• Ancient Greece is responsible for many innovations we still use today.Temple of Apollo in the Ancient Agora in Athens, Greece image by Diane Stamatelatos from Fotolia.com
  
  Some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers in history were Greek. Many scientists and mathematicians were actually enlisted and funded by the Greek government, as education was very important during antiquity. Ancient Greece has provided several valuable contributions that are still in use today.
  
  

Geometry

• Geometry was first used by ancient societies in Egypt and China, but the Greeks are credited as inventing the study of it as a science. The first discoveries were making the basic calculations of geometric shapes and later included incommensurable lengths and irrational number theories.
  
  

Hippocratic Oath

• Until the 1970s, medical students had to take the Hippocratic Oath upon graduation. Although modern medicine has replaced this with the Declaration of Geneva, the Greek Hippocrates was the first doctor to standardize medicine and the ethical behavior of doctors. In the fourth century B.C., Hippocrates wrote that doctors must swear to not perform euthanasia or abortion, not to cause deliberate harm, nor to offend the morality of their society.
  
  

Cartography

• Wall paintings of cities and regions had existed for centuries but the Greeks were the first to draw and print maps. Cartography was created by Anaximander, a philosopher, who made the first map. It included Europe, Asia and Libya as three large land masses, and the Mediterranean and Black seas. Maps helped improve navigation and trade the world over.
  
  

Theater

• Theater was developed by the Greeks as early as the sixth century B.C. Amphitheaters served as stages for pagan ritual performances and many themes included patriotism, liberty and hospitality.
  
  

Catapult

• The catapult was an ancient weapon used by Greece to attack enemy forces. Invented by Dionysus the Elder of Syracuse (430--367 BC), the catapult was helpful in strengthening military strongholds and protecting villages by launching heavy objects at attackers.
  
  

Olympics

• Though according to mythology the Olympics were a series of games performed by gods for the entertainment of Zeus, the first Olympics were held in 776 B.C. The first competitions were held in boxing, running, horsemanship, wrestling and the pentathlon.