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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 farmed 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!”