5. ANCIENT GREECE
5. ANCIENT GREECE
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In this immersive journey into the world of Ancient Greece, we bring academic research into the classroom: pupils explore the daily life, politics, and artistic achievements of Athens and the Greek cities through interactive lessons and creative workshops, debunking myths about ancient Greek civilization and gaining a hands-on understanding of how democracy, craftsmanship, and urban planning shaped one of the most influential civilisations in history.
In this immersive journey into the world of Ancient Greece, we bring academic research into the classroom: pupils explore the daily life, politics, and artistic achievements of Athens and the Greek cities through interactive lessons and creative workshops, debunking myths about ancient Greek civilization and gaining a hands-on understanding of how democracy, craftsmanship, and urban planning shaped one of the most influential civilisations in history.
KEY
Session 1.1 Carefully designed sessions led by academics experienced in bringing the latest research into the classroom. Available in person or online.
Workshop 1.1 Hands-on workshops that engage pupils in experimental archaeology, designed to help them test hypotheses, explore processes, and evaluate evidence. Available only in person.
5.1 - Gods, Heroes, and Potters: Art and Myth in Ancient Greece
5.1 - Gods, Heroes, and Potters: Art and Myth in Ancient Greece
Explore the work of ancient Greek potters and painters and discover how decorated pots help us learn about life in the past. Pupils investigate how archaeologists use pottery to challenge old myths and uncover beliefs, values, and everyday experiences. By looking closely at real vase scenes, pupils learn how Greek pottery shows both mythology and daily life, from gods and heroes to athletes, families, and festivals. The session introduces the black-figure and red-figure techniques and helps pupils understand how images were used to tell stories and share ideas in the ancient world.
Explore the work of ancient Greek potters and painters and discover how decorated pots help us learn about life in the past. Pupils investigate how archaeologists use pottery to challenge old myths and uncover beliefs, values, and everyday experiences. By looking closely at real vase scenes, pupils learn how Greek pottery shows both mythology and daily life, from gods and heroes to athletes, families, and festivals. The session introduces the black-figure and red-figure techniques and helps pupils understand how images were used to tell stories and share ideas in the ancient world.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
This AI generate image is for illustration purposes to reflect the nature of the workhsop offered.
5.2 - Make your own Greek pot
5.2 - Make your own Greek pot
In this workshop, pupils become ancient Greek artisans and explore how pottery was decorated to tell stories and share ideas. Designed to work alongside Session 5.1, pupils examine real examples of black-figure and red-figure pottery and then design and paint their own black-figure artwork, carefully choosing figures, poses, and scenes. Through making and discussion, the workshop helps pupils understand how images worked in the ancient world and how pottery provides archaeologists with rich evidence for life, beliefs, and storytelling in Greek society.
In this workshop, pupils become ancient Greek artisans and explore how pottery was decorated to tell stories and share ideas. Designed to work alongside Session 5.1, pupils examine real examples of black-figure and red-figure pottery and then design and paint their own black-figure artwork, carefully choosing figures, poses, and scenes. Through making and discussion, the workshop helps pupils understand how images worked in the ancient world and how pottery provides archaeologists with rich evidence for life, beliefs, and storytelling in Greek society.
Duration: 1.5 hours.
Price: £120
Level: KS2
Session requirements: a room with a projector for presentations and tables for the workshop.
Delivery: This session can be delivered in school.
5.3 - Voices of the People: Who really ruled in Ancient Greece?
5.3 - Voices of the People: Who really ruled in Ancient Greece?
Explore how democracy worked in ancient Athens by looking at the archaeological evidence left behind in the city itself. Pupils investigate real places such as the Assembly on the Pnyx, the Agora, and law courts, and discover how these spaces were used for debate, voting, and decision-making. Drawing on the latest research, the session shows how buildings, inscriptions, and objects help archaeologists understand who counted as a citizen, how people took part in public life, and the importance of speaking and persuasion in Athenian democracy. Pupils also reflect on the strengths and limits of this system, including who was excluded, learning how archaeology helps us understand power and participation in the ancient world.
Explore how democracy worked in ancient Athens by looking at the archaeological evidence left behind in the city itself. Pupils investigate real places such as the Assembly on the Pnyx, the Agora, and law courts, and discover how these spaces were used for debate, voting, and decision-making. Drawing on the latest research, the session shows how buildings, inscriptions, and objects help archaeologists understand who counted as a citizen, how people took part in public life, and the importance of speaking and persuasion in Athenian democracy. Pupils also reflect on the strengths and limits of this system, including who was excluded, learning how archaeology helps us understand power and participation in the ancient world.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
This AI generate image is for illustration purposes to reflect the nature of the workhsop offered.
5.4 - Voices of the People: Who really ruled in Ancient Greece?
5.4 - Voices of the People: Who really ruled in Ancient Greece?
In this workshops, pupils focus on one of the key elements of Athenian democracy: debate. The workshop is designed to work with session 5.2. Divided into groups, they prepare and deliver short speeches on a question inspired by ancient or modern values, such as whether statues should honour athletes or poets. They then vote using tokens, just as Athenians did, gaining a hands-on understanding of public debate, citizenship, and rhetorical skills while reflecting on the enduring legacy of democratic ideals in the ancient and modern world.
In this workshops, pupils focus on one of the key elements of Athenian democracy: debate. The workshop is designed to work with session 5.2. Divided into groups, they prepare and deliver short speeches on a question inspired by ancient or modern values, such as whether statues should honour athletes or poets. They then vote using tokens, just as Athenians did, gaining a hands-on understanding of public debate, citizenship, and rhetorical skills while reflecting on the enduring legacy of democratic ideals in the ancient and modern world.
Duration: 1 hour.
Price: £70
Level: KS2
Session requirements: a room with a projector for presentations and tables for the workshop.
Delivery: This session can be delivered in school.
5.5 - The Greek City
5.5 - The Greek City
During the lesson, pupils investigate how ancient Greek cities were organised by examining key public spaces such as the agora, temples, and theatres. They explore how some cities developed organically from older centres, while others were designed from scratch as colonial foundations. Particular attention is given to colonial cities, where regular street grids and the equal division of land plots expressed specific political strategies, including the controlled distribution of resources and attempts to limit the concentration of power in the hands of individuals or families. Through this, pupils learn to look critically at city layouts and to understand how urban planning reflects ideas about governance, allowing archaeology to reconstruct the political and social choices embedded in the built environment.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
This AI generate image is for illustration purposes to reflect the nature of the workhsop offered.
5.6 - How Do You Plan a City?
5.6 - How Do You Plan a City?
In this workshop, pupils explore what makes a city work and why cities are planned in different ways. Pupils work in teams to design their own model city. Together, they decide where to place buildings and public spaces, thinking about what each space is used for and why its location matters. Each group then presents their city plan, explaining how their city would function and what it shows about the society they have imagined, helping pupils practise teamwork, discussion, and decision-making while reflecting on how ancient Greek cities were carefully planned.
Duration: 1 hour.
Price: £70
Level: KS2
Session requirements: a room with a projector for presentations and tables for the workshop.
Delivery: This session can be delivered in school and online.
5.7 - Life as a ... Greek woman
5.7 - Life as a ... Greek woman
In this lesson, pupils explore the lives of women in ancient Greece by examining both domestic spaces and participation in wider community life. They investigate the many roles of women in ancient Greek society and the main phases in their lives, from birth to death. Pupils also explore women’s roles in religious festivals such as the Eleusinian Mysteries, and encounter voices from the past through poetry, including that of Sappho. Using archaeological and literary evidence together, they learn how we reconstruct women’s lives, contributions and experiences in the ancient Greek world.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.8 - Life as a ... Greek hoplite
5.8 - Life as a ... Greek hoplite
In this lesson, pupils explore the role of the hoplite in ancient Greek society and consider what it meant to be a citizen-soldier. They investigate the equipment of a hoplite — including the shield, helmet and spear — and learn how the phalanx formation required discipline, cooperation and trust. Through artefacts, vase paintings and archaeological evidence, pupils examine how warfare shaped ideas about citizenship, responsibility and community in the Greek world. They begin to understand how military service was closely connected to political rights and identity in many city-states.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.9 - Life as a ... Greek merchant
5.9 - Life as a ... Greek merchant
In this lesson, pupils explore the life of a Greek merchant and investigate how trade shaped the expansion of Greek colonies from Italy to the Black Sea. They examine maps of colonial settlements and consider why communities were founded overseas, focusing on access to resources, trade routes and new opportunities. Using archaeological evidence such as shiprecks, pottery, coins and architecture, pupils learn how goods, ideas and cultural practices travelled across the Mediterranean. Through this, they begin to understand how trade connected distant communities and helped shape the ancient Greek world.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.10 - Life as a ... Greek child
5.10 - Life as a ... Greek child
In this lesson, pupils explore what it meant to grow up in ancient Greece, comparing the experiences of children in Athens and Sparta. They investigate education, training and daily responsibilities, and consider how expectations differed for boys and girls. Pupils also examine the differences between freeborn children and enslaved children, exploring how status shaped opportunities, work and freedom. Using archaeological and written evidence together, they begin to understand how childhood in the Greek world was shaped by place, gender and social class.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.11 - Life as a ... Greek athlete
5.11 - Life as a ... Greek athlete
In this lesson, pupils step into the world of ancient Greek athletes and discover what it took to compete in the great athletic festivals of the Greek world. They explore the competitions held every four years at Olympia, where athletes from many Greek cities gathered to honour the god Zeus and test their strength, speed, and skill. Using archaeological evidence such as the stadium at Olympia, training areas, statues of victorious athletes, inscriptions, and decorated pottery, pupils investigate how athletes trained and competed. They encounter events such as running races, wrestling, boxing, and the pentathlon, and learn how victory brought immense honour not only to the athlete but also to their home city. Through this, pupils begin to understand that athletic competition in ancient Greece was far more than sport. The Olympiads brought together communities from across the Greek world, creating shared traditions, fierce rivalries, and moments of celebration that helped shape Greek identity across the Mediterranean.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.12 - The Minoans and the Bronze Age
5.12 - The Minoans and the Bronze Age
In this lesson, pupils explore the world of the Minoans, one of the earliest civilisations in the Greek world. They examine the palace of Knossos, with its complex layout, colourful frescoes and evidence of trade across the Mediterranean, and consider what these discoveries reveal about power, religion and daily life. They then encounter the myth of the Minotaur — the creature said to live in a labyrinth beneath the palace. Was this story pure imagination, or could it have been inspired by the maze-like corridors of Knossos and the importance of bulls in Minoan culture? By comparing archaeological evidence with myth, pupils begin to understand how stories grow from real places, and how the earliest Greek civilisations shaped the legends that followed.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
5.13 - The Mycenaeans and the Bronze Age: from myth to archaeology
5.13 - The Mycenaeans and the Bronze Age: from myth to archaeology
In this lesson, pupils enter the world of epic storytelling, where warriors fought beneath the walls of Troy and long journeys tested courage and cunning. They meet Achilles, the fearless but flawed hero of the Iliad; Agamemnon, the powerful king who led the Greek army; and Odysseus, whose ten-year voyage in the Odyssey became one of the most famous adventures in history. But was it all just a myth? Pupils explore the archaeological site of Troy and the wider Mycenaean world of palaces such as Mycenae, weapons and fortified cities to ask whether these stories may have been inspired by real events. By examining both epic poetry and material evidence, they discover how myth and history intertwine, and how the world of the Greek heroes continues to shape imagination and identity centuries later.
Duration: 1 hour
Price: £50
Level: KS2
Delivery: This session can be delivered either in school or online.
Prices
Prices
Prices include all equipment, teaching and workshop materials and FREE preparatory and follow up activities for your classroom.
Discounts are applied when three or more sessions/workshops are booked together.
Travel costs may apply for schools located more than 20 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne (UK).
Number of pupils: Each in person session is designed for one classroom, typically around 30 pupils. Online sessions can be extended to larger groups.
Info and Booking
Info and Booking
To contact us for more info and for booking please check our Contact Us page or write us at archaeotrek@gmail.com
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