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ANCIENT GREECE
A Techno-Buffet of Hands-On Learning Activities
(Tiered Learning; Student Choices; Technology & Hands-On Emphasis)
~TOP ‘100’ FACTS~
ANCIENT GREECE: GENERAL INFORMATION
1.
The most important city in Ancient Greece was Athens.
2.
Democracy means: demo = people; kratos = rule or “rule by the people”;
Democracy originated in Athens.
3.
A popular form of Greek entertainment was the many dramas performed in
honor of the gods in the enormous Greek amphitheaters.
4.
Greek dramas were either comedies or tragedies:
*comedy---tells the story in a light and humorous way with a happy ending;
(most included a lot of clowning around, insults, rude jokes,
and slapstick humor; characters were everyday people who
commented on politics and on famous people of the day.)
*tragedy---tells about an individual struggling against superior forces which
often ends in a disaster for the individual.
5.
The Parthenon was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.
6.
Mountain ranges made transportation difficult which made trade nearly
impossible.
7.
In many Greek city-states, an Assembly made the laws.
8.
The Greek mainland is located on a peninsula—the Balkan Peninsula which
extends into the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is surrounded by water.
9.
Greece has always been a maritime nation because its way of life is connected
with the sea.
10.
Peloponnesus means the “Island of Pelops” which is the southern part of the
Greek mainland.
(ANCIENT GREECE: GENERAL INFORMATION)
11.
A string of islands forms a chain between the Peloponnesus and the coast of
Asia Minor (Turkey). These islands include Crete, Rhodes, and Cyprus.
Crete is the largest of the three.
12.
In ancient times, Greece did not have enough fertile land to support a
growing population.
13.
There were so many city-states in ancient Greece due to the fact that they
were separated by geographic barriers.
14.
Most of the good land in ancient Greece was controlled by aristocrats --the wealthy upper class who became very powerful and ruled communities.
15.
The reason why so many Greeks became traders and sailors was the fact that
there was not very much good farmland in Greece.
16.
In ancient Greece, independent communities that followed their own
traditions, government, and laws came to be known as city-states.
17.
The Aegean Sea borders Greece on the east; the Ionian Sea borders Greece
on the west; and the Mediterranean Sea borders Greece to the south.
18.
Most of our knowledge of Greece has come from the Classical Age which
lasted some 100 years. We usually call this time the “Golden Age of Greece”.
19.
After the wonderful civilizations of Minoa and Troy disappeared, Greece
went through a long period known as the “Dark Ages”.
20.
During the Dark Age of Greece, tribes ruled themselves in groups. These
groups came to be called “city-states”.
21.
The ancient Greeks performed their plays in amphitheaters which were huge
open-air semicircular structures with ascending rows of stone seats set into
the hillside.
22.
Any Greek citizen could make a speech and vote at the Assembly, the center
of political life. However, 6000 people had to be present for a meeting to take
place. The ‘Counsel of 500’ was in charge of making up new laws, which
were then debated in the Assembly. (This is where we get the idea for our
Congress and representative government.)
(ANCIENT GREECE: GENERAL INFORMATION)
23.
Once a year, the Assembly voted to remove any unpopular politicians.
Citizens would write down the name of the undesired politician on a piece of
broken pottery called an “ostrakon”. If more than 6,000 citizens voted
against the person, he had to leave Athens for ten years. (We get the word
“ostracize” from this event.)
24.
When a baby was born, it was shown to its father, who has the right to accept
it or reject it. If it was rejected, it was abandoned. However, people who
wanted a child could adopt it.
25.
Every city-state had one or more “gymnasia”, where Greeks fine-tuned their
bodies so they could successfully defend their city-state in the games.
Gymnasia were also important meeting places for exchanging ideas. (I’m
sure you can see what word we get from this, right? GYMNASIUM.)
26.
The origins of modern theater can be traced to ancient Greece. At first,
Greek theater was song and dances performed in the marketplace by a group
of men called a “chorus”. (Men singing in a group called a ‘chorus’, hmm?)
27.
Ancient Greeks called themselves Hellenes and the name for their civilization
was Hellas.
ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY
28.
Mt. Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece and is the mythological home
of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece.
29.
King Minos of Crete sacrificed captured Athenians to the minotaur---a half
bull, half-man creature. It was Theseus that defeated the minotaur.
30.
Odysseus was known to the Roman’s as Ulysses, indicating that his story was
told beyond the borders of Greece.
31.
At Delphi, ancient Greeks consulted the god Apollo about the future. His
priestess spoke the words of his forecasts (called Oracles) which could
usually be interpreted in a number of different ways.
32.
When ancient Greeks died, they believed their souls traveled across the River
Styx to the Underworld, ruled by the god Hades. Once across the River Styx,
all souls faced three judges---those who were good on earth were sent to
everlasting happiness in the Elysian Fields; those who were judged to be
wrongdoers had to endure endless punishments in Tartarus; those souls who
were judged to be neither bad nor good were condemned to wander forever
on the dreary Plain of Asphodel.
(ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY)
33.
The Iliad and the Odyssey are mythological stories about the great Greece
civilization and were written by a blind Greek poet named Homer.
*Iliad: describes the events in the Trojan War
*Odyssey: describes the adventures of Odysseus after the Trojan War
34.
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 sisterqueen, 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.
FAMOUS GREEKS
35.
Herodotus is called the “father of Greek history”.
36.
Socrates, a famous Greek philosopher from Athens taught his students to
examine their own beliefs by asking questions and to closely examine Greek
laws, customs, and values. He was concerned with the meaning of justice and
courage. His motto was “know thyself” and he accepted nothing without
questioning it first. He died by drinking a cup of poison hemlock as the court
ordered.
37.
Aesop was a talented Greek writer who wrote fables such as “The Hare and
the Tortoise” and “The Fox and the Grapes”. His fables always ended with a
moral---or lesson to be learned.
38.
Phidippides was a young Greek soldier who ran from Marathon to Athens
with a very important message about a war victory. Legend has it that he
died from a heart attack after he delivered his message that Athens had won
over the Persians.
39.
Pericles was one of Greece’s greatest leaders, under him democracy became
the foundation of government in Greece.
40.
Plato was a famous Greek philosopher and student of Socrates who wrote
down all of Socrates’ ideas. He founded the world’s first university---called
the Academy. He taught his students to “strive for perfection and the highest
good”. Plato’s four virtues were: courage, wisdom, sense of justice and
moderation. He said: “Observe moderation—in balance seek to improve the
mind.”
(FAMOUS GREEKS)
41.
Aristotle was a famous philosopher from Athens who taught Alexander the
Great to love Greek ways and philosophy. He wrote about philosophy,
politics, mathematics, and biology.
42.
Achilles was a Greek hero that died when an arrow pierced his heel—the
only place not protected from injury due to his mother dipping him into the
River Styx. (We get the term “Achilles heel” from this Greek myth. We also
have an “Achilles tendon” in our foot that is very important.)
EARLY GREEK CIVILIZATIONS
43.
The ruins of a great Minoan palace were discovered in the ancient city of
Knossos. It is believed that a great volcano destroyed in the Minoan
civilization.
44.
The Minoans formed and traded by sea.
45.
The first civilization in Greece centered around the island of Crete. This
civilization is known as the Minoan after the name of one of their legendary
rulers, King Minos.
46.
The Minoan civilization was replaced by the Mycenaean civilization which
grew up in southern and central Greece. The name Mycenaean comes from
Mycenae, a city in the Peloponnesus whose inhabitants were Asians, not
Greek.
47.
The Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans in 1450 BC. The war-like
Mycenaean people lived on the mainland of Greece. Their soldiers wore
complete bronze-plated suits with boar-tusk helmets.
48.
The Mycenaeans borrowed their art styles, pottery, designs, and writing
from the Minoans and were of Asian origin. Most of our knowledge about
them comes from the epics of Homer.
ATHENS
49.
The most important city in ancient Greece was Athens.
50.
In the Assembly of Athens, all decisions were made by majority rule.
51.
The Golden Age of Athens was ended by the Peloponnesian War.
52.
Only one in five people in Athens were citizens.
53.
Athens became the center for a new system of government in which the
citizens governed themselves --- “demo” “cratos” ‘people rule’.
(ATHENS)
54.
Cities in the Athenian empire paid tribute to Athens, adding to its wealth.
55.
The agora (a public market and meeting place) was the center of public life in
Athens. It was the place where Athenians bought and sold goods, traded,
gossiped, and learned the news, as well as exchanged new ideas. (People who
are afraid of being in public places have ….agoraphobia!)
56.
Temples and government buildings lined the agora; a board displayed new
laws and upcoming court cases.
57.
Men in Athens took part in political life and debated issues; ideal beauty was
held to be the highest value.
58.
Athenians thought of Macedonians as “barbarians”---uncivilized people.
(Could not understand them—only heard “bar-bar-bar”.)
59.
To be a citizen in Athens, a man’s parents had to be born in Athens and he
had to be at least 18 years old; Athenians would serve on a jury to judge
other citizens and strongly believed in Pericles’ idea of government.
60.
In Athens, Solon was the first ruler to allow citizens to make their own laws
through an Assembly.
SPARTA
61.
Sparta was a Greek city-state that had a strong military culture.
62.
Sparta’s military was so powerful because Spartan boys began training in
military barracks at age seven. Boys were taught to steal and were severely
punished if they got caught. Punishments were meant to make them strong
and able to endure anything by pushing the pain from their minds.
63.
Spartan culture most valued strength. Any type of emotion was considered
weak. The citizens were taught to defend the city-state at all costs and were
mostly concerned with war. All soldiers were taught that the Spartan citystate was more important than them, than their parents, than life itself.
64.
Sparta was ruled by two kings, a council of citizens, and five overseers called
ephors.
65.
In Sparta, babies that were not born strong and healthy were left on a
mountain to die of exposure.
66.
It was a law in Sparta that said all Spartan men must go into the army at 18
until the age of 30. Then, at 30, all men MUST marry and raise strong
children for the city-state.
BATTLES-WARS-CONFLICTS
67.
The Peloponnesian War was a long conflict between Athens and Sparta
which Sparta eventually won after some 27 years of fighting. This conflict
ultimately destroyed Athens and its powerful influence.
68.
Citizens from Athens, Sparta, and other Greek city-states worked together to
defeat the invading Persians---first Darius then his son Xerxes.
69.
The combined Greek forces defeated Xerxes’ Persian fleet at Salamis.
70.
The Greeks wanted Odysseus to help them fight the Trojan War.
71.
The legendary Trojan War was fought between many united Greek citystates (including Sparta) and the city of Troy. Helen was the wife of the
Greek King of Sparta---Menelaus. She was kidnapped by Paris, a prince of
Troy. For ten years the Greeks battled the Trojans but the walls of Troy
could not be broken through.
72.
The Trojan Horse was a battle tactic of Odysseus and the Greeks to get
inside the walls of Troy. By tricking the Trojans into thinking they were
leaving and then having a gift of a wooden horse left at their gates, allowed
the Greeks to get inside the city walls. The Greeks then set the city on fire
and began slaughtering its inhabitants; thus, ending the legendary Trojan
War.
73.
Other city-states opposed Athens and looked to Sparta for protection which
was an important factor in Sparta’s defeat of Athens.
74.
The Battle of Marathon showed that a small, determined army (Greeks)
could defeat a larger army (Persians).
75.
Xerxes was a Persian military leader and ruler who was defeated by the
Greeks at Salamis.
76.
A famous king of Mycenae was Agamemnon. He led the Greeks to victory in
their famous battle with the city of Troy.
77. 300 SPARTANS! Xerxes was a Persian military leader and ruler who was
defeated by the Greeks at Salamis but earlier defeated a Spartan army of 300
at Thermopylae (lit. "hot gates"). This was a pass that the Greeks tried
unsuccessfully to defend in battle against the Persians led by Xerxes, in 480
B.C. Although the Spartans who led the defense were all killed, and may
have known in advance that their mission would be considered a ‘suicide
mission’, fought valiantly and courageously until all were killed by Xerxes’
soldiers. The Persian King Darius lost the battle at Marathon (490 BC). His
son, Xerxes, tried again (480 BC) to conquer Greece.
The Greeks sent an allied army of a few thousand hoplites (heavily armed
infantry) to Thermopylae (hot gates)--a narrow mountain pass in northeastern
Greece. The point was to stall the Persians long enough that the city states could
prepare for later major battles when the Persians broke through. When
Leonides was told that the Greeks would be allowed to live if they gave up their
arms, he said, "Come get them!" "Molon Labe."
But on the fifth day...he (Xerxes) sent against them the Medes and Cissians...
The Medes charged the Greeks full tilt and had many of their own men killed.
Others replaced them, and their attack did not cease, although they were sorely
mauled; but they made it quite clear to everyone, and especially to the King
himself, that though they [the Persians] had many men, there were few men.
(Herodotus. History.)
After more days of repelling wave after wave of Persians, the Greek contingents
from most of the remaining city states, realizing the desperately bad odds, left
Thermopylae to return to their cities and defend them for when the Persians
came through the pass. This left the Greek commander Leonidas and 300
Spartans to defend all of mainland Greece against 310,000 Persians and their
allies. A traitor, Ephialtes, informed Xerxes of a path that would enable Xerxes
to encircle the Spartans.
At sunrise, Xerxes made his libations and...made his attack.... (T)he Greeks,
knowing that their own death was coming to them from the men who had circled
the mountain, put forth their utmost strength against the barbarians; they
fought in a frenzy, with no regard to their lives...Most of them had already lost
their spears by now, and they were butchering Persians with their swords...
(T)he Greeks retreated into the narrow part of the road, and...defended
themselves with daggers--those who had any of them left--yes, and with their
hands and teeth, and the barbarians buried them in missles, some attacking
them in front...while those who had come round the mountain completed the
circle of their attackers. (Herodotus. History.)
Vastly outnumbered, the Spartans held back the Persians for three days in one
of history's most famous last stands that has become a symbol of courage
against overwhelming odds. (Hence our school mascot! GO SPARTANS!)
78.
Philip of Macedonia trained his soldiers to fight in a formation called a
phalanx. In battle, the front ranks extended their long spears. The men
behind rested their spears on the row in front to form a barrier against
arrows. (Think: porcupine quills.) Flute music helped the marching soldiers
stay in step.
ANCIENT GREEK ACHIEVEMENTS
79.
All Greek columns have a capital and a shaft.
There were three types of Greek columns:
*Doric: style is simple, with thick, sturdy columns and plain capitals
*Ionic: style has thinner columns than the Doric, and its capitals are
decorated with two swirls that resemble a scroll called a ‘volute’
*Corinthian: style has elaborate capitals decorated with acanthus leaves
(Romans used this style more than the Greeks)
80.
The “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” included the following:
1.
The Temple of Artemis in Ephesus*
2.
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassas*
3.
The Colossus of Rhodes*
4.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
5.
The Great Pyramid at Giza
6.
The Lighthouse of Alexandria*
7.
The Statue of Zeus at Olympia*
*Five out of seven were of Greek origin.
81.
Ancient Greek sculpture portrayed ideal, or perfect figures in their work.
82.
Many of our ideas about government came from the Greeks. They developed
a new form of government called a democracy. They also built impressive
public buildings such as those in an acropolis, which stands high on a hill.
Many of our own government buildings today use tall columns topped by a
capital in the style of ancient Greece.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
83.
King Philip of Macedon (Macedonia) controlled all of Greece---no one had
ever done that before.
84.
King Philip of Macedonia was the father of Alexander the Great. He was
murdered at his daughter’s wedding by one of his own military officers. This
made it necessary for Alexander to take over the throne at the age of 20.
85.
When Alexander was eight or nine years old, he trained a pedigree stallion
that had defeated his father’s horse trainers. Alexander tamed the wild
horse by turning his head towards the sun, thereby preventing the horse
from being frightened of his own shadow. Alex rode this horse he named
Bucephalus (means ‘head like an ox’), into almost all his major battles.
86.
When Alexander took control of lands, he made them Hellenistic by blending
local cultures with Greek ways.
(ALEXANDER THE GREAT)
87.
Alexander the Great founds the city of Alexandria in Egypt at the edge of the
Nile delta.
88.
Only 13 years after Alexander comes to the throne---he dies from a fever.
89.
After the death of Alexander the Great, Greece fell under the control of the
Roman Empire.
90.
The goal of Alexander the Great was to rule all of the known world. He
united Greece and conquered many lands.
THE OLYMPICS OF ANCIENT GREECE
91.
One set of Olympic Games was separated from another by a four-year
segment called an Olympiad.
92.
The ancient sporting events were so important to the Greeks that they would
sometimes suspend wars fro a brief period to allow the athletes to travel to a
competition and participate.
93.
The first ancient Olympics were held in 386 BC; the Roman Emperor,
Theodosius, A Christian emperor suspended the games in 393 BC due to
their pagan influences; the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 in
Athens. A Frenchman named Pierre de Coubertin was responsible for their
renewal.
94.
The ancient Greek Olympics were dedicated to Zeus---the chief of all Greek
gods and goddesses.
95.
There were five parts to the Olympic event known as the pentathlon--discuss, javelin, running, long jump, and wrestling.
96.
The ancient Olympics were held once every four years---this time period is
called an Olympiad. At the present time there are two types of games---the
Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.
97.
The ancient Olympic games were played in Olympia, Greece at the base of
Mt. Olympus----home of the Greek gods.
98.
The Olympic Games were for men only---and those men had to be Greekspeaking and of Greek descent.
99.
Women had their own games called “Heraia” in honor of the goddess Hera—
the protector of women and marriage. Women and girls of different ages
took part in three running events.
100.
Even today, the athletes from Greece enter the Olympic Stadium first at all
Olympic Games no matter where they are played.
“Know-It or Owe-It”
Use these FACTS in a variety of ways; use the information in the
creation of your ‘hands-on’ products, your techno-enhanced
assignments, and your review game activities. Study some of them
EACH and EVERY day! (Study a set of ‘10’ every day!) You can do it!
Just remember, if I take the majority of the TEST questions from these
facts, and you do not study them very much at home, will you do really
well on the TEST? Probably not!!!
Just remember this little saying:
“Don’t let it REST until your GOOD gets BETTER
and your BETTER becomes your BEST!”