Ancient Greece Achieved Its Brilliance Through Simplicity, We Should Do The Same
Beauty with economy is a path for dealing with our complicated society
In mid-July of 2020, the US Naval amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard was destroyed by a fire. The inferno started as a small arson attempt. However, it turned into a five-day-long blaze which roared out of control, ravaging the 27,000-ton vessel.
Retired Army Watercraft Master Michael Carr in his article in the naval forum Gcaptain, explains it was totally avoidable. The former sailor taught thousands of courses on battling ship-borne fires. Most involved live fire-extinguishing exercises using manpower.
According to Carr modern naval ships now lean on technology, flow charts, and complex systems for battling fires — all of which failed in this instance. Carr states:
“Our military bureaucracy has become so complicated and filled with incomprehensible manuals and flowcharts that we are now disconnected from the critical need for mastering the basic skills needed to be an effective maritime professional.”
Likely that statement can be applied to many different disciplines nowadays. While complex technologies offer promises of an easier way, they can also turn simple fires into blazing infernos. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
There’s an architectural reminder in most cities bringing us back to an old idea. Walk into many courthouses and public buildings and you’ll see it. Greek columns greet you as you enter.
They’re simple and plain but inspire an appreciation and strange sense of awe. The idea is also thousands of years old, however, it never goes out of style. Brilliance lies in its lack of intricacy.
The columns just hold up the ceiling and nothing more elaborate than that. In a way, that epitomizes Ancient Greece and their lesson for our modern complex world.
Beauty With Economy
The ancient Greeks were accomplished builders, artists, and creators of culture which expanded way past their demise. In fact, they even “Hellenized” their Roman conquerors. So, what is so special about this ancient Greek culture?
In educator Edith Hamilton’s book, The Greek Way, she notes a comment from the Athenian statesmen Pericles which hits it on the head. He explains the Greeks defeated the Persians because of their simplicity. Furthermore, the Greeks “love beauty with economy.”
So, they do less with more. You can see this in their architecture, writing, and art. Think of those stone columns again. They’re the ancient Greeks in a nutshell — beauty with economy. For instance, let’s compare an ancient Greek temple with a more modern lavish house of worship.
Hamilton reminds us Greek temples were simple structures. Only columns and stone welcomed worshipers as they approached. When they entered, most were open floorplans with little adornment, besides statues of the god who the building was dedicated to.
Now, compare that to a European style cathedral. Notre-Dame is beauty in a different way with its various buttresses and pinnacles. The inside is just as elaborate. Obviously, both structures are works of art and memorable. However, the Greeks did much more with less.
Hamilton also reminds us Greek sculpture and religion take this approach. Their gods took human form and could have been modeled from an attractive person living at the time. Similarly, so did their sculptures. Specifically, the Venus de Milo epitomizes this beauty with economy in sculpture.
This simplest of sculptures has captivated the artworld for years. While there’s disagreement over which goddess the statue represents, she looks like a normal woman. Nothing about it is overly elaborate. But even today this “basic” piece demands prime real estate in a museum and is copied endlessly.
Hamilton says Greek writers and poets also practiced this same style, using “clarity and simplicity of statement.” Our current flowery English poetry would have been “nonsense” to them and left them “cold.” Even words had beauty with economy.
According to Hamilton, Homer, Sophocles, and Euripides could describe perfect scenes for their readers without overly elaborate verbiage. They were anti-Shakespeare(s) in their way.
Nassim Taleb in his book Antifragile even claims the ancient Greeks had no word for the color blue but could still describe the sea perfectly. Homer referred to it as “wine-dark”.
This doesn’t even take into account the Spartans. Known for their quick wit and simple comebacks, the term laconic derives from their Greek name Lacedaemonians.
This extended into militaristic aspects as well. The Greek phalanx is a basic block of men, holding spears and shields but its structure devastated the Persians. Furthermore, its unelaborate nature allowed nonprofessional soldiers to effectively make up the formation’s ranks.
This Greek Idea Still Works In Modern Time
You see it every day, and nothing in our modern world may exemplify the idea of beauty with economy more than the Google home page. I remember a time before Google. Yahoo dominated the landscape with a cluttered appearance as you surfed the web.
Weather, sports, news, and countless links dotted their home page.
Then this competitor came along. Their page consisted of their logo and a space bar. Its only purpose was to query what you wanted to find — the information equivalent of the Greek column. Their whole focus was “search” and nothing else. Like the phalanx, they conquered their larger competitor.
Another tech-heavyweight also epitomizes the beauty with economy idea. Most of the world can see it when they pull out their phones. Apple’s iPod and iPhone are Venus de Milo-style beautiful and phalanx-like simple to operate.
The iPod’s control involved into one easy button. However, this wasn’t simple enough and eventually the iPhone evolved to just touching the screen itself. Plus, it combined your phone and music. It’s simplicity that would have made Pericles himself proud.
But this extends to some modern writing too. Go to your beauty with economy Google page and search for “white spaces are your friend”. You’ll get 463,000,000 results (or at least I did).
This idea entails short paragraphs with lots of spaces between them, pulling the readers’ eyes down your page. This format is also less intimidating to read. Specifically for the average person with time constraints that may pass it by.
One of the most successful advertising schemes in America also embraced this concept. The dairy industry’s “Got Milk?” marketing campaign might be one of the most successful in history. It consisted of only two words. Homer would have firmly approved, who needs the color blue when you can pull that off.
A modern martial art also adopts this beauty with economy standard too. I grew attracted to Krav Maga for its simple nature. My teacher would regularly spend a two-hour-long class on one movement, which magically solved four or five different problems.
Krav’s inherent nature is to do more with less. It’s a physical manifestation of the Greek column, literature, and sculpture devised into a martial art system. It might have even made a Laconic Spartan smile.
The Over-Complexities Of Modern Systems
Technology has done wonderful things for humanity. This can’t be denied. But it’s also lulled us into putting faith into systems and technology which can often be over-complex.
The fire on the Bonhomme Richard is a prime example. Michael Carr explains the modern US Navy is such a victim of this, they spend little time focusing on putting out real fires and basic skills a sailor needs to survive in an emergency.
Likely, you can point to many examples like this in your work and life.
However, that ever-present Greek column you notice many places is a firm example of another way. It’s present every time you use Google. It also asks if you “Got Milk?” as you go to the grocery store.
The ancient Greek concept of beauty with economy has kept their culture afloat long after the phalanx and walls of Athens crumbled. Brilliance can often lay within simplicity.
It’s something we should all think of as we’re tempted to overcomplicate everything around us with endless flowcharts, systems, and technology. Try more Homer and less Shakespeare.
-Originally posted on Medium 11/3/21