Ancient Athens

Investigation Questions

What is a citizen? What deos it mean to be a citizen? Who could be a citizen? What type of democracy did Ancient Athens have? Who could participate? How does this compare to today? What happened? How were decisions made?

- Ancient Athens Web Links - Lots of information about the day-to-day activities for boys, girls, men, and women in Ancient Athens. Details about how people lived, where they lived, and what was allowed for Athenians is clearly explained in a clear way.

- Democracy Video [LEARN ALBERTA] - Democracy and its origins in ancient Athens are explored in this video. The Athenian concept of citizenship, contemporary political structures and government decision making processes are discussed in detail.

- 2Learn.ca [Athenian Democracy] - List of interactive websites for Ancient Athens and democracy specifically tailored towards grade six students.

- 2Learn.ca [Mythology] - Websites for learning more about and exploring Ancient Greek myths and legends.

- 2Learn.ca [Needs, Culture & Society] - Links to various sites that talk about Ancient Greek culture, traditions and practices.

- Athens & Democracy [Kidepede] - Introduction to Athenian Democracy and how it functioned.

Ancient Athens

Democracy's birth place is in Ancient Athens. Citizens would gather together on a hill called the Pynx. Here they would decide the city’s laws and who should sit on its ruling council. This was ‘democracy’ or ‘rule by the people’.

demos = people and kratos = power.

CLICK ON THE MAP to watch a video about Athenian Democracy (Learn Alberta)

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW to take a Virtual Tour of Ancient Athens

Social Structure of Ancient Athens

Equity in Ancient Athens

Social Structure and Participation in Democracy

Structure of Government in Ancient Athens

There were 3 main political bodies in Ancient Athens:

The Assembly or Ecclesia

The Boule or Council of 500

The Courts or Areopagus

Assembly (Ecclesia)

Members of the Assembly were NOT elected. Any male citizen over the age of 18 could take part in the assembly and was seen as a duty to do so.

The Assembly met monthly at dawn on the Pynx hill.

Duties:

following a religious ceremony, the assembly heard proposals from the Boule which were discussed and voted on. This is how laws were passed.
Assembly approval was needed before money could be spent, taxes increase, or war declared.
Voting was by show of hands, however when thousands of people attended coloured balls were used to vote - white for yes, black for no.

The Boule (Council of 500)

Selection of the Boule was done by a yearly lottery (lot) held among the male citizens who were over 30 years of age. Members could serve on the Boule twice in a lifetime.

All 500 members of the Boule met daily (except on festival days) in the bouleterian (council house) at the Agora.

Duties:

drafting and suggesting laws for the assembly to consider.
supervised public officials.

The Courts (Areopagus)

An important legal institution under Athenian democracy with jurisdiction over serious criminal cases (homicide, treason, arson).

The Council of Areopagus consisted of 9 judges and hundreds of jurors

Duties:

resolve disputes
hold jury trials
decide on punishments

Web-quests and Online Learning

CLICK HERE to learn more about this unit from a VERY resourceful site.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW to complete a webquest on Ancient Athens (BBC Bitesize)

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW to learn more about Ancient Athens. Complete the online quiz at the end to show what you learned!

Online Greek Games

CLICK HERE to play in the Greek Olympics - "Go for the Gold" - A game that introduces and builds language using Greek roots.

CLICK HERE to find out which mythological figure you are - based on your answers to survey questions.

CLICK HERE to build a temple for Athena!

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