Greece boasts a 5,000 year-old history and Ancient Greeks had the greatest influence on western civilization than any other people or nation. For 2,500 years, philosophy and ethics, the essentials of science and mathematics, fundamental models of government and citizenship, poetry and the painterly arts have copied their beginnings, and part of their being, from the Greeks. Art, traditions, music, language and gastronomy are the main ingredients of Greek culture and set the base for those who want to explore and understand today’s country.