To truly appreciate the Greek achievement, you must understand how other civilizations failed to develop rationalism. If we look at some of the major civilizations that developed independently, we can see a clear pattern of development that almost everybody — except the Greeks — followed. The common elements are striking, making the Greek achievement all the more impressive. Everybody else followed a basic line of development, which did not include anything like rationalism. Without the Greeks, it would never have happened. Why did the others fail?
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Mesoamerica