topic 1:
Ancient Greece civilizations
GREECE AND ROME
GREECE AND ROME
Unit 3 - Topic 1: Overview........................................................................................................................................................... 1
Unit 3 - Topic 1: Goal, GLE's, & Description.............................................................................................................................. 2
Essential Content - GLEs
Ancillary Content - GLEs
Homework: What Did You Learn in Unit 2 - Topic 5................................................................................................................ 3
Student Strategies....................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Caterpillar Writing
Thinking Like a Historian
R.A.C.E. Strategy for Reading
C.E.R. Strategy for Reading and Stating Claims (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning)
Introducing Greece......................................................................................................................................................................5
Lesson Activity: Vocabulary Words - Homework.....................................................................................................................6
Lesson Activity: Prior Knowledge Physical and Political Map.............................................................................................. 7
Latitude and Longitude, Pg. 7A
Political Maps of Greece, Pg. 7B
Physical Map of Greece, Pg. 7C
Major Mountains and Major Rivers Map, Pg. 7D
Climate Zone Map, Pg. 7E
Time Zone Map - With Latitude and Longitude Lines, Pg. 7F
Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment............................................................................................... 8
Lesson Activity: Building Context............................................................................................................................................ 9
Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment..............................................................................................10
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Ancient Greeks - Home Life Ancient Greek Everyday Life.......................................11
Lesson Activity: Buiding Context - Rise of City-States Athens and Sparta ....................................................................... 12
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Maps - Major Greek City-States ................................................................................. 13
Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Ancient Greece - How Women Were viewed............................................................ 15
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Difference Between the City-States in Ancient Greece.......................................... 16
Lesson Activity: Building Context/Formative Assessment - Compare and Contrast Athens and Sparta..................... 17
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Greek Mythology and Mythology.............................................................................. 18
Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim - It Came From Greek Mythology............................................................................ 19
Lesson Activity: Formative Assessment/Developing a Claim............................................................................................ 20
Lesson Activity: Building Context - Greek Olympics........................................................................................................... 21
Lesson Activity: Live from Ancient Olympia........................................................................................................................ 22
Lesson Activity: Formative Assessment/ Developing a Claim
The Importance of the Olympics in Greek Culture..................................................................................................... 23
Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Summative Assessment......................................................................................... 24
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Topic 1: Students explore how permanent settlements can only thrive with common rules and organizational structures. They will also explore the role war plays in advancing civilizations.
Unit 3 Description: Students examine the growth of civilization in ancient Greece; the birthplace of democracy, the achievements of the ancient Greeks, and the spread of the Hellenistic civilization and its contributions to Western civilization. Additionally, this unit focuses on the rise of the Roman Republic, its government structure and its contributions to the development of democratic principles, its transition into an empire, the reasons for its expansion and decline, and its contributions to western civilization. Students explore how permanent settlements can only thrive with common rules and organizational structures. They will also explore the role war plays in advancing civilizations. All characteristics of civilizations will be covered and analyzed.
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Topic 1: Goal
Students will be able to write a prediction paragraph on the following prompt: How do you think Ancient Greek civilizations?
Topics (GLEs) for the unit & pacing:
Unit 3: Approximately 7 Weeks
Topic 1: Approximately 6 class periods
Connections to the Unit Claim:
Students examine various primary and secondary sources about life in Ancient Greece. They will use information collected from these sources to demonstrate their understanding of how permanent settlements can only thrive with common rules and organizational structures.
Key Connections
Geographic factors shaped the development of ancient civilizations,
Resources and land use contributed to the development and expansion of trade between civilizations and world regions,
Political factors influenced the economic, social, and cultural development of ancient civilizations,
Territorial expansion, the growth of trade and taxation influenced migration patterns, and the spread of cultures, ideas, and religion, and
The Greek city-states and the Roman Republic influenced the development of democracy.
Claim:
What factors make a civilization influential?
Sub-Claim:
How did Ancient Greek civilization influence future civilizations?
6.2.4 - Describe the development of the Greek city-state, the culture and achievements of Athens and Sparta, and the impact of Alexander the Great's conquests on the spread of Greek Culture.
Discuss the rise and fall of the Aegean civilizations (Minoans, Mycenaeans, Dorians).
Explain the purpose and themes of Greek epics (Homer's Iliad and Odyssey) and mythology (12 Olympian Gods), how they shaped life in ancient Greece, and how literary/mythical figures were a reflection of Greek society.
Describe the political, economic, social, and cultural characteristics of ancient Greece, including the polis/city-state (Athens and Sparta), agriculture and trade, job specialization, social classes and gender roles (role of women, enslaved people), the importance of military and education (use of phalanx style warfare, philosophy as education), arts and architecture (Parthenon, columns, perfect human form), recreation and entertainment (festivals, sports, Olympics), and writing systems (Greek alphabet).
Compare and contrast the characteristics of ancient Greek city-states (Athens and Sparta).
Explain the causes, major developments, and effects of the Persian Wars.
Explain the causes, major developments, and effects of the Peloponnesian War.
Explain the causes and effects of Alexander the Great's conquests and expansion of the empire.
Explain the benefits and drawbacks of the Hellenization of Alexander's empire.
6.3.3 - Compare and contrast physical and political boundaries of civilizations, empires, and kingdoms using maps and globes.
Use maps to locate the major physical features (bodies of water, mountain ranges, deserts, coastlines, islands) of Greece and Rome, along with their city-states (Athens & Sparta) and colonies/territories (Anatolia, Britain, Egypt, Gaul, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Spain), and explain how political boundaries changed over time.
Compare the boundaries of the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta.
Use maps to locate Alexander the Great's conquests and the extent of his empire, noting how the boundaries changed over time.
Locate the extent of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire on a map.
6.4.1 - Identify and describe physical features and climate conditions that contributed to early human settlement in regions of the world.
Use maps to locate major geographic and physical features associated with ancient Greece and Rome, including bodies of water, deserts, mountain ranges, and other features.
-*-Ancient Greece: bodies of water (Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Black Sea, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea), mountains (Mount Olympus), islands (Crete), and peninsulas (Anatolian, Balkan, Peloponnese/Peloponnesus).
-*-Ancient Rome: bodies of water (Adriatic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Tiber River), mountain ranges (Alps, Apennines, Atlas, Carpathian, Caucasus, Pyrenees), and peninsulas (Anatolian, Balkan, Iberian, Italian/Apennine).
Describe the physical features and climate conditions in ancient Greece and Rome (coastlines, harbors, mountains, fertile/arable land, natural resources, mild/moderate climate), and explain how they influenced settlement.
Analyze the geographical reasons that made Greece and Rome trading and colonizing civilizations (islands, poor soil, very long coastlines).
6.4.2 - Explain how world migration patterns and cultural diffusion influenced human settlement.
Explain how migration-related to Alexander the Great’s conquests led to the spread of Greek thought and culture (Hellenism) throughout his empire of Asia, Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East.
Explain the relationships between migration along trade routes, the spread of culture/cultural diffusion, and settlement in the Roman Empire.
6.4.3 - Explain the connection between physical geography and its influence on the development of civilization.
Explain how physical geography influenced the development of ancient Greece (agriculture, trade, protection, social interactions).
Explain how geography and natural resources affected the fall of the Roman Empire.
6.5.1 - Describe the essential elements of Greek city-state government that influenced the development of democracy.
Describe the different types of government structures in ancient Greece (monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, tyranny, democracy).
Describe the governmental changes and transition to democracy in ancient Greece, and lessons learned from each type of government adopted in Greece.
Describe the methods and philosophies of ancient Greek thinkers (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) and explain how they influenced government in ancient Greece.
Explain how Athenian democracy was structured, including public officials/groups (Councils such as the Council of 500, Court/People’s Court, Assembly/People’s Assembly, magistrates, generals), influential leaders (Draco, Solon, Cleisthenes, Pericles), citizens (qualifications, rights such as voting, responsibilities), and elections (direct democracy).
Analyze the ways in which Athens was and was not democratic.
Compare and contrast Athenian democracy with later democratic governments (United States), noting elements of democracy that later governments adopted from ancient Athenian democracy.
6.6.1 - Explain the impact of job specialization in the development of civilizations.
Analyze the role, importance, and benefits of job specialization in ancient Greece and Rome (artisans/craftsmen, merchants, farmers, engineers, and laborers).
Analyze how job specialization influenced the growth of social classes in the Roman Empire.
6.6.2 - Analyze the progression from barter exchange to monetary exchange.
Explain the transition from a barter system to a monetary system in ancient Greece and Rome, including the use of coins as currency.
Describe the benefits of using currency for trade in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire.
6.6.3 - Describe the economic motivation for expanding trade and territorial conquests in world civilizations using economic concepts.
Use economic terms to explain why ancient Greece and ancient Rome expanded trade (terms include goods, services, producers, consumers, supply, demand, scarcity, shortage, surplus, markets, import, and export).
Explain the relationship between the territorial expansion and the acquisition of markets and resources, using examples from the empire of Alexander the Great and the Roman Empire.
6.1.1 - Produce clear and coherent writing for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences by completing the following tasks:
Options to address 6.1.1 in Unit 3:
Use technology to research the achievements of ancient Greece and Roman civilization.
Analyze artifacts from ancient Greece and Roman civilizations.
Compare and contrast the long lasting influence of Greek and Roman culture.
Produce written claims on the factors that make a civilization influential.
6.1.2 - Construct and interpret a parallel timeline of key events in the ancient world
Create parallel timelines of the rise and fall of ancient Greek city-states, Alexander the Great’s empire, the Roman Republic, and Roman Empire.
Create a timeline using appropriate dates, including B.C.E/B.C. and C.E./A.D.
6.1.3 - Analyze information in primary and secondary sources to address document-based questions
Analyze primary sources, artifacts, and secondary sources related to ancient Greece and Rome, including excerpts from influential Greek and Roman thinkers (Plutarch, Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Titus Livius/Livy, Polybius) to answer questions about the political, economic, social, and cultural achievements of ancient Greece and Rome.
6.1.4 - Identify and compare measurements of time in order to understand historical chronology
Identify historical time periods and eras (classical antiquity, Pax Romana, Hellenistic Era).
Review terms related to measurements of time as needed (B.C.E./B.C., C.E./A.D., circa or c.).
Examine timelines of key Unit 3 content recognizing measurements of time, sequencing, chronology, location, distance, and duration.
6.3.1 - Identify and label major lines of latitude and longitude using a world map or globe to determine climate zones and time zones
Review the location of major lines of latitude (Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, Tropic of Cancer, Arctic Circle), climate zones and types (tropical, dry, mild, continental, polar), and the relationship between latitude and climate as necessary.
Using a climate map, describe the type of climate(s) present in ancient Greece and Rome.
Determine time zones by locating and identifying lines longitude using maps.
6.3.2 - Plot coordinates of latitude and longitude to determine location or change of location
Review how to find latitude and longitude as necessary by using maps to plot coordinates of latitude and longitude for important locations in ancient Greece and Rome, and recognize hemispheres, continents, and oceans.
6.3.4 - Determine world migration patterns and population trends by interpreting maps, charts, and graphs.
Explain the relationship between migration patterns, population trends, and the expansion of empires (Alexander the Great, Roman Empire).
Ancillary Content not addressed in the textbook at this time. Teachers should include Ancillary Content with the Topic.
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Directions for Homework: Before we start this new topic, take a minute to write about what you have learned so far. Use complete sentences in your writing. Try to fill these pages with the new knowledge you have gained. Celebrating YOU, Because YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!! Don't forget it.
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Mr. Nicky's Video on Greece
Ancient Greece can feel strangely familiar. From the exploits of Achilles (a hero in the ancient epic poem by Homer, The Illiad), about the Trojan War and Odysseus (the hero in Homer's The Odyssey), to the treatises of Aristotle, from the exacting measurements of the Parthenon (picture to the right) to the rhythmic chaos of the Laocoön, ancient Greek culture has shaped our world. Some other well known philosophers are, Democritus, Heraclitus, Epicurus, Hippocrates, Chrysippus.
Thanks largely to notable archaeological sites, well-known literary sources, and the impact of Hollywood (Clash of the Titans, for example), this civilization is embedded in our collective consciousness—prompting visions of epic battles, erudite philosophers, gleaming white temples, and limbless nudes (we now know the sculptures—even the ones that decorated temples like the Parthenon—were brightly painted, and, of course, the fact that the figures are often missing limbs is the result of the ravages of time).
Dispersed around the Mediterranean and divided into self-governing units called poleis or city-states, the ancient Greeks were united by a shared language, religion, and culture. Strengthening these bonds further were the so-called “Panhellenic” sanctuaries and festivals that embraced “all Greeks” and encouraged interaction, competition, and exchange (for example the Olympics, which were held at the Panhellenic sanctuary at Olympia). Although popular modern understanding of the ancient Greek world is based on the classical art of fifth-century B.C.E. Athens, it is important to recognize that Greek civilization was vast and did not develop overnight.
The ancient Greeks lived in many lands around the Mediterranean Sea, from Turkey to the south of France. They had close contacts with other peoples such as the Egyptians, Syrians, and Persians. The Greeks lived in separate city-states but shared the same language and religious beliefs.
Ancient Greece also played a vital role in the early history of coinage. As well as making some of the world’s earliest coins, the ancient Greeks were the first to use them extensively in trade.
Video 1: Ancient Greece's Beginnings - Where and When it Started - Government
Video 2: Ancient Library - Story for Kids
Watch the videos, located above 1 & 2, about Ancient Greece. Go to your NOTEBOOK and complete the notes.
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city-state
classical
cultural diffusion
democracy
helot
mythology
oligarchy
peninsula
philosophy
polis
Ancillary Content intentionally skipped for now. Teachers will include in their lesson. (Teachers, please see curriculum content for ancillary GLEs.)
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Remember everything we've learned about maps. Now is the time to put that knowledge to work. Can you determine in which hemispheres Greece is located? Fill in the Hemispheres section of your Mediteranean Civilizations Organizer. Your teacher will either give you a paper copy of this organizer or you will complete it in your virtual notebook.
Directions: This video is about the geography of Greece. Go to your NOTEBOOK to take notes. You will learn about geographic features and why the location is important.
Activate Your Prior Knowledge
Use the map above to find Greece on the map. You will need to know where it is and what it looks like in order to find Greece on the Time Zone Map. The Coordinates of Greece are 40 degrees N, and 20 degrees East. Put an X where Greece is located.
Review the definitions of political and physical maps
Students will need to review the definitions of a Physical Map and a Political Map. Go to your NOTEBOOK, write the definitions, and make a list of things you would find on a physical map and a political map. Use your notebook or textbook to find the answers. You should also use the maps shown below to help you describe the two different maps. You have about five minutes to complete this task if you are in class or a student at home, it should not take you more than that to complete. Remember, this is prior knowledge and you should know the meanings of these words.
Check out the Interactive Map of Greece. Click on the location and learn about Greece.
Physical maps illustrate the physical features of an area, such as the mountains, rivers, and lakes. Topographic maps include contour lines to show the shape and elevation of an area. Look at the contours on the map above, what do you think they indicate?
Students, look at your Graphic Organizer of the physical map of Greece and add the seas near Greece (the Mediterranean and the Black Sea) because there are no major rivers or mountain ranges present in Greece. Yes, there are mountains, just in case you were questioning this. Mark it on your Graphic Organizer, use an erasable pen so that it shows up. Look at the two maps below in order to determine mountains or rivers. You may use your electronic NOTEBOOK if you are a virtual student or a paper copy if in school, it depends on yur teacher.
Students will need to determine what climate zones are present in the current area of study. Once you have determined the climate zones, record it on your Mediterranean Civilizations worksheet.
Students will record the different climate zones of Greece on their Mediterranean Civilizations Worksheet.
Building Context: Students please research your climate zones. Use the blue button below to go to the site, "Climate Types for kids." or use the map above. You will recognize this map from earlier topics.
NOTICE: You can click on the BLUE BUTTON below to go to the Time Zone application in order to determine how many time zones are in a particular civilization.
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Once you have completed the above tasks, you will predict the impact of climate on human settlement patterns in this region. In other words, how will humans be affected by the climate? Use evidence from the sources and your outside knowledge to support your answers. Listed below are a few questions to help you in developing your claim. Watch the video on this page about Geography and Climate.
What would attract a group of humans to settle in this area?
Whataspects of Greece's climate zne are attractive for human settlement?
What physical features would attract or repel human settlement?
Go to your NOTEBOOK to answer these questions and to write your response.
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THINK/EXAMINE/ANALYZE: Look at the world map below, what do you see? Can you look at this map and identify where you think human settlement would occur? What do the colors mean? Colors on this map indicate the different elevations. Green generally means lower elevations. Brown on this map means mountains. The lighter color green is slightly higher elevation than the darker green. Using that information, where might humans want to live? Use the map in your NOTEBOOK to indicate where you think humans may live.
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Directions: Students will now develop a claim identifying the locations that present the best environment for human settlement to develop in Greece? Students will write a paragraph in which they reference climate and geographic features in their response. Be sure to include details from task materials and from class discussions. Your teacher may take this for a grade. Use the claims rubric to write your paragraph, as your teachers will use this same rubric to grade your paragraph.
Read - Ancient Greeks: Home Life and Ancient Greek Everyday Life
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Directions: Students will read and investigate the information below in order to discuss in class or with your virtual teacher. Review the pictures along with the readings so that you will know what the items look like. Students will use the Characteristics of Civilizations graphic organizer to record pertinent information in the graphic organizer.
NOTE TO TEACHERS: You could use a Think-Pair-Share with this activity in class.
The period after the decline of the river valley civilizations (about 1000 BCE-600 CE) is often called the classical age. During this era, world history was shaped by the rise of several large civilizations that grew from areas where the early civilizations thrived. The classical civilizations differ from any previous ones in these ways:
They kept better and more recent records, so historical information about them is much more abundant. We know more about not just their wars and their leaders, but also about how ordinary people lived.
The classical societies provide many direct links to today's world, so that we may refer to them as root civilizations or ones that modern societies have grown from.
Classical civilizations were expansionist, deliberately conquering lands around them to create large empires. As a result, they were much larger in land space and population than the river civilizations were.
Students should understand that the classical civilizations, particularly as related to Western Civilization, have had a profound impact on civilizations today. These include, but are not limited to:
architecture
language
kinship
government
writing
trial by jury
education/literature
theater, etc.
The Parthenon in Greece
Ancient Greek Architecture
Ancient Greek Writing
Students, you will now work on completing the Characteristics of Civilizations organizer shown to the left. You will read the Home Life and Ancient Greek Everyday Life to explore daily life in Ancient Greece. As you read, please record information on your Characteristics of Civilizations organizer that is found in your NOTEBOOK.
When you go to the website, you will be able to click on each of the family members above to find out what their life was like.
You will find the website at the end of the (Ancient Greeks: Home Life) article below.
Ancient Greece had a warm, dry climate, as Greece does today. Most people lived by farming, fishing, and by trading. Others were soldiers, scholars, scientists, and artists.
Greek cities had beautiful temples with stone columns and statues, and open-air theatres where people sat to watch plays.
Most people lived in villages or in the countryside. Many Greeks were poor and life was hard, because farmland, water, and timber for building were scarce. That's why many Greeks sailed off to find new lands to settle.
Ancient Greek homes were built around a courtyard or garden. The walls were often made from wood and mud bricks. They had small windows with no glass, but wooden shutters to keep out the hot sun.
They didn't have much furniture inside. People sat on wooden chairs or stools. Rich people decorated the walls and floors with colorful tiles and paintings.
Many homes didn’t have a bathroom. There were public baths, but most people washed using a small bucket or in a nearby stream. Only rich women (with slaves to carry the water) enjoyed baths at home. Afterward they rubbed their bodies with perfumed oil to keep their skin soft.
At night, Greeks slept on beds stuffed with wool, feathers, or dry grass. Most people went to bed as soon as it got dark. The only light came from flickering oil lamps and candles.
A Greek woman wore a long tunic called a chiton. This was made from a piece of cotton or linen. Over this, she wore a cloak draped from her shoulders, called a himation. This would be a thin material in summer and a thick one in winter.
Young men wore short tunics, while older men preferred long ones. Slaves often wore just a strip of cloth called a loincloth.
Many people walked around barefoot. Some wore leather sandals or, for horse-riding, high boots. Both men and women wore wide-brimmed hats in hot weather, to shade their faces from the sun.
Suntans weren't cool in ancient Greece, so women put white lead on their faces to make their skin pale. White lead is poisonous, so it did more harm than good.
We know the Greeks liked jewelry too because bracelets, earrings, and necklaces are often buried with dead people in their tombs. Most common people wore fairly plain clothes. Only wealthy people could afford to dye their clothes different colors.
We know about some Greek toys from pictures on pottery vases and artifacts found by archaeologists.
Children played with small pottery figures, and dolls made of rags, wood, wax, or clay - some of these dolls even had moveable arms and legs. Other toys were rattles, hoops, yo-yos, and hobby horses (a pretend horse made from a stick).
They also played with balls made from tied-up rags or a blown-up pig's bladder. A game of flicking nuts into a hole or circle may be the ancient Greek version of marbles or tiddlywinks!
Children also kept animals. There are pictures of children with pets, like dogs, geese, and chickens.
Men and women usually ate separately in ancient Greece. Rich people always ate at home - only slaves and poor people would eat in public. Everyone ate with their fingers, so food was cut up in the kitchen first.
So what was on the menu in ancient Greece? For breakfast, Greeks might eat fruit with bread dipped in wine. Lunch might be bread and cheese.
For dinner, people ate porridge made from barley, with cheese, fish, vegetables, eggs, and fruit. For pudding people ate nuts, figs, and cakes sweetened with honey.
Only rich people ate a lot of meat. They would eat hares, deer, and wild boar killed by hunters. Octopus was a favorite seafood.
Greek Gods
Ancient Greek Family
Ancient Homes of Greece - Labeled
The Inside of one of the Ancient Homes
Greek Children's Toys
Greeks favorite seafood was octopus. Some people find octopus very good. One way octopus is served today is in Japanese restaurants as sashimi/sushi.
The picture to the left is of some of the Greek gods. The Greek's religion was polytheistic because they worshiped many gods.
Ancient Greek Game Board
Click on the blue box and visit the site on Greek families. Go to the picture of the family and click on each one of the members to learn more about their lives.
After reading the article above, click on the blue bar and find more information and games you can play. DO NOT PLAY games in class unless your teacher says it is OK. Thanks for following the rules.
Children playing a game
Young girl juggling 3 balls
Greek boys played games like hockey, which were not part of the Olympic games. The ancient Greek boys usually played games naked, so girls were forbidden to watch.
Ancient Greek women and girls were not expected to do much physical activity for recreation purposes. Look at the vase in the picture above, there we can see a young girl, juggling three balls, but there is nothing to presume she was a performer, as she is dressed like an ordinary girl.
The Ancient Greeks also played games that did not involve much physical activity, such as marbles, dice, checkers, and knucklebones. Below is a famous vase from the Vatican museum depicting Achilles and Ajax playing 'Petteia' checkers. The Ancient Greek version of checkers was similar to the current game of backgammon and is where the backgammon is derived. The Ancient Greek version of checkers involved a board, stones, and dice. ________________________________
Famous vase from the Vatican museum depicting Achilles and Ajax playing 'Petteia' checkers
Farming the land
Tools created by the Greeks for farming
Men if they were not training in the military, or discussing politics went to the theater for entertainment. They watched dramas that they could relate to, including tragedies and comedies. These often involved current politics and gods in some form. It is thought that women were not allowed to watch theater or perform at the theater, although male actors did play women roles.
Lives of women in Ancient Greece were closely tied to domestic work, spinning, weaving, and other domestic duties. They were not involved in public life or in politics. Their lives were normally quite confined to the house although one public duty was acting as a priestess at a temple.
Children in ancient Greece usually occupied their time playing with toys and games.
The majority of Ancient Greek people made their living from farming. Citizens often had land outside of the city which provided their income. The Greek landscape and climate were difficult to farm.
Grapes were usually picked around September and either kept for eating or made into wine. Making wine was done by treading the grapes and the juice was kept in jars to ferment.
Olives were either picked by hand or knocked out of the tress with wooden sticks. Some were crushed in a press to produce olive oil and some eaten. Olives were an important product for the Greeks and there were many uses for the oil which included cooking, lighting, beauty products, and for athletic purposes. It is also believed that uprooting an olive tree was a criminal offense.
Grain was usually harvested around October to ensure that it would grow during the wettest season. A man drove an ox-driven plow, as a second man sowed the seeds behind. In the spring the crops were harvested using curved knives (sickles). After harvesting the grain, it was then thrashed, using mules and the help of the wind to separate the chaff from the grain, the husks were then removed by pounding the grain with a pestle and mortar.
Ancient Greeks usually ate bread (barley or wheat) and porridge, accompanied with food such as cheese, vegetables, fish, eggs, and fruit. Animals such as deer, hares, and boars were hunted only as an addition to the food supply. Seasoning usually involved coriander and sesame seeds. Honey was probably the only sweetening that existed at the time. The importance of honey is shown as the bees were kept in beehives that were of terracotta.
Ancient Greek Farming: Agriculture was the backbone of the Greek economy. As much as 80% of the population was fully engaged in pursuing this occupation as a means of their subsistence. All the foods which were cultivated by the Greek people were used for their own consumption thereby leaving no scope for the trade of such products.
However, Greece suffered from two main drawbacks: Firstly, since all the city-states were separated by mountains it was difficult for the people from one city-state to trade food with people from the rest of the city-states and secondly the land which had good soil was extremely limited. Even after facing so many difficulties due to the demographic factors, agriculture continued to be practiced with the same level of importance.
Barley was the main cereal crop for the Greeks. Out of the total cereal production, almost 90% was dedicated to barley alone. It was used by the Greeks either in their porridge or used in preparing bread. Barley along with wheat was sowed around the month of October and was harvested in April or May.
Similarly, olives were used for cooking oil or oil to be put in lamps. They were harvested between the last leg of autumn until early winter. Harvesting was done either by hand or with the help of a pole. Grapes were cultivated mainly for the production of wine though they could be eaten or dried into raisins.
During spring, farmers practiced biennial crop rotation, alternating from year to year between uncultivated and cultivated. Subsequently, though farmers also started practicing triennial crop patterns, yet this practice failed because of a variety of reasons like poor soil pattern and the absence of mechanization. Additionally, due to small numbers of cattle, ancient Greek farmers could not take advantage of animal manure as a mode of fertilizing the soil.
Farms, in those times, were small fragments of land, not more than four to five acres. Whatever was produced by a farmer was used for self-consumption, yet, if there was any surplus left over he would sell it in the local market.
The life of an ancient Greek farmer was an extremely difficult one on two counts namely because so many people depended on the crops that they cultivated for their food subsistence and the climatic conditions were not always favorable as to enable a peasant to cultivate more.
It rained heavily during winters and scantily during the summers, both of which are not favorable from a farmer's point of view. Apart from this, the soil was also not very conducive to farming as it was too dry and rocky which made it difficult for the crops to grow and the farmers had to pay large amounts of taxes to the Greek Government.
For almost four centuries, the state in which Greek agriculture was practiced did not change. The same ordinary tools which existed before continued to exist as it is. No attempts were made to produce any types of new tools which would ease the labor work of the ancient Greek farmer.
It was only with the rise of the Romans that there appeared some change in this scenario when the watermill was introduced. In this method, hydraulic power was employed which supplemented muscle power.
More info on- trading in ancient Greece, Athens farming, Spartan agriculture, agricultural products, fishing in ancient Greece.
Planting on different surfaces of the geography (flat and hilly)
Read - Rise of City-States: Athens and Sparta
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Direction: Students will learn about how Greek city-states emerged and how two such city-states excelled in different aspects of life. As they read, students will record information about these Greek civilizations in the various sections of their Characteristics of Civilizations organizer. Students will investigate or discuss the similarities and differences between the city-states in Ancient Greece with a partner or as per teacher's instruction (Think-Pair-Share). Students will add to their Characteristics of Civilizations organizer.
Compelling Question: How did Ancient Greek civilization influence future civilizations?
Rise of the City-States: Athens and Sparta[1]
Geography plays a critical role in shaping civilizations, and this is particularly true of ancient Greece.
The Greek peninsula has two distinctive geographic features that influenced the development of Greek society. First, Greece has easy access to water. The land contains countless scattered islands, deep harbors, and a network of small rivers. This easy access to water meant that the Greek people might naturally become explorers and traders.
Second, Greece's mountainous terrain led to the development of the polis (city-state), beginning about 750 B.C.E. The high mountains made it very difficult for people to travel or communicate. Therefore, each polis developed independently and, often, very differently from one another. Eventually, the polis became the structure by which people organized themselves. Athens and Sparta are two good examples of city-states that contrasted greatly with each other.
Athens: The Think Tank
Life was not easy for Athenian women. They did not enjoy the same rights or privileges as males, being nearly as low as slaves in the social system.
The city-state of Athens was the birthplace of many significant ideas. Ancient Athenians were a thoughtful people who enjoyed the systematic study of subjects such as science, philosophy, and history, to name a few.
Athenians placed a heavy emphasis on the arts, architecture, and literature. The Athenians built thousands of temples and statues that embodied their understanding of beauty. Today the term "classical" is used to describe their enduring style of art and architecture.
Athenians also enjoyed a democratic form of government in which some of the people shared power.
Woman of Sparta
writer873. “The Women of Sparta: Athletic, Educated, and Outspoken Radicals of the Greek World.” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Ancient History Encyclopedia, 8 Jan. 2021, www.ancient.eu/article/123/the-women-of-sparta-athletic-educated-and-outspoke/.Women of Athens
Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?surl=1&q=women of athens&safe=strict&rlz=1C1GCEB_enUS915US915&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=-3P3FgEC-Tr1XM,wNxSdW0f3G8i2M,_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQRdwXnA4R_zFLQJx_FqNtjsfFnGQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi2qNS8zpTuAhVQA6wKHSRTCy4Q_h16BAgPEAE.Ares Borghese, 420 B.C.E. Photo © Maicar Förlag — GML
Ares, the Greek god of war, was a particularly fitting patron for Sparta, which was known to be a rather warlike society. When they weren't fighting another city-state, Spartans were honing their military skills in preparation for the next battle.
Sparta: Military Might
Life in Sparta was vastly different from life in Athens. Located in the southern part of Greece on the Peloponnese peninsula, the city-state of Sparta developed a militaristic society ruled by two kings and an oligarchy, or small group that exercised political control.
Ares, the Greek god of war, was a particularly fitting patron for Sparta, which was known to be a rather warlike society. When they weren't fighting another city-state, Spartans were honing their military skills in preparation for the next battle.
Early in their history, a violent and bloody slave revolt caused the Spartans to change their society. A Spartan, Lycurgus, drafted a harsh set of laws that required total dedication to the state from its people. The goal of Lycurgus’ laws was to train citizens to become hardened soldiers so that they could fight off potential enemies or slave revolts. The result was a rigid lifestyle unlike any seen in Greece at the time. The devotion of Spartans to developing a military state left little time for the arts or literature.
A Spartan baby had to be hardy and healthy. To test a baby's strength, parents would leave their child on a mountain overnight to see if it could survive on its own until the next morning. By age seven, Spartan boys were taken from their families and underwent severe military training. They wore uniforms at all times, ate small meals of bland foods, exercised barefoot to toughen their feet, and were punished severely for disobedient behavior. Boys lived away from their families in barracks until the age of 30, even after they were married. Men were expected to be ready to serve in the army until they were 60 years old.
Women, too, were expected to be loyal and dedicated to the state. Like men, women followed a strict exercise program and contributed actively to Spartan society. Although they were not allowed to vote, Spartan women typically had more rights and independence than women in other Greek city-states.
Map of Major Greek City-States
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Directions: Students, review the map below, then go to your Mediterranean Civilizations Map organizer in your notebook and label them there. You will also list them in the political features and major civilizations sections of the chart.
Definitions of a city-state:
a city that, with its surrounding territory, forms an independent state.
a sovereign state consisting of an autonomous city and its surrounding hinterland. Hinterland means an area lying beyond what is visible or known.
an independent city and its surrounding land that maintains its own government.
Greek city-states were called a POLIS.
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Which River Valley Civilization also contained city-states? Fill-in the blanks M_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
How were city-states there similar or different from Greek city-states, based on our definition and discussion? Complete the Venn Diagram comparing the city-state of Mesopotamia and the Greek city-states.
Based on our knowledge of how Mesopotamia city-states interacted with each other, what predictions can we make regarding how Greek city-states might interact?
Students will brainstorm independently, then, if your teacher asks you, be prepared to share your thoughts with a partner to verify or add to your predictions. Write in your NOTEBOOK.
Ancient Greece - How Women Were Viewed
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Students will read the article below to consider how women were viewed in Ancient Greece. Complete this activity by recording information about the role of Greek women on your Characteristics of Civilizations organizer. Refer back to Page 11 in this lesson for information on the everyday life of Greek families (women).
How women were perceived in Ancient Greece has been a subject of much fascination amongst historians. Part of the fascination lies in the contrast between two of the most prominent city-states – Athens and Sparta. Athens didn’t look as favorably upon women as Sparta did.
In fact, while Athenian women were considered lower than slaves, Spartan women were independent and could even own property.
Aside from those two contrasting viewpoints, there are some generalities that can be made. Here is an overview of the role women played in Greek society and how they navigated those roles.
Political Life of Women
Across all the city-states, women didn’t have any political clout. Married women could hold some influence over their husbands regarding their political opinions. This largely depended on their individual relationships, though. They didn’t have any rights of their own. This meant that they couldn’t vote or hold political office. In fact, it was considered improper for a woman to discuss politics in a public setting.
Public Life
How women were allowed to behave in a public setting had to do with age, status, and whether or not they were married. In Sparta, married women were allowed to roam freely amongst the streets. Athenian women, however, were given no freedoms of any kind, especially when they were married. In most city-states, women were accompanied wherever they had to go.
Women and Marriage
No matter which city-state you examine, the chief role of the women in Ancient Greece was to give birth to children, particularly to males. In Sparta, however, this elevated the status of the women, especially if they gave birth to healthy, strong males who were able to serve in the military. The most legitimate way to bear children was through marriage. At the time, most marriages were arranged and families would try to match their children in the most advantageous ways possible.
Role in the Household
While it was looked at as the man’s duty to work outside the home or serve in the military, it was the woman’s responsibility to take care of the household. This included raising children, preparing meals, cleaning, and any other domestic duties. In most of Ancient Greece, women weren’t allowed to own property. However, in Sparta, women were allowed to own property. At one time, up to 60% of all property was owned by women.
Obtaining an Education
Each of the city-states viewed education differently. In most city-states, women were educated at home whereas men were allowed to attend formal schools. However, Spartan women were well educated. Because the men were away from home so often, it was necessary for women to receive an education so that they could take care of the household finances, family businesses, etc. In other parts of Greece, however, women were educated as little as possible.
As you can see, women throughout Ancient Greece didn’t have as many rights as men had. Sparta, however, was the exception. They gave their women more rights because they were essentially responsible for making sure their households and businesses were able to function while the men were away. The Spartans realized that in order for their society to survive, women needed to be intelligent and capable of defending their homes and families when the men were absent.
Roman Women
In the beginning, rights for women in ancient Rome were similar to rights for women in ancient Greece. Over time, things changed.
During the 500 years that Rome was a Republic, Roman women could go to the Forum to shop, chat with friends, and visit a temple, all without asking their husbands for permission. During the 500 years that Rome was an Empire, women gained even more freedom. Under the Empire, it was legal for women to own land, run businesses, free slaves, make wills, inherit wealth, and get a paid job. In ancient Rome, only free adult men were citizens. Although women were not citizens of ancient Rome, they enjoyed a great deal more freedom than did women in ancient Greece.
Differences Between the City-States in Ancient Greece
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Learner Outcomes - The learner will be able to: Explain the differences and similarities between two Greek city-states from prior reading as well as the passage here. You will be able to list the important contributions of each city-state.
Students will use information from discussions with the teacher and classmates to add to the Characteristics of Civilization Form. (Note to Teachers) A Think-Pair-Share activity can be used whether you are virtual or in class, along with the article below.
Introduction: The two rivals of ancient Greece that made the most noise and gave us the most traditions were Athens and Sparta. They were close together on a map, yet far apart in what they valued and how they lived their lives. In this lesson, students will explore the differences between these two city-states. Teachers, you could have students work in small groups to read a passage about the similarities and differences between Athens and Sparta after which, students will complete a Venn Diagram outlining their findings to share with the class. The lesson concludes by having students decide on a city-state in which they would like to have lived.
The Greek city-states were the dominant settlement structure of the ancient Greek world and helped define how different regions interacted with each other.
This hand-colored woodcut gives us an artist's concept of what Athens might've looked like in the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian when its iconic monuments and temples were still in their prime.
The two rivals of ancient Greece that made the most noise and gave us the most traditions were Athens and Sparta. They were close together on a map, yet far apart in what they valued and how they lived their lives.
One of the main ways they were similar was in their form of government. Both Athens and Sparta had an assembly, whose members were elected by the people. Sparta was ruled by two kings, who ruled until they died or were forced out of office. Athens was ruled by archons, who were elected annually. Thus, because both parts of Athens’ government had leaders who were elected, Athens is said to have been the birthplace of democracy.
Spartan life was simple. The focus was on obedience and war. Slavery made this possible by freeing the young men from household and industrial duties and allowing them to focus on their military duties. Young boys were trained to be warriors; young girls were trained to be mothers of warriors.
Athenian life was a creative wonderland. As an Athenian, you could get a good education and could pursue several kinds of arts or sciences. You could serve in the army or navy, but you didn’t have to. However, this applied only to boys, as girls were restricted to other pursuits, not war, business, or education.
For many years, Spartan armies provided much of the defense of the Greek lands. The Spartan heroism at the Battle of Thermopylae, during the Persian Wars, inspired all of Greece to fight back with all their might against the invading Persians. Athenians and Spartans fought side by side in the Battle of Plataea, which ended the Persian invasions of Greece.
One way that Athens and Sparta really differed was in their idea of getting along with the rest of the Greeks. Sparta seemed content to keep to itself and provide military strength and assistance when necessary. Athens, on the other hand, wanted to control more and more of the land around them. This eventually led to war between all the Greeks. This was the Peloponnesian War. After many years of hard fighting, Sparta won the war. In true Greek spirit, Sparta refused to burn the city of Athens. Rather, the culture and spirit of Athens were allowed to live on, as long as the Athenians no longer desired to rule their fellow Greeks. In this way, the influence of Athens remained and grew stronger. Other city-states had the same kinds of temples, buildings, and meeting-places, but it was Athens that became most famous.
Compare and Contrast Athens and Sparta
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Students will access Athens and Sparta informative documents in order to deepen their understanding of each. Students will record information in the Greek city-state Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting Sparta and Athens. Click on the blue boxes below to investigate the stories of each of the city-states shown. This will help you to add information to your Venn-Diagram.
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Students will read "Greek Mythology and Mythology" in order to build an understanding of the belief system of Ancient Greece. As you read, record information about Greek civilizations in the various sections of your Characteristics of Civilization organizer in your NOTEBOOK.
Click on the blue buttons below to access the information on Greek Mythology and Mythology.
Homer the name traditionally assigned to the reputed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, the two major epics of Greek antiquity. Nothing is known about Homer as an individual. In fact, the question of whether a single person can be said to be responsible for the creation of the two epics is still controversial. However, linguistic and historical evidence allows the assumption that the poems were composed in the Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor sometime in the 9th century BC.
Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the king and queen of Mycenae. When Electra's father returned from the Trojan war, her mother, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus killed him. They also killed Cassandra, a concubine of Agamemnon from the Trojan war... more »
Antigone In ancient Greece, Antigone is mostly related to the myth that was told by the Ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, although there is reference to a different Antigone in the ancient Greek World.
Antigone was the daughter of King Oedipus of Thebes and Jocasta. The story says, Oedipus, the son of Laius and Jocasta killed his father Laius and became the king of Thebes. Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother Jocasta and had children by her. Thus, Antigone was the daughter and the sister of Oedipus... more »
JASON's story is an ancient Greek myth, folk tale that is passed from generations to generations. About a hero who traveled on a voyage in search of the Golden Fleece, so that he could help his father get his kingdom back from King Pelias.
Jason's father was Aeson, the King of Lolcus and mother Alcimede. Aeson stepbrother Pelias was eager for the throne of Lolcus, so in a battle, he removed Aeson from power and made himself the King. Aeson and Pelias shared a common mother, Tyro. She was the daughter of Salmoneus and sea god Poseidon. Pelias, to make sure that no one from Aeson's family could challenge him, killed his family. But Alcimede saved their baby, Jason. To save him Alcimede gave away her baby son to Chiron, who became his guardian. But Pelias was obsessed with his throne and he consulted an oracle that told him that a man wearing one sandal would be the reason for his end... more »
Chaos - in one ancient Greek myth of creation, the dark, silent abyss from which all things came into existence. According to the Theogony of Hesiod, Chaos generated the solid mass of Earth, from which arose the starry, cloud-filled Heaven. Mother Earth and Father Heaven, personified respectively as Gaea and her offspring Uranus, were the parents of the Titans. In a later theory, Chaos is the formless matter from which the cosmos, or harmonious order, was created.
Gaea - She was the mother and wife of Father Heaven, Uranus. They were the parents of the first creatures, the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Giants - the Hecatoncheires (Hundred - Headed Ones). Uranus hated the monsters, and, even though they were his children, locked them in a secret place in the earth. Gaea was enraged at this favoritism and persuaded their son Cronos to overthrow his father. He emasculated Uranus, and from his blood Gaea brought forth the Giants, and the three avenging goddesses the Erinyes. Her last and most terrifying offspring was Typhon, a 100-headed monster, who, although conquered by the god Zeus, was believed to spew forth the molten lava flows of Mount Etna.
Tartarus - The lowest region of the underworld. Hesiod claimed that a brazen anvil would take none days and nights to fall from heaven to earth, and nine days and nights to fall from earth to Tartarus. Tartarus rose out of Chaos and was the destination of wicked souls. Uranus banished his children the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires to Tartarus, as Zeus also did to the Titans. Other famous inhabitants of Tartarus include Sisyphus, Ixion, Tantalus, Salmoneus, Tityus, Ophion, and the daughters of Danaus.
Pictures of the gods here
Eros - The god of love. He was thought of as a handsome and intense young man, attended by Pothos ("longing") or Himeros ("desire"). Later mythology made him the constant attendant of his mother, Aphrodite, goddess of love. The powers of Eros are often mentioned during a free psychic reading, as they frequently involve questions around love.
Erebus - Personification of the darkness of the Underworld and the offspring of Chaos. . In later myth, Erebus was the dark region beneath the earth through which the shades must pass to the realm of Hades below. He is often used metaphorically for Hades itself.
Uranus - Gaea - The personification of the sky; the god of the heavens and husband of Gaea, the goddess of the earth. . Their children are the Hecatonchires, the Cyclopes and the Titans.
Pontus - The sea god.
Cyclopes - Three sons: Arges, Brontes, and Steropes of Uranus and Gaea. The Cyclops were giant beings with a single, round eye in the middle of their foreheads.They helped Zeus defeat their brother, Cronus, by forging lightning bolts. They also made Poseidon's trident and Hades invisibility cap.
Hecatonchires - Three sons of Uranus and Gaia. There were three of them: Briareus also called Aegaeon, Cottus, and Gyges also called Gyes. They were gigantic and had fifty heads and one hundred arms each of great strength. They had 100 hands and helped Zeus in his war against the Titans.
Cronus - Rhea - Cronus was a ruler of the universe during the Golden Age. He was one of the 12 Titans and the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea, Cronus and his sister-queen, Rhea, became the parents of 6 of the 12 gods and goddesses known as the Olympians. Cronus had been warned that he would be overthrown by one of his own children. To prevent this, he swallowed his first five children as soon as they were born. Rhea did not like this. She substituted a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes for their sixth child, Zeus. He was hidden in Crete, and when he was older, he returned and forced Cronos to disgorge all the other children, who had grown inside of him. Zeus and his siblings fought a war against Cronos and the Titans. Zeus won, and the Titans were confined in Tartarus, a cave in the deepest part of the underworld.
Coeus - Phoebe - Coeus was a titan of Intelligence, the father of Leto, husband of Phoebe.
Oceanus - Tethys - The personification of the vast ocean. Together with his wife Tethys, they produced the rivers and six thousand offsprings called the Oceanids. He ruled over Ocean, a great river encircling the earth, which was believed to be a flat circle. The nymphs of this great river, the Oceanids, were their daughters, and the gods of all the streams on earth were their sons.
Hestia - Virgin goddess of the hearth. She was the symbol of the house, around which a new born child was carried before it was received into the family. Although she appears in very few myths, most cities had a common hearth where her sacred fire burned.
Hades - He was made lord of the underworld, ruling over the dead. He is a greedy god who is greatly concerned with increasing his subjects. Those whose calling increase the number of dead were seen favorably by him. He was also the god of wealth, due to the precious metals mined from the earth. His wife was Persephone whom Hades abducted.
The underworld itself was often called Hades. It was divided into two regions: Erebus, where the dead pass as soon as they die, and Tartarus, the deeper region, where the Titans had been imprisoned. It was a dim and unhappy place, inhabited by vague forms and shadows and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed, dragon-tailed dog. Sinister rivers separated the underworld from the world above, and the aged boatman Charon ferried the souls of the dead across these waters.
Poseidon - God of the sea. His weapon was a trident, which could shake the earth, and shatter any object. He was second only to Zeus in power amongst the gods. Under the ocean, he had a marvelous golden palace. Poseidon was the husband of Amphitrite, one of the Nereids, by whom he had a son, Triton. Poseidon had numerous other love affairs. At one point he desired Demeter. To put him off Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. To impress her Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts his first attempts were unsucessful and created a varity of other animals in his quest. By the time the horse was created his passion for Demeter had cooled.
Zeus - Hera - The god of the sky and ruler of the gods of Mount Olympus. He displaced his father and assumed the leadership of the gods of Olympus. Zeus was considered the father of the gods and of mortals. He did not create either gods or mortals; he was their father in the sense of being the protector and ruler both of the Olympian family and of the human race. His weapon was a thunderbolt. His breastplate was the aegis, his bird the eagle, his tree the oak. He was married to Hera but, is famous for his many affairs, which resulted in many known children and probably many more that were not known to be his. Athena was his favorite child. He bore her alone from his head. One of the greatest feasts for Zeus was the Olympic games. They were taking place every four years in Olympia. Even if there was a war between the city-states of Greece they were stopping the war to take part on that games.
Hera's marriage was founded in strife with Zeus and continued in strife. Writers represented Hera as constantly being jealous of Zeus's various amorous affairs. She punished her rivals and their children, among both goddesses and mortals, with implacable fury. The peacock (the symbol of pride; her wagon was pulled by peacocks) and the cow (she was also known as Bopis, meaning "cow-eyed", which was later translated as "with big eyes") were her sacred animals. Her favorite city was Argos.
Demeter - Zeus - Goddess of corn and the harvest. She taught mankind the art of sowing and ploughing so they could end their nomadic existence. She was of a severe, a beauty scarcely relieved by her hair. which was as fair as ripened grain. Poseidon coveted her, but Demeter refused herself to him. To escape him she fled to Arkadia where, assuming the shape of a mare, she mingled with the herds of King Oncus. Poseidon, however, succeeded in finding her, changed himself into a stallion and made her the mother of the horse Arion.
When her daughter Persephone was abducted by Hades, god of the underworld, Demeter's grief was so great that she neglected the land; no plants grew, and famine devastated the earth. Dismayed at this situation, Zeus, demanded that his brother Hades return Persephone to her mother. Hades agreed, but before he released the girl, he made her eat some pomegranate seeds that would force her to return to him for four months each year. In her joy at being reunited with her daughter, Demeter caused the earth to bring forth bright spring flowers and abundant fruit and grain for the harvest. However, her sorrow returned each autumn when Persephone had to return to the underworld. The desolation of the winter season and the death of vegetation were regarded as the yearly manifestation of Demeter's grief when her daughter was taken from her. Demeter and Persephone were worshipped in the rites of the Eleusinian Mysteries.
Persephone - Persephone was the Queen of the Underworld and the daughter of Demeter. Persephone is the goddess of the underworld in Greek mythology. She is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, goddess of the harvest. Persephone was such a beautiful girl that everyone loved her, even Hades wanted her for himself. Although Zeus gave his consent, Demeter was unwilling. Hades, therefore, seized the maiden as she was gathering flowers and carried her off to his realm. Persephone was a personification of the revival of nature in spring. Her attributes in iconography can include a torch, a crown, a sceptre, and stalks of grain.
Leto - Zeus - The mother of Artemis, goddess of the bow and of hunting. She was loved by the god Zeus, who, fearing the jealousy of his wife, Hera, banished Leto when she was about to bear his child. All countries and islands were also afraid of Hera's wrath and refused the desperate Leto a home where her child could be born. Finally, in her wanderings, she set foot on a small island floating in the Aegean Sea, which was called Delos.
Iapetus - The son Uranus and Gaea. Iapetus' wife was Clymene.
Athena - or Pallas-Athene, is one of the most important goddesses in Greek mythology. Goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill. Athena sprang full-grown and armoured from the forehead of the god Zeus and was his favourite child. She was fierce and brave in battle but, only fights to protect the state and home from outside enemies. She was the goddess of the city, handicrafts, and agriculture. She invented the bridle, which permitted man to tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. Her attributes in iconography include the aegis (a fringed cloak, sometimes decorated with a Gorgon's head), the helmet, and the spear.
Ares - God of war. He was very aggressive. He was unpopular with both gods and humans. Ares was not invincible, even against mortals. He personified the brutal nature of war. He was immortal but whenever he would get hurt he would run back to his father, Zeus and was healed. Ares was mainly worshipped in Thracia.
Hebe - The goddess of youth. She, along with Ganymede were the cupbearers to the gods, serving them their nectar and ambrosia. She also prepared Ares' bath, and helped Hera to her chariot. Hebe was Hercules' wife.
Hephaestus - God of fire and metalwork. He was born lame and weak, and shortly after his birth, he was cast out of Olympus. In most legends, however, he was soon honoured again on Olympus and was married to Aphrodite, goddess of love, or to Aglaia, one of the three Graces. His workshop was believed to lie under Mount Etna, a volcano in Sicily. He made many wonderful artifacts for the gods, including the twelve golden thrones of the Olympians, their weapons and treasures.
Apollo - Apollo was primarily a god of prophecy. He sometimes gave the gift of prophecy to mortals whom he loved, such as the Trojan princess Cassandra. As a prophet and magician, he is the patron of medicine and healing. He was a gifted musician, who delighted the gods with his performance on the lyre. He was also a master archer and a fleet-footed athlete, credited with having been the first victor in the Olympic games. His twin sister was Artemis. He was famous for his oracle at Delphi. People traveled to it from all over the Greek world to divine the future. He was also the god of agriculture and cattle, and of light and truth.
Artemis - Artemis was the goddess of the hunt and animals, as well as of childbirth. Her twin brother was Apollo. As the moon goddess, she was sometimes identified with the goddesses Selene and Hecate.Her attributes are the bow and arrow, while dogs, deer and goose are her sacred animals. Her most elaborate temple was in Ephesis.
Atlas - Son of the Titan Iapetus and the nymph Clymene, and brother of Prometheus. Atlas fought with the Titans in the war against the deities of Mount Olympus. Atlas stormed the heavens and Zeus punished him for this deed by condemning him to forever bear the earth and the heavens upon his shoulders. He was the father of the Hesperides, the nymphs who guarded the tree of golden apples, and Heracles (Hercules).
Prometheus - Prometheus was the wisest Titan, known as the friend and benefactor of humanity.He stole the sacred fire from Zeus and the gods. He also tricked the gods so that they should get the worst parts of any animal sacrificed to them, and human beings the best. Zeus commanded that Prometheus be chained for eternity in the Caucasus. There, an eagle would eat at his liver and each day, the liver would be renewed. So the punishment was endless, until Heracles finally killed the bird.
Epimetheus - Epimetheus was a Titan, whose name meant "afterthought". In some accounts, he was delegated, along with his brother Prometheus by Zeus to create mankind. He foolishly ignored his brother Prometheus' warnings to beware of any gifts from Zeus. He accepted Pandora as his wife, thereby bringing ills and sorrows to the world.
Maia - Zeus - Maia was a daughter of Atlas. She was one of Zeus' lovers. She, along with Zeus was the mother of Hermes.
Dione - Zeus - The goddess or Titaness Dione became by Zeus the mother of Aphrodite.
Hermes - Hermes' main role was as a messenger. As the special servant and courier of Zeus, Hermes had winged sandals and a winged hat and bore a golden caduceus, or magic wand, entwined with snakes and surmounted by wings. He conducted the souls of the dead to the underworld and was believed to possess magical powers over sleep and dreams. Five minutes after he was born, he stole a herd of cows from Apollo. He invented the lyre from a cow's internal fibers. After Apollo learned what happened, he knew that his half-brother should he one of the pantheon. Hermes was the patron of trickster and thieves because of his actions early in life. His attributes in iconography include the kerykeion (messenger's staff), winged boots, and petassos (cap).
Aphrodite - The goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite loved and was loved by many gods and mortals. Among her mortal lovers, the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). Perhaps the most famous legend about Aphrodite concerns the cause of the Trojan War. She was the wife of Hephaestus. The myrtle was her tree. The dove, the swan, and the sparrow were her birds.
Zeus - Before the pantheon of Greek gods we are familiar with ruled atop Olympus, an earlier generation of deities, known as Titans, held power. The ruler of these divine beings was Cronus, son of Gaia (Mother Earth). Cronus' mother had informed him that he would be usurped by one of his offspring who would be tremendously powerful. Therefore, whenever Cronus' wife Rhea bore a child he would swallow the newborn god to prevent them from overturning his power...more »
Greek Mythology Links:
The Encyclopedia Mythica This is an encyclopedia on mythology, folklore, magic, and more. It contains over 4300 definitions of gods and goddesses, supernatural beings and legendary creatures and monsters from all over the world.
Classical Myth: The Ancient SourcesThis site is designed to draw together the ancient texts and images available on the Web concerning the major figures of Greek and Roman mythology.
Mythology Page. You can find an explanation of what Greek mythology is all about and how it started, you can check out characteristics of the most important gods in the mythology, and you can read some famous myths.
UPDATED: OCT 5, 2020
ORIGINAL: DEC 2, 2009
Greek Mythology
CONTENTS
1. Greek Mythology: Sources
2. Greek Mythology: The Olympians
3. Greek Mythology: Heroes and Monsters
4. Greek Mythology: Past and Present
“Myth has two main functions,” the poet and scholar Robert Graves wrote in 1955. “The first is to answer the sort of awkward questions that children ask, such as ‘Who made the world? How will it end? Who was the first man? Where do souls go after death?’…The second function of myth is to justify an existing social system and account for traditional rites and customs.” In ancient Greece, stories about gods and goddesses and heroes and monsters were an important part of everyday life. They explained everything from religious rituals to the weather, and they gave meaning to the world people saw around them.
WATCH: Clash of the Gods on HISTORY Vault
Greek Mythology: Sources
In Greek mythology, there is no single original text like the Christian Bible or the Hindu Vedas that introduces all of the myths’ characters and stories. Instead, the earliest Greek myths were part of an oral tradition that began in the Bronze Age, and their plots and themes unfolded gradually in the written literature of the archaic and classical periods. The poet Homer’s 8th-century BC epics the Iliad and the Odyssey, for example, tell the story of the (mythical) Trojan War as a divine conflict as well as a human one. They do not, however, bother to introduce the gods and goddesses who are their main characters, since readers and listeners would already have been familiar with them.
Did you know? Many consumer products get their names from Greek mythology. Nike sneakers are the namesake of the goddess of victory, for example, and the website Amazon.com is named after the race of mythical female warriors. Many high school, college and professional sports teams (Titans, Spartans and Trojans, for instance) also get their names from mythological sources.
Around 700 BC, the poet Hesiod’s Theogony offered the first written cosmogony, or origin story, of Greek mythology. The Theogony tells the story of the universe’s journey from nothingness (Chaos, a primeval void) to being, and details an elaborate family tree of elements, gods and goddesses who evolved from Chaos and descended from Gaia (Earth), Ouranos (Sky), Pontos (Sea) and Tartaros (the Underworld).
Later Greek writers and artists used and elaborated upon these sources in their own work. For instance, mythological figures and events appear in the 5th-century plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides and the lyric poems of Pindar. Writers such as the 2nd-century BC Greek mythographer Apollodorus of Athens and the 1st-century BC Roman historian Gaius Julius Hyginus compiled the ancient myths and legends for contemporary audiences.
READ MORE: What Was the Trojan War?
Greek Mythology: The Olympians
At the center of Greek mythology is the pantheon of deities who were said to live on Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece. From their perch, they ruled every aspect of human life. Olympian gods and goddesses looked like men and women (though they could change themselves into animals and other things) and were–as many myths recounted–vulnerable to human foibles and passions.
The twelve main Olympians (Gods) are:
Zeus (Jupiter, in Roman mythology): the king of all the gods (and father to many) and god of weather, law and fate
Hera (Juno): the queen of the gods and goddess of women and marriage
Aphrodite (Venus): goddess of beauty and love
Apollo (Apollo): god of prophesy, music and poetry and knowledge
Ares (Mars): god of war
Artemis (Diana): goddess of hunting, animals and childbirth
Athena (Minerva): goddess of wisdom and defense
Demeter (Ceres): goddess of agriculture and grain
Dionysus (Bacchus): god of wine, pleasure and festivity
Hephaestus (Vulcan): god of fire, metalworking and sculpture
Hermes (Mercury): god of travel, hospitality and trade and Zeus’s personal messenger
Poseidon (Neptune): god of the sea
Other gods and goddesses sometimes included in the roster of Olympians are:
Hades (Pluto): god of the underworld
Hestia (Vesta): goddess of home and family
Eros (Cupid): god of sex and minion to Aphrodite
Greek Mythology: Heroes and Monsters
Greek mythology does not just tell the stories of gods and goddesses, however. Human heroes—such as Heracles, the adventurer who performed 12 impossible labors for King Eurystheus (and was subsequently worshipped as a god for his accomplishment); Pandora, the first woman, whose curiosity brought evil to mankind; Pygmalion, the king who fell in love with an ivory statue; Arachne, the weaver who was turned into a spider for her arrogance; handsome Trojan prince Ganymede who became the cupbearer for the gods; Midas, the king with the golden touch; and Narcissus, the young man who fell in love with his own reflection—are just as significant.
Monsters and “hybrids” (human-animal forms) also feature prominently in the tales: the winged horse Pegasus, the horse-man Centaur, the lion-woman Sphinx and the bird-woman Harpies, the one-eyed giant Cyclops, automatons (metal creatures given life by Hephaestus), manticores and unicorns, Gorgons, pygmies, minotaurs, satyrs and dragons of all sorts. Many of these creatures have become almost as well known as the gods, goddesses and heroes who share their stories.
Greek Mythology: Past and Present
The characters, stories, themes and lessons of Greek mythology have shaped art and literature for thousands of years. They appear in Renaissance paintings such as Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Raphael’s Triumph of Galatea and writings like Dante’s Inferno; Romantic poetry and libretti; and scores of more recent novels, plays and films.
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Greek Mythology
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Students will complete the "It Came From Greek Mythology" task to explore how mythology shaped life in Ancient Greece as well as how those influences are still evident today. Go to your NOTEBOOK to answer the question, "How does mythology influence our lives today?"
Monsters, gods, and heroes ... all surefire favorites in the classroom and the stuff of Greek mythology. But Greek mythology offers so much more: inspiration for many works of art (both written and visual), insight into the human condition, a glimpse at an ancient people trying to make sense of phenomena they could not explain, and the source for many names and terms we use today. Your students might be surprised to find they're wearing shoes with the name of a Greek goddess (Nike), rooting for (or against) a team named after Greek gods (Tennessee Titans), and even listening to rock groups with mythological names (Styx).
The lessons in this unit provide you with an opportunity to use online resources to further enliven your students' encounter with Greek mythology, to deepen their understanding of what myths meant to the ancient Greeks, and to help them appreciate the meanings that Greek myths have for us today. In the lessons below, students will learn about Greek conceptions of the hero, the function of myths as explanatory accounts, the presence of mythological terms in contemporary culture, and the ways in which mythology has inspired later artists and poets.
Describe the basic plots of several Greek myths.
Discuss three types of themes in Greek myths: stories about heroes, stories about "how it came to be," and stories about the consequences of unwise behavior.
Cite examples of contemporary use of terms from Greek mythology.
"And when I was a schoolchild, I loved those old stories ... They have mystery, treachery, murder, loyalty, romance, magic, monsters—everything is in there. So I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t interested in mythology and that just continued when I was a teacher."
— Rick Riordan, Episode for Families: Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief at the Met
Mythology in Greek Life
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In-School students and Virtual students, please answer the questions in your NOTEBOOK. Teachers can hold a discussion with students to answer the following questions:
Why do you think Greeks formed such a complex mythology with such a multitude of gods, goddesses, and heroes?
What are Greek myths supposed to explain?
Why do you think relationships in Greek myths are so complex?
In what ways do Greek myths reflect the geographic environment of Greece?
What connections in Greek mythology regarding relationships between humans and gods or hero figures, or humans and their environment is still relevant for today's society?
After you answer the questions, please add your responses to the Characteristics of Civilizations graphic organizer.
Greek Olympics
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The Ancient Greeks put a great deal of emphasis on their beliefs in their gods and goddesses. Another important aspect of Greek Cultures was also connected to their beliefs in the gods and goddesses. What do you know about the Olympics, modern or ancient? Record your responses in your NOTEBOOK.
Students, please read about the Olympics and The Olympic Games to build an understanding of the Ancient Greek Olympic Games. Just click on the blue boxes below.
The Greeks invented athletic contests and held them in honor of their gods. The Isthmos game were staged every two years at the Isthmos of Corinth. The Pythian games took place every four years near Delphi. The most famous games held at Olympia, South- West of Greece, which took place every four years. The ancient Olympics seem to have begun in the early 700 BC, in honor of Zeus. No women were allowed to watch the games and only Greek nationals could participate. One of the ancient wonders was a statue of Zeus at Olympia, made of gold and ivory by a Greek sculptor Pheidias. This was placed inside a Temple, although it was a towering 42 feet high.
The games at Olympia were greatly expanded from a one-day festival of athletics and wrestling to, in 472 BC, five days with many events. The order of the events is not precisely known, but the first day of the festival was devoted to sacrifices. On the Middle Day of the festival 100 oxen were sacrificed in honor of a God. Athletes also often prayed and made small sacrifices themselves..
On the second day, the foot-race, the main event of the games, took place in the stadium, an oblong area enclosed by sloping banks of earth.
At Olympia there were 4 different types of races; The first was stadion, the oldest event of the Games, where runners sprinted for 1 stade, the length of the stadium(192m). The other races were a 2-stade race (384 m.), and a long-distance run which ranged from 7 to 24 stades (1,344 m. to 4,608 m.).The fourth type of race involved runners wearing full amor, which was 2-4 stade race (384 m. to 768 m.), used to build up speed and stamina for military purposes.
On other days, wrestling, boxing, and the pancratium, a combination of the two, were held. In wrestling, the aim was to throw the opponent to the ground three times, on either his hip, back or shoulder. In ancient Greek wrestling biting and genital holds were illegal.
Boxing became more and more brutal; at first the pugilists wound straps of soft leather over their fingers as a means of deadening the blows, but in later times hard leather, sometimes weighted with metal, was used. In the pancratium, the most rigorous of the sports, the contest continued until one or the other of the participants acknowledged defeat.
Horse-racing, in which each entrant owned his horse, was confined to the wealthy but was nevertheless a popular attraction. The course was 6 laps of the track, with separate races for whereupon the rider would have no stirrups. It was only wealthy people that could pay for such training, equipment, and feed of both the rider and the horses. So whichever horse won it was not the rider who was awarded the Olive wreath but the owner. There were also Chariot races, that consisted of both 2-horse and 4-horse chariot races, with separate races for chariots drawn by foals. There was also a race was between carts drawn by a team of 2 mules, which was 12 laps of the stadium track.
After the horse-racing came the pentathlon, a series of five events: sprinting, long-jumping, javelin-hurling, discus-throwing, and wrestling.
The ancient Greeks considered the rhythm and precision of an athlete throwing the discus as important as his strength. The discus was a circle shaped stone, iron, bronze, or lead. There were different sizes according to age groups. The javelin was a long wooden stick shape with spear head, similar height to that of a person. In the middle was bound a thong for a hurler's fingers to grip and guide to the correct angle it was thrown.
To Jump long distances athletes used lead or stone weights to increase the length of the jump. These weights were known as 'halteres' were held in front of the athlete during his ascent, and then swung behind his back and dropped during his descent to help propel him.
Olympics Through Time the history of the Olympic Games from the time when athletic contests were held during religious ceremonies until the First International Olympic Games in 1896. Little has changed about the design of Horse racing tracks from ancient Greece to modern times.
The Greeks loved sport and the Olympic Games were the biggest sporting event in the ancient calendar. The Olympic Games began over 2,700 years ago in Olympia, in south west Greece. Every four years, around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part. The ancient games were also a religious festival, held in honor of Zeus, the king of the gods. There were no gold, silver and bronze medals. Winners were given a wreath of leaves and a hero's welcome back home. Athletes competed for the glory of their city and winners were seen as being touched by the gods.
A truce for the sacred games: Before the games began, messengers were sent out to announce a 'sacred truce' or a peace. This meant that any wars should be called off so that people could travel safely to Olympia. The entire games were dedicated to Zeus. Visitors flocked to see the Temple of Zeus. Inside stood a huge gold and ivory statue of the king of the gods himself. The main event at the Olympics was not a sporting event, but a sacrifice. On the third day of the games, 100 oxen were sacrificed and burnt on the Altar of Zeus. This altar was not made from stone. Instead it was made from the leftover ash of all the sacrificed oxen. By around 200AD, the mound of ash stood six meters high! The ancient Olympics wasn't just about the sport, it was a religious festival too. Find out what it was like to visit the ancient games. Click on the athletes below to find out more about some of the sporting events at the ancient games.
Women at Olympia: Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred. If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment! However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years. This was called the Heraia and was held in honour of Hera, Zeus's wife. Winners were awarded crowns of sacred olive branches, the same as men. But in ancient Greece, only Spartan women were really interested in sport. Married women were not allowed at the Olympic Games. However, one story tells of a mother so keen to see her son compete that she broke the no-women rule and got in disguised as a man.
Live from Ancient Olympia
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Students will complete the "Live from Ancient Olympia" task to explore how the Olympics shaped life in Ancient Greece as well as how those influences are still evident today.
Answer the questions:
How are the influences of Ancient Greece and the Olympics evident today?
How did what the Ancient Greeks created change or influence what we do today?
Click on the Blue button below to read, "Live from Ancient Olympia."
If television had existed in the time of the ancient Greek athletes Milo of Kroton, Diagoras of Rhodes, Melankomas of Caria, Polydamas of Skotoussa, and Theagenes of Thasos, no doubt their triumphs in the ancient Olympic Games would have been the subject of numerous live broadcast interviews. In this lesson, students will have an opportunity to develop such "live interviews" with ancient athletes; working in small groups, they will produce a script based on the results of their research and they will perform the interview for other students in the class.
To prepare meaningful scripts of questions and responses for their interviewers and athletes, student groups will draw upon resources of an online exhibit, "The Ancient Olympics," developed for the EDSITEment-reviewed Perseus Project. Designed especially for students, this exhibit includes sections on ancient and modern sports, the site of Olympia as it looks today, the cultural and historical context of the Games, and athletes who were famous in ancient times. Whether they access the site themselves or are provided with reprints by their teacher, students will find ample resources on "The Ancient Olympics" with which to construct interviews that reflect their understanding of some of the values and beliefs underlying the ancient Olympic Games.
This lesson can be taught either by itself or in conjunction with the more extensive lesson unit, "It Came From Greek Mythology" , which offers several activities for teaching about the mythology of ancient Greece and Rome, as well as the ancient concept of the hero. Although designed for students in grades 3 through 5, much of "It Came From Greek Mythology" is adaptable for older students, and serves as a useful compendium of EDSITEment resources on Greek mythology and culture.
The Importance of the Olympics in Greek Culture
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Using your knowledge of social studies and the Olympics, and how important they were in Greek Culture. Use the questions below to help you in determining your answers.
What was the connection between Greek mythology and the Olympic Games?
What were Olympic competitions meant to prove?
How did the ancient Greek Olympic events differ from those of modern day events, and why do you think the ancient Olympics included those specific events?
What influences of the Greek Olympics are evident today?
Next, we will conduct research on the following topics:
Topic 1: Greek Literature
Topic 2: Greek art & Architecture
Topic 3: Greek Thinkers
Teachers, a Jigsaw activity could be used for this lesson. Have students complete poster boards on their selected topics. Display the posters around the classroom. Students can use the gallery walk strategy to go around the classroom and collect information. Students may be placed into groups or pairs to work on the posters. Virtual students, your teacher will assign a topic to you.
Thousands would come from far and wide to see the opening of the latest drama by Aeschylus, the most famous of Athenian playwrights. The citizens of Athens felt it was a part of their civic duty to attend as many dramas as possible.
The dramas typically dealt with important issues of the day, posed tough questions, and educated theatergoers. Attendance at dramas was considered such a valuable experience that sometimes the government would pay for the tickets.
Among the earliest Greek literature was Homer's epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad is a detailed telling of the Trojan War while the Odyssey recounts Odysseus' 20-year journey home following the Trojan War.
Created as early as 900 B.C.E., Homer's poems were not written down since Greek civilization lacked a written language at that time. Instead, these massive poems were passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth.
The passage which follows is from Book XXII of the Iliad. It describes a scene from the Trojan War that occurs just before Achilles, the Greek warrior, slays the Trojan hero, Hector.
Old King Priam was the first to see Achilles rushing towards the Trojans over the fields. As Achilles ran, the bronze on his breast flashed out like the star that comes to us in autumn, outshining all its fellows in the evening sky — they call it Orion's Dog, and though it is the brightest of all the stars it bodes no good, bringing much fever, as it does, to us poor wretches. The old man gave a groan. He lifted up his hands and beat his head with them. In a voice full of terror he shouted entreaties to his beloved son, who had taken his stand in front of the gates in the fixed resolve to fight it out with Achilles.
"Hector!" the old man called, stretching out his arms to him in piteous appeal. "I beg you, my dear son, not to stand up to that man alone and unsupported. You are courting defeat and death at his hands. He is far stronger than you, and he is savage. The dogs and vultures would soon be feeding on his corpse (and what a load would be lifted from my heart!) if the gods loved him as little as I do — the man who has robbed me of so many splendid sons, killed them or sold them off as slaves to the distant isles. So come inside the walls, my child, to be the savior of Troy and the Trojans; and do not throw away your dear life to give a triumph to the son of Peleus. Have pity too on me, your poor father, who is still able to feel.
As he came to an end, Priam plucked at his gray locks and tore the hair from his head; but he failed to shake Hector's resolution. And now his mother in her turn began to wail and weep. "Hector, my child," she cried, "deal with your enemy from within the walls and do not go out to meet that man in single combat. He is a savage; and you need not think that, if he kills you, I shall lay you on a bier and weep for you, my own, my darling boy; nor will your richly dowered wife; but far away from both of us, beside the Argive ships, you will be eaten by the nimble dogs."
The arts reflect the society that creates them. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of the ancient Greeks. Through their temples, sculpture, and pottery, the Greeks incorporated a fundamental principle of their culture: arete. To the Greeks, arete meant excellence and reaching one's full potential.
Ancient Greek art emphasized the importance and accomplishments of human beings. Even though much of Greek art was meant to honor the gods, those very gods were created in the image of humans.
Much artwork was government sponsored and intended for public display. Therefore, art and architecture were a tremendous source of pride for citizens and could be found in various parts of the city. Typically, a city-state set aside a high-altitude portion of land for an acropolis, an important part of the city-state that was reserved for temples or palaces. The Greeks held religious ceremonies and festivals as well as significant political meetings on the acropolis.
In ancient Athens, Pericles ordered the construction of several major temples on the acropolis. Among these was a temple, the Parthenon, which many consider the finest example of Greek architecture.
Built as a tribute to Athena, the goddess of wisdom for whom the city-state Athens was named, the Parthenon is a marvel of design, featuring massive columns contrasting with subtle details.
Many barely noticeable enhancements to the design of the Parthenon contribute to its overall beauty and balance. For example, each column is slightly wider in the middle than at its base and top. The columns are also spaced closer together near the corners of the temple and farther apart toward the middle. In addition, the temple's steps curve somewhat — lower on the sides and highest in the middle of each step.
Sadly, time has not treated the Parthenon well. In the 17th century, the Turks, who had conquered the Greeks, used the Parthenon to store ammunition. An accidental explosion left the Parthenon with no roof and in near ruin. In later years, tourists hauled away pieces of the Parthenon as vacation souvenirs.
Ancient Greek sculptures were typically made of either stone or wood and very few of them survive to this day. Most Greek sculpture was of the freestanding, human form (even if the statue was of a god) and many sculptures were nudes. The Greeks saw beauty in the naked human body.
Early Greek statues called kouros were rigid and stood up straight. Over time, Greek statuary adopted a more natural, relaxed pose with hips thrust to one side, knees and arms slightly bent, and the head turned to one side.
Other sculptures depicted human action, especially athletics. A good example is Myron's Discus Thrower Another famous example is a sculpture of Artemis the huntress.
The piece, called "Diana of Versailles," depicts the goddess of the hunt reaching for an arrow while a stag leaps next to her.
Among the most famous Greek statues is the Venus de Milo, which was created in the second century B.C.E. The sculptor is unknown, though many art historians believe Praxiteles to have created the piece. This sculpture embodies the Greek ideal of beauty.
The ancient Greeks also painted, but very little of their work remains. The most enduring paintings were those found decorating ceramic pottery. Two major styles include red figure (against a black background) and black figure (against a red background) pottery. The pictures on the pottery often depicted heroic and tragic stories of gods and humans.
The citizens of Athens were fed up with the old "wise" man.
Socrates, one of ancient Greece's most learned philosophers, found himself on trial for his teachings. The prosecution accused Socrates of corrupting the youth of Athens. A jury of hundreds found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death.
At the age of 70, Socrates willingly drank hemlock, a powerful poison that put an end to his controversial life. How did it happen that Athenians put to death a great philosopher such as Socrates?
Throughout his entire life, Socrates questioned everything from Athenian government to Greek religion and the gods themselves. His ultimate goal was finding the truth, which he believed could be reached through reason and knowledge. Socrates was a teacher, but he did not have a classroom, any books, or even a school. Instead, Socrates lectured publicly. Anyone interested in what he had to say was invited to listen.
Socrates practiced a style of teaching that has since become known as the Socratic method. Essentially, Socrates taught through questioning. He started with simple questions, then progressed to more complex, deeper questions. Through the application of reason and logic, Socrates revealed answers to many questions that led to a greater understanding of the world.
Problems arose because Socrates often questioned the very fundamentals and traditions of Greek society. His constant questioning and searching for the truth were seen as dangerous by many and ultimately led to his death.
Plato, a student of Socrates, also achieved greatness as a philosopher. Unlike Socrates, however, Plato chose to write his ideas down. In one of his most renowned works, The Republic, Plato outlined his vision of the ideal state.
Surprisingly, Plato's republic was not very democratic. Plato was greatly disturbed at the way the mass of Athenians had agreed to put to death his brilliant teacher and mentor, Socrates. Plato believed that uneducated people should not have right to make important decisions for everyone.
Instead, Plato envisioned a society with many classes in which each class contributed what it could. In his ideal society, farmers grew the food for the republic, soldiers defended the republic, and a class of intelligent, educated philosophers ruled the republic. Not surprisingly, Plato lived at a time when democratic society in Athens was in decline.
Students you will read one or all of the passages, depending on what your teacher assigns. If students are in school, teacher may have groups work on different topics and then have them present to their classmates. Idea for teachers - maybe a Jigsaw strategy here.
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Students will write a prediction paragraph on the following prompt: How did Ancient Greek civilizations influence future civilizations? Students, you will use information from the task as well as background knowledge to complete this activity.