic pileconstructed in Chicago in 1942.

Communication devices and systems including thetelegraph,the telephone, radio, television,communicationsandnavigation satellites,mobile phone, and the Internet were all invented by Westerners.Thepencil,ballpoint pen,Cathode ray tube,liquid-crystal display,light-emitting diode,camera,photocopier,laser printer,ink jet printer,plasma displayscreen andWorld Wide Webwere also invented in the West.

Ubiquitous materials including aluminum, clear glass,synthetic rubber,synthetic diamondand the plasticspolyethylene,polypropylene,polyvinyl chlorideandpolystyrenewere discovered and developed or invented in the West. Iron and steel ships, bridges and skyscrapers first appeared in the West.Nitrogen fixationandpetrochemicalswere invented by Westerners. Most of theelementswere discovered and named in the West, as well as the contemporaryatomic theoriesto explain them.

Thetransistor,integrated circuit,memory chip, firstprogramming languageand computer were all first seen in the West. Theship's chronometer,thescrew propeller,thelocomotive,bicycle,automobile,and airplane were all invented in the West.Eyeglasses,thetelescope,themicroscopeandelectron microscope,all the varieties ofchromatography,proteinandDNA sequencing,computerised tomography,nuclear magnetic resonance,x-rays,and light, ultraviolet and infraredspectroscopy,were all first developed and applied in Western laboratories, hospitals and factories.

In medicine, the pureantibioticswere created in the West. The method of preventingRh disease,the treatment ofdiabetes,and thegerm theoryof disease were discovered by Westerners. The eradication ofsmallpox,was led by a Westerner,Donald Henderson.Radiography,computed tomography,positron emission tomographyandmedical ultrasonographyare important diagnostic tools developed in the West. Other important diagnostic tools ofclinical chemistry,including the methods ofspectrophotometry,electrophoresisandimmunoassay,were first devised by Westerners. So were thestethoscope,theelectrocardiograph,and theendoscope.Vitamins,hormonal contraception,hormones,insulin,beta blockersandACE inhibitors,along with a host of other medically proven drugs, were first used to treat disease in the West. Thedouble-blindstudy andevidence-based medicineare critical scientific techniques widely used in the West for medical purposes.

Euleris widely regarded to be one of the greatest mathematicians in history.

In mathematics,calculus,statistics,logic,vectors,tensorsandcomplex analysis,group theory,abstract algebraandtopologywere developed by Westerners.In biology,evolution,chromosomes,DNA,geneticsand the methods ofmolecular biologyare creations of the West. In physics, the science ofmechanicsandquantum mechanics,relativity,thermodynamics,andstatistical mechanicswere all developed by Westerners. The discoveries and inventions by Westerners inelectromagnetismincludeCoulomb's law(1785), the firstbattery(1800), the unity ofelectricity and magnetism(1820),Biot–Savart law(1820),Ohm's law(1827), andMaxwell's equations(1871). Theatom,nucleus,electron,neutronandprotonwere all unveiled by Westerners.

The world's most widely adopted system of measurement, theInternational System of Units,derived from themetric system,was first developed in France and evolved through contributions from various Westerners.

In business, economics, and finance,double entry bookkeeping,credit cards, and thecharge cardwere all first used in the West.

Westerners are also known for their explorations of the globe andouter space.The first expedition tocircumnavigate the Earth(1522) was by Westerners, as well as the first journey to the South Pole (1911), and the first Moon landing (1969).Thelanding of robots on Mars(2004 and 2012) and on anasteroid(2001), theVoyager 2explorations of the outer planets (Uranusin 1986 andNeptunein 1989),Voyager 1's passage into interstellar space (2013), andNew Horizons'flyby ofPluto(2015) were significant recent Western achievements.

Media

Main article:Western media

The roots of modern-day Western mass media can be traced back to the late 15th century, whenprinting pressesbegan to operate throughout wealthy European cities. The emergence of news media in the 17th century has to be seen in close connection with thespread of the printing press,from which the publishingpressderives its name.

In the 16th century, a decrease in the preeminence ofLatinin its literary use, along with the impact of economic change, the discoveries arising from trade and travel, navigation to theNew World,science and arts and the development of increasingly rapid communications through print led to a rising corpus of vernacular media content in European society.

After the launch of the satelliteSputnik 1by the Soviet Union in 1957, satellite transmission technology was dramatically realised, with the United States launchingTelstarin 1962 linking live media broadcasts from the UK to the US. The first digital broadcast satellite (DBS) system began transmitting in US in 1975.

Beginning in the 1990s, the Internet has contributed to a tremendous increase in the accessibility of Western media content. Departing from media offered in bundled content packages (magazines, CDs,television and radio slots), the Internet has primarily offered unbundled content items (articles,audio and video files).

Religion

Main article:Western religions

The native religions of Europe werepolytheisticbut not homogenous – however, they were similar insofar as they were predominantlyIndo-Europeanin origin.Roman religionwas similar to but not the same asHellenic religion– likewise forindigenous Germanic polytheism,Celtic polytheismandSlavic polytheism.Before this time many Europeans from the north, especially Scandinavians, remained polytheistic, though southern Europe was predominantly Christian from the 5th century onwards.

Western culture at a fundamental level is influenced by theJudeo-ChristianandGreco-Romantraditions.These cultures had a number of similarities, such as a common emphasis on the individual, but they also embody fundamentally conflicting worldviews. For example, in Judaism and Christianity, God is the ultimate authority, while Greco-Roman tradition considers the ultimate authority to bereason.Christian attempts to reconcile these frameworks were responsible for the preservation ofGreek philosophy.Historically, Europe has been the center and cradle ofChristian civilization.

According to a survey byPew Research Centerfrom 2011, Christianity remains the dominant religion in the Western world where 70–84% are Christians,According to this survey, 76% of Europeans described themselves as Christians,and about 86% of theAmericas' population identified themselves as Christians,(90% in Latin America and 77% in North America).73% in Oceania self-identify as Christian, and 76% in South Africa are Christian.

2012Eurobarometerpolls about religiosity in the European Union in 2012 found that Christianity was the largest religion in theEuropean Union,accounting for 72% of the EU population.Catholicsare the largestChristiangroup, accounting for 48% of the EU citizens, whileProtestantsmake up 12%,Eastern Orthodoxmake up 8% and other Christians make up 4%.Non-believers/Agnosticsaccount for 16%,atheistsaccount for 7%,andMuslimsaccount for 2%.According to Scholars, in 2017, Europe's population was 77.8% Christian (up from 74.9% 1970),these changes were largely result of thecollapse of Communismandswitching to Christianityin the former Soviet Union andEastern Bloccountries.

At the same there has been an increase in the share of agnostic oratheistresidents in Europe; these made up about 18% of the European population in 2012.In particular, over half of the populations of theCzech Republic(79%of the population was agnostic, atheist or irreligious), theUnited Kingdom(52%),Germany(25–33%),France(30–35%)and theNetherlands(39–44%) are agnostic or atheist.

As in other areas, theJewish diasporaand Judaism exist in the Western world.

There are also small but increasing numbers of people across the Western world who seek to revive the indigenous religions of their European ancestors; suchgroupsincludeGermanic,Roman,Hellenic,Celtic,Slavic,and polytheistic reconstructionist movements. Likewise,Wicca,New Age spirituality and otherneo-paganbelief systems enjoy notable minority support in Western states.

Sport

Main article:Western sports

TheBull-Leaping Frescofrom the Great Palace atKnossos,Crete.Sport has been an important part of Western culture sinceClassical Antiquity.

BaronPierre de Coubertin,founder of theInternational Olympic Committee,and considered father of the modernOlympic Games

Sinceclassical antiquity,sport has been an important facet of Western cultural expression.

A wide range of sports was already established by the time ofAncient Greeceand the military culture and the development of sports in Greece influenced one another considerably. Sports became such a prominent part of their culture that the Greeks created theOlympic Games,which in ancient times were held every four years in a small village in thePeloponnesuscalledOlympia.BaronPierre de Coubertin,a Frenchman, instigated the modern revival of the Olympic movement. The first modern Olympic games were held atAthens in 1896.

The Romans built immense structures such as theamphitheatresto house their festivals of sport. The Romans exhibited a passion forblood sports,such as the infamousGladiatorialbattles that pitted contestants against one another in a fight to the death. The Olympic Games revived many of the sports ofclassical antiquity—such asGreco-Roman wrestling,discusandjavelin. The sport ofbullfightingis a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France, and some Latin American countries. It traces its roots to prehistoricbull worshipandsacrificeand is often linked to Rome, where many human-versus-animal events were held. Bullfighting spread from Spain to its American colonies, and in the 19th century to France, where it developed into a distinctive form in its own right.

Joustingand hunting were popular sports in the European Middle Ages, and the aristocratic classes developed passions for leisure activities. A great number of popular global sports were first developed or codified in Europe. The modern game ofgolforiginated in Scotland, where the first written record of golf isJames II's banning of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learningarchery.

TheIndustrial Revolutionthat began in Great Britain in the 18th century brought increased leisure time, leading to more opportunities for citizens to participate in athletic activities and also follow spectator sports. These trends continued with the advent of mass media and global communication. The bat and ball sport ofcricketwas first played in England during the 16th century and was exported around the globe via theBritish Empire.A number of popular modern sports were devised or codified in the United Kingdom during the 19th century and obtained global prominence; these includeping pong,moderntennis,association football,netballandrugby.

Football(or soccer) remains hugely popular in Europe, but has grown from its origins to be known as theworld game.Similarly, sports such as cricket, rugby, and netball were exported around the world, particularly among countries in theCommonwealth of Nations,thus India and Australia are among the strongest cricketing states, while victory in theRugby World Cuphas been shared among New Zealand, Australia, England, and South Africa.

Australian Rules Football,an Australian variation of football with similarities toGaelic footballandrugby,evolved in the Britishcolony of Victoriain the mid-19th century. The United States also developed unique variations of English sports. English migrants took antecedents ofbaseballto America during the colonial period. The history ofAmerican footballcan be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football. Many games are known as "football" were being played at colleges and universities in the United States in the first half of the 19th century. American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby, most notably the rule changes instituted byWalter Camp,the "Father of American football".Basketballwas invented in 1891 byJames Naismith,a Canadian physical education instructor working inSpringfield, Massachusetts,in the United States.Volleyballwas created inHolyoke, Massachusetts,a city directly north of Springfield, in 1895.

Themes and traditions

AMadonna and Childpainting by an anonymous Italian from the first half of the 19th century, oil on canvas

Western culture has developed many themes and traditions, the most significant of which are:

• Greco-Roman classic letters, arts, architecture, philosophical and cultural tradition, which include the influence of preeminent authors and philosophers such asSocrates,Plato,Aristotle,Homer,Virgil,andCicero,as well as a longmythologic tradition.
• Christian ethical, philosophical, andmythologicaltradition, stemming largely from theChristian Bible,particularly theNew TestamentGospels.
• Monasteries, schools, libraries, books, book making, universities, teaching, education, and lecture halls.
• A tradition of the importance ofthe rule of law.
• Secular humanism,rationalismand Enlightenment thought. This set the basis for a new critical attitude and open questioning of religion, favouringfreethinkingand questioning of the church as an authority, which resulted in open-minded and reformist ideals inside, such asliberation theology,which partly adopted these currents, and secular and political tendencies such asseparation of church and state(sometimes termedlaicism), agnosticism andatheism.
• Generalized usage of some form of theLatinorGreek alphabet,and derived forms, such asCyrillic,used by those southern and eastern Slavic countries ofChristian Orthodoxtradition, historically under the Byzantine Empire and later within the Russianczaristor the Soviet area of influence. Other variants of the Latin or Greek alphabets are found in theGothicandCoptic alphabets,which historically superseded older scripts, such asrunes,and the EgyptianDemoticandHieroglyphicsystems.
• Natural law,human rights,constitutionalism,parliamentarism(orpresidentialism) and formalliberal democracyin recent times—prior to the 19th century, most Western governments were still monarchies.
• A large influence, inmodern times,of many of the ideals and values developed and inherited fromRomanticism.
• An emphasis on, and use of, science as a means of understanding the natural world and humanity's place in it.
• More pronounced use and application of innovation and scientific developments, as well as a more rational approach to scientific progress (what has been known as thescientific method).

See also

• Atlanticism
• Christendom
• Classical tradition
• Culture during the Cold War
• Eastern world
• Eastern culture
• European diaspora
• Greco-Roman world
• Western education
• Western religion
• Westernization
• Western values

References

Sources

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• Atle Hesmyr (2013).Civilization, Oikos, and ProgressISBN978-1468924190
• Barzun, JacquesFrom Dawn to Decadence:500 Years of Western Cultural Life 1500 to the PresentHarperCollins (2000)ISBN0-06-017586-9.
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• Walsh, James Joseph,The Popes and Science; the History of the Papal Relations to Science During the Middle Ages and Down to Our Own Time,Fordham University Press, 1908, reprinted 2003, Kessinger Publishing.ISBN0-7661-3646-9Reviews:p. 462.[1]
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• Ferguson, Niall,Civilization. The West and the rest,Penguin Press, 2011.ISBN978-1-101-54802-8
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• Stark, Rodney,The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success,Random House,2006.ISBN978-0812972337
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Further reading

• Barzun, Jacques.From Dawn to Decadence: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life: 1500 to the Present.New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
• Hesmyr, Atle Kultorp:Civilization; Its Economic Basis, Historical Lessons and Future Prospects(Telemark: Nisus Publications, 2020).

External links

• An overview of the Western CivilizationArchived24 October 2021 at theWayback Machine