To what extent were the political, economic,
social, literary, religious, and artistic traditions of Greece similar
to/different from
those of the civilizations of the Near East?

Near East (from Answers.com) :-
A region of southwest Asia generally thought to include Turkey,
Lebanon, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the other countries
of the Arabian Peninsula. Egypt and Sudan in northeast Africa are
sometimes considered part of the region.

So at what time do you want to compare the smilarities ?
- bear in mind that from approx 300BC to 1400AD there were Greek
cities all over the place - the centre being Constantinople (now
Istanbul)