Let's not sell ourselves short. A popular idea in Newton's time, which Newton himself subscribed to, was the "wise age", ( the "siecle sage" of Simon Stevin, ) an imagined prehistoric or hidden time when all knowledge had been obtained. It was thought that the Greeks and others were imperfectly transmitting this knowledge to us. Newton's interest in Alchemy was based on his conviction that it transmitted encoded knowledge from this time. Ironic in view of the fact that Newton himself transcended anything that came before him by several degrees.
Which is why I referred to philosophy instead of natural philosophy. ;)
Even so, many advanced concepts were present in Greek times. Heliocentrism, elements, atomic theory, etc. They even had napalm.