This study sets out to draw attention to a world of major achievements, in the social, cultural and technological domains, that served as a corner-stone for the layout of Greek civilization. Greek antiquity developed into a sort of turntable for these achievements that experienced manifold transformations and were transferred to the emerging civilizations of the western world. Much of what we consider to be of Greek origin, actually stems from pre-Greek times, from the Old European civilization (Danube civilization, respectively) that flourished long before Greek antiquity. Modern research on the emergence of political structures in ancient civilizations has produced evidence that the development was not oriented to the principle of a universal model, as is still widely believed. Rather, development was directed into two directions, producing differential models of civilization: Many of our values that have shaped the fabric of western civilization find their origin in the world of Old Europe, and this world is mapped out here to provide orientation for us modern Europeans about what our true roots are.