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Ancient News
March XXXX
The Gods of
Ancient Greece
The ancient Greeks believed in many different gods and
goddesses. Each city-state in ancient Greece had its own
gods and worshiped them in its own way. They were
thought to be very much like men and women except that
they never grew old or died. They were more powerful
than humans, but they acted and felt much as humans
did. The gods and goddesses did many of the same
things that humans do. They fell in love, grew angry,
quarreled and sometimes played tricks on each other.
There were twelve chief gods and goddesses. Their
home was thought to be Mount Olympus, the highest
mountain in Greece. Each of the twelve gods and
goddesses had special jobs. Zeus, god of the sky was
ruler of the gods. The Greeks held many festivals to
honor their gods. The festivals included dramas, prayers,
animal sacrifices, and athletic contests. The Olympic
Games that are held every four years attracted athletes
from all parts of the Greek world.
Mesopotamia and
It's People
Mesopotamia is the name the Greeks gave to the long, narrow
wedge of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The rivers
flow southward into the Persian Gulf.
Mesopotamia means
“between the rivers” in Greek. The southern part of the land was a
low plain. This area had a hot, dry climate. The land in the north
was a fertile plateau. It had a more moderate temperature and
some rain.
People from Mesopotamia used mud bricks for building because
there was no building stone on the flat river plain and there were
very few trees for lumber. Another building material was papyrus.
Three uses for papyrus are: making boats, baskets, and sandals.
Each person in the family did one kind of work because they lived in
a city and did not have to gather or grow all of their own food.
The Artists in
Ancient Greece
Work created from artists in Ancient Greece are still
admired for their beauty and technical excellence. Their
works continue to be found by archaeologists. Fields in art
included literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, and
music.
Greek sculptors used both marble and bronze on their
pieces. The greatest sculptors of this time included Myron,
Phidias, and Polyclitus. Greek painters used vases to paint
scenes of everyday life and mythology. It is believed that
Greek potters invented the potter's wheel.
Music was played on a solo wind or stringed instrument.
The Greeks enjoyed singing and wrote many poems as
songs. They called this poetry lyric.
Ancient Greece Involved
In Many Wars
The Greeks fought in many wars against other lands and other
cities. One war the Greeks had was against the Persians.
They fought because Greece owned land in Asia Minor. Darius,
the emperor of Asia Minor, wanted Greece to pay tribute to him
but Greece refused. Darius came over by ship to attack
Greece. He arrived in Marathon and fought the Greeks. The
Athenians won the war because they fought with longer spears.
The Athenian victory hurt Persia's military power, and the
Persians tried a second time to defeat Greece. A large army
under Xerxes, Darius' son, marched into Greece. The Greek
city-states joined together to fight the enemy. The Persians
defeated a tiny Spartan force at Thermopylae and captured
Athens and burned the Acropolis. However, the Athenians
defeated a Persian fleet in a great naval battle at Salamis. The
Greek army defeated the Persian army at Plataea and then
later at Mycale.