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Ancient Greece
Introduction
Ancient Greece spread over southern Italy, Turkey, lands around the Black Sea, and some of their colonies were
as far away as Spain. Humans have lived here for about 500,000 years; however modern humans arrived here
roughly 75,000 years ago.
(Yellow shaded area represents Ancient Greece)
Key
information
about
the
culture
During the Mycenaean period (1750 BC-1150 BC) when the most powerful city in Greece was Mycenae most people lived on
land as farmers or herdsman and many fisherman lived along the coast few people made things to sell to earn a living.
Farmers were respected and highly valued people. The food they grew and sold fed the population of ancient Greece and
their linen, wool and leather were used to produce the clothes people wore.
(Mycenae reconstruction)
E d u c a t i o n
i n
a n c i e n t
G r e e c e
In the ancient city of Athens most boys started to go to school at the age of seven. Boys were expected to become
responsible citizens of their city or state which made it essential for them to learn how to read write and learn math.
They also were taught to play instruments especially the lyre in addition they learned to sing songs. Like us Greeks had
physical education to teach them to be strong and brave.
Ancient Greek education
Ancient Greek religious beliefs
The ancient Greeks believed gods lived on top of mount Olympus and interfered with the lives of mortals.Before the gods were the titans
and before the titans was Gaea (mother earth) Uranus (the heavens). The titans were the offspring of Uranus and Gaea. Gaea ordered the
titans to rebel against Uranus, who had thrown then into the underworld of Tarturus. Under the leadership of Cronus they overthrew
Uranus and made Cronus their ruler. Cronus and Rhea had 7 Olympian children Cronus swallowed all of them because Uranus predicted he
too would be overthrown by his own children when Zeus was born Rhea gave Cronus a large stone covered in swaddling clothes to
swallow. Zeus was hidden in Crete. When Zeus grew up he forced Cronus to vomit his siblings out and then they rebelled against Cronus
after a 10 year struggle they finally over threw Cronus.
T
Challenges for the Greeks
In 621 BC Draco introduced the first written code of law. In 508 BC Athens became a democracy. In 490 BC the Persians
attacked Greece but lost in the battle of marathon. In 480 BC Greece destroyed half of the Persian army in the battle of
salamis. In 480 BC Persians and Greeks fought the battle of Thermopylae. In 479 BC the Greeks defeated the Persians. In 431404 BC Sparta defeated Athens in the peponnesian war. A sever plague hit Athens in 430 BC killing about a third of its
population. In 371 BC Thebes defeated Sparta making Sparta much less powerful in the battle of Leuctra. Phillip of Macedonia
conquered Greece. Alexander the great ruler of Greece and Macedonia conquered Persia. In 323 BC Alexander the great died.
In the end Rome conjured Greece.
BY: ARSAL AMIN P6G