ANCIENT GREECE discovering ancient greece 1500 to 100 bc

8/7/2019 ANCIENT GREECE discovering ancient greece 1500 to 100 bc

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DISCO VERING ANCIENT GREECE

1500-100 B.C.

Viewing Time: 35 minutes

Program Sum mary

This two-part vid eo program p rovides 6-9th grade stud ents with

glimpses of both the cultur e and the history of Ancient Greece.

The program was filmed entirely on location in Greece and Italy and

employs ancient art, animations, and simple reenactments to bring this

very imp ortant p eriod of history to life.

In Part On e stud ents visit ancient Mycenae, the capital of one of the

oldest empires in Greece and th e source of mu ch of Greek culture. Next,

Greek colonial expansion is described, and we tour the ruins of Corinth

so that stud ents can und erstand h ow cities in ancient Greece were laid

out. In the final section of Part One w e visit Delph i and discover the

role of the Delph ic Oracle in the religion of an cient Greece.

In Part Two stud ents visit the ruins of the great sanctuary of Zeus at

Olympia and learn about the earliest Olympic games. Then w e travel

to the ancient center of healing at Epidau ros and discover not only

how the med ical treatments were carried ou t back then, but also how

the theater functioned as a temp le to the god Dionysus. In Athens w e

visit the Temp les of Athena, Hep haestus, and N eptu ne and discoverhow dem ocracy was born. Then the conqu ests of Alexander the Great

are explained; and finally, stud ents learn wh at hap pened to Greeces

culture after it was conquered by Rome.

Student Objectives

After viewing the vid eo and par ticipating in the lesson activities, stu-

den ts should be able to...

Contrast the religious p ractices of ancient Greece with those of today .

Name and tell about several principal gods and godd esses of ancient

Greece.

Describe some of the various w ays that p eople of today still emp loy

ideas and artistic forms that w ere born in ancient Greece.

Compare and contrast the ancient Olympic Games with the Olym pic

games of today.

Explain h ow Greek culture was spread by her Roman conquerors.


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Teacher Prep aration

Before presenting this program to your students, w e suggest that you

preview the vid eo and review th is guide and th e blackline masters

that accomp any it.

You m ay decide to du plicate and distribute some of the blackline mas-

ters you have chosen to u se so that students can reference them d uring

the v ideo p resentation. ( A d escriptive list of the blackline m asters can

be foun d on pag e 4 of this guide. The answer key for the blackline

masters can be found on p ages 4 and 5.)

As you review the instructional program ou tlined in this guide and

the blackline masters that accompany it, you may find it necessary tomak e certain changes to fit your specific need s. We encour age you t o

do so, for only by tailoring this progr am to fit the needs of your stu -

dents w ill they obtain the maximum benefits afforded by the m ateri-

als.

Introducing th e Video

Use maps to help introdu ce both parts of this program pointing out

important historical sites.

Part One:

Introdu ce this par t of the progr am by descr ibing the r ise of the

Mycenaean kingd oms and their conquest of the Minoan civilization ofCrete. Relate some of the tales from the Iliad p ertaining to the life and

times of King Agamemnon. Talk briefly about the collapse of the

Mycenae, the Greek "Dark Ages," Greek colonial expansion, and the

rise of the powerful city-states of ancient Greece. The role of the Or acle

of Delph i in the lives of the ancient Greeks should also be introdu ced.

(For example, the oracle was always consulted before the ancient Greeks

would attempt to establish a new colony.)

Part Two:

Introduce this part of the p rogram by talking abou t the role of public

festivals and competitions in the lives of the ancient Gr eeks. Examples

should include the Pythian Games at Delphi, the Olympian Games at

Olympia, and the Panathenaic Festival of Athens.


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Follow-Up Activities

Part On e: Discussion

A genera l discussion of the topics covered in th e first pa rt of the pro-

gram w ould be ap prop riate. In particular, a discussion of the Olym-

pian god s and godd esses and forms of ancient Greek religious practice

should be brought up h ere.

Part Two: D iscussion

A general discussion of topics covered in the entire progr am sh ould

take place now. Point out th at as a result of the Roman conqu est of

Greece, not only were Greek ideas spread throughout the Roman world,

Roman culture was also brought to Greece. The Greek city of Byzantium

became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...and because the Ro-man s had converted to Christianity, they eventu ally closed all the an-

cient shrines, stopp ed th e Olympic games, and destroyed or defaced

the fine sculptures and temples of ancient Greece as expressions of

new-found Christian piety. Discuss the ancient Greek polytheistic view

of the world an d compare it to contemporary religious views.

A d iscussion of the ancient Greek schools of philosophy w ould be very

useful. Talk about the Athenian d emocracy and how it was p racticed.

Discuss slavery in ancient times. Mention and discuss some of the

Greek contributions to science and m athem atics.

Museu m Visit:

A very helpful follow-up activity wou ld be to visit an art m useum thathouses collections of ancient Greek art. Not only were the Greeks great

sculptors, they w ere also very famous for their pottery, wh ich is w ell

worth seeing. Compare an cient Greek and Roman art.

Research Pap ers:

The following topics wou ld make good su bjects for research papers:

1. Religion in Ancient Greece

2. The Golden Age of Athens

3. Science and Mathem atics in Ancient Greece

4. Greek Myths, Legends and Heroes

5. The Conquests of Alexander the Great

6. The Olympic Games: Past and Present7. The Ancient Greek Philosophers

8. The Theater in Ancient Greece

9. Healing and Medicine in Ancient Greece


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10. The Oracle of Delph i

11. Warfare in Ancient Greece

12. The Greek City-States and Their Colonies13. Daily Life in Ancient Greece

14. Comm erce and Trad e in Ancient Greece

Extended Activity

Perform a G reek Play

A small group of students (or even the w hole class) might w ant to

perform a traditional Greek play...or at least one act from the play. Stu-

den ts could make the masks, the costum es, and the sets for the perfor-

mance. Every attempt should be mad e to keep all aspects of the perfor-

man ce historically accur ate.

Blacklin e M asters

The following Blackline Masters are includ ed w ith this guid e:

Blackline Master 1a and 1b: Timeline

Blackline Master 2a, 2b and 2c: Vocabulary List

Blackline Master 3: The Principal Gods an d G oddesses of Ancient

Greece

Blackline Mas ter 4: The Greek Alph abet and Writing in Greek

Blackline Mas ter 5: Crossword Puzzle

Blackline Mas ter 6: Quiz

Answer Key

The answ ers are pr ovided here for the Blackline Masters that require

answers.

Blackline M aster 4, The Greek Alphab et and Writing in Greek

ATHENE:DEMOS:

AREA:

STOA:

PARTHENON:


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Blacklin e Master 5, Crossword Puzzle

Across Down

1. ALEXANDER M EDICINE

2. CORINTH ORACLE

3. MYCENAE FIRE

4. GOLDEN DIONYSUS

5. SPARTA HERA

6. HERMES ATHENA

7. A CRO PO LIS O LIGA RCH Y

8. OLYMPIA POSEIDON

9. ZEUS

10. AGAMEMNON

Blacklin e Master 6, Quiz

1. G

2. F

3. D

4. J

5. I

6. H

7. B

8. A

9. C

10. E

11. F: King Agam emnon ru led Mycenae.

12. F: Pericles fostered the growth of democracy in Athens.13. T

14. F: The Roman s adm ired Greek culture and o ften tried to copy it.

15. F: Alexander th e Great died of malaria in Babylon.

16. T

17. F: The ancient Greeks were very good m athem aticians.

18. F: Spartans w ere very highly disciplined in the arts of war and

disliked the "softness" of a life of luxury.

19. T

20. F: Slavery w as common place in ancient Greece.


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DISCO VERING ANCIENT GREECE

Script of Recorded Narration

Over three thousand five hundred years ago, the Greek-speaking people

wh o lived h ere among the m ountains, bays, and island s of the north-

eastern Med iterranean began to shape a truly remarkable culture.

The new ideas that took root in this rugged land became so important

that a ncient Greece is said to be th e birthp lace of western civiliza-

tion," and the influence of that civilization can be foun d almost every-

wh ere we look in the world today.

Ancient Greece gave birth to the world 's first dem ocracy and the origi-

nal Olymp ic Games.

Ancient Greece also mad e long-lasting contributions to art, a rchitec-

ture, science, and mathematics, as well as to literature, drama, and even

to the stu dy of history itself.

And the religion of the ancient Greeks has provid ed u s with a rich

tradition of myth and legend .

In order to better und erstand this tremendou sly important p eriod of

history, let us now visit some of the fascinating places where this mar-

velous civilization d eveloped in the far distant past.

Mycenae

The origins of Greek civilization can be traced back to th e ru ins of this

hilltop city called Mycenae that was first settled abou t 4500 years ago,

and that w as once the center of a rich and pow erful emp ire.

Legend says that Mycenae was found ed by Perseus, who w as a son of

Zeus, the King of all the Greek gods, w hose magnificent statue is seen

here.

The Greek peop le of long ago believed that to bu ild th e walls of the

city, Perseus had ord ered one-eyed giants, whose job it was to m ake

weap ons for the gods, to carve these enormou s stones and then lift

them into place.

As early as thirteen centu ries before the birth of Chr ist, the kings of

Mycenae rod e out th rough this gate built from these hu ge stones to


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lead their troops into battle...and above the gate the figures of two li-

ons, carved in stone, still remind us of the great p ower th ese kings

once held.

The golden d eath masks of several different kings were discovered in

deep circular tombs, like this one, that were built next to the lion's gate.

Near the royal tombs and overlooking the fields w here the farmers of

Mycenae once grew crops to feed their citizens are th e remains of a

many-roomed house where the high p riest lived; and this painting of a

young Mycenaean woman once adorned a wall of a religious building

that stood nearby.

Up above the p riest's house, crowning th e hill, we can still see the ram-

part w alls that surrou nd ed the royal palace where long ago decisions

were mad e that shaped the course of Greek history.

It was probably in the throne room of this palace that the most famous

of all the kings of Mycenae, Agamem non, d ecided to sacrifice his daugh-

ter to the gods so that his ships might hav e good w eather as they set

off to attack the city of Troy.

The hatred and violence that beset the family of Agamemnon has be-

come legendar y, mostly because it is described in such detail in the

Iliad, the m ost famous of all the books w ritten in ancient Greece.

For countless centuries the people living in the village near the ruins of

Mycenae believed that Agamem non w as buried here in this massivetomb that lies outside the gates of the city. How ever, archeologists now

think that this tomb p robably belonged to som e other Mycenaean king.

The Collapse of Mycenae: Colonial Expan sion

By 1100 B.C. Mycenaes power had collapsed ; and, following years of

invasions from the north, other cities grew in strength .

Starting arou nd 800 B.C. some of these cities began to bring Gr eek cus-

toms and r eligion to far distant land s by establishing colonies.

Sparta, for example, found ed the colony of Taras in sou thern Italy;

Greeks from Rhod es in Asia Minor found ed Massilla in the south ofFrance where today's city of Marseilles stands; Corinth established colo-

nies in nor thern an d w estern Greece, but her biggest colony w as Syra-

cuse in Sicily.


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And by the year 600 B.C., the Greek city-states had founded over thirty

different colonies in d istant regions of both the Med iterranean and the

Black Seas.

Corinth

Corinth, whose ru ins are seen here, was not only a major Greek colo-

nizer of the Mediterranean, it was also one of the three most powerfu l

city-states in Greece for severa l centuries.

Corinth grew up not far from Mycenae on a narrow isthmus w here

important land an d sea routes came together....routes that could be

monitored by soldiers on du ty in Corinth's ancient acropolis that

loomed h igh above the city.

Today it is hard to imagine just from looking at these ruins wh at a rich

and pow erful place Corinth once was, but archeologists have carefully

stud ied these stones an d th ey are fairly certain the city once looked

someth ing like this.

At its center stood th e great temp le of Apollo, who w as the god of the

sun , music, healing and prop hecy. Here we can see all that rem ains of

that beau tiful bu ilding.

Ancient Greek temples, such as th is one in Athens, were n ever entered

for worship by ord inary peop le; instead, temples were considered to

be the hou ses of the god s, and sacrificial offerings were always mad e

on altars that stood ou tside.

Not far from the Temp le of Apollo was the center of all of Corinths

commercial and govern mental activities. This was a h uge op en mar-

ketplace or "agora" that was lined on two sides with shop s where such

items as wine, pottery, and olives could be pu rchased.

Opp osite the central shops on the far side of the market squ are was a

long covered area called a "stoa" which was attached to the main build-

ing of Corinthian government, the senate hou se.

By looking at this reconstructed stoa in Athens, we can get a good idea

of what th e stoa in the ma rket of Corinth once looked like. Under its

hu ge roof, citizens of the city-state could either sell things or simp lymeet and talk, shaded from the intense sunlight and protected from

stormy weather.


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Just below the m arketplace in Corinth w as the fountain that at on e

time supplied the city's water. By passing through stone archw ays,

slaves were able to fill jugs w ith cool, fresh w ater w hich they then car-ried back to their masters houses.

Just w ithin sight of the houses where the Corinth ians lived, there on ce

stood a large theater, whose ru ins are seen here, where citizens en-

joyed p erformances that w ere very often of a religious natu re.

The theater may have u sed p illars like these in its construction that are

decorated in the Corinth ian stylethat is, carved to look like the leaves

of the acanthus plants that grew w ild all around the city.

One final featur e of ancient Corinth w as a sacred spring that has long

since vanished but w as at one time reached by climbing dow n a stair-

way located near the gates of the marketp lace.

This spring was linked by a secret und erground passageway to the

special sanctuary of a w oman called an oracle, a p rophetess who was

the hu man voice of the god Apollo.

Delphi

To better understand the ancient Greek religion and the role that oracles

played in that religion, let us now travel to Delphi, located high in th e

mou ntains about 100 miles northw est of Corinth to the great san ctu-

ary of Apollo, where for over 1000 years, the m ost famous of the Greek

oracles performed her mystical duties.

Delphi, unlike Corinth, w as simply a religious center and never served

any comm ercial or military p urp ose.

The ancient Greeks believed that Delphi had been founded by Zeus.

The legend says that one day Zeus, who lived with the other imm ortal

gods on far d istant Mount Olymp us, decided to locate the center of the

un iverse. And so he sent out a pair of his sacred eagles to find it for

him.

Eventually the eagles met above the mountainous site of Delphi, thus

identifying it as the hub arou nd wh ich the entire universe rotated.

Beneath the sp ot wh ere the eagles met, an open crack in the ground

released mysterious vap ors that w ere said to have an odor like the

rarest and m ost beautiful perfume," and nearby pu re sweet water


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flowed from a sacred spring w here Zeuss son Ap ollo is said to have

killed a giant snake named Python th at guard ed the spring.

Because Apollo felt regret for killing Pyth on, the god pu nished him-

self; and for eight long years lived the life of a simple shepherd a way

of life that is still pursu ed arou nd Delphi today .

The myth of Apollo and Python formed the basis of many of the reli-

gious rites at Delph irites that invo lved acts of ritual pu rification, es-

pecially in cases where an u njust d eath had occurred .

The temp le to Apollo at Delph i, w hose ru ins we see here, once con-

tained inscriptions that read : "Nothing in excess" and "Know thyself."

The Temp le was built on a site marked by this strange sculpture that

stood at the exact center of the universe and th at was d ecorated w ith

patterns of crisscrossing thund erbolts wh ich w ere the w eapons favored

by Zeus.

Near the spot w here the thund erbolt sculpture stood, but hidd en deep

beneath the temple, was the sanctuary of the oracle, the woman cho-

sen to be the hum an voice of the god Ap ollo.

To prepare h erself for the qu estions that w ere pu t to her, the oracle

took her seat on a three-legged cauld ron, dran k water from the sacred

spring , breath ed sm oke from the leaves of Ap ollo's tree, the lau rel,

and then entered a trance.

The priests of the temp le interpr eted the sounds m ade by the oracle as

well as the movements of her body, and th eir interpr etations were

passed on to those who h ad come seeking her ad vice.

Only men were allowed to consult the oracle, and th ey usually had to

travel great distances, almost always by sea. And n ot only were they

required to sacrifice animals to the god, they also had to p ay a fee that

helped to m aintain the sanctuary.

During the w inter months, which could be qu ite snowy at Delphi, the

sanctuary rem ained open, bu t the oracle did not answ er questions be-

cause it was believed that Ap ollo, the sun god , was not present du ring

winter, the darkest season of the year.

Instead, another god , Dionysus, took his place. And being the god of

wine an d p leasure, wild festivals occurred wh ich stood in stark con-


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trast to the more subdu ed rites that were held du ring the warmer

months of the year.

All of the Greek city-states built treasuries within the temple enclosure

at Delphi...someth ing they d id at all of their great religious shrines.

These treasuries were used to store the sp ecial offerings their citizens

had m ade to the gods.

The building seen here is the treasury of the Athenians. It w as con-

structed betw een 490 and 480 B.C. Alongside th is treasury were once

displayed the shields, spears and other items captured w hen a h uge

force of Persian invad ers were d efeated by the Athenians follow ing

the famous battle of Marathon.

Every four years, a v ery sp ecial religious festival, called the Pyth ian

Games, was held a t Delphi. During this time a great procession passed

by the treasur ies on its way to the tem ple wh ere sacrifices wer e mad e

to Apollo on an altar that stood outside.

And in this huge theater next to the temp le, up to 5000 people w ould

listen to the p riests sing h ymns h onoring the god s or w atch mystery

plays which portrayed the struggle between Apollo and Python.

High u p the mou ntainside, above the theater, this stadium once ech-

oed to the sounds of the crowd s that watched the athletic competitions

that took p lace here, for in ancient Greece the cultivation of the body

went hand -in-hand with the cultivation of the soul.

But in ancient Greece, the largest athletic competitions were the Olym-

pic Games. In p art two of this program w e will visit the great sanctu-

ary of Zeus at Olympia wh ere these famou s games were first held over

2700 years ago.

End o f Part One : Tim e 14:30


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Part Two

Olympia

The first Olymp ic Games w ere held at the great religious sanctuary of

Olympia, wh ose ruins are seen here, in the year 776 B.C. And to this

day , the Olympic torch is still lit here and carried by hand to ignite the

Olympic flame wh erever the games are being held.

Olymp ia was bu ilt to honor Zeu s, the ruler of all the god s, and also to

hon or Zeuss wife Her a...sometim es called the "moth er of the god s."

To better un derstand how the Olymp ic Games first came to be, let us

have a look around ancient Olympia.

At the very center of Olymp ia, in a sacred gr ove of wild olive trees,once stood the m agnificent temple of Zeus, which contained one of the

seven won ders of the ancient wor ld, a gold and ivory statue of the

king of the gods that stood over 44 feet high and that always p rodu ced

a d eep sense of reverence among th ose who saw it.

Today no trace remains of Zeuss great statue. His temple lies in ru ins,

and the stone sections that formed its huge pillars lie where they crashed

to the earth over 1500 years ago following a pow erful earthqu ake.

But still standing, not far from the temple ru ins and up a short flight of

steps, we can see the workshop wh ere the famou s sculptor , Phidias,

labored for several years creating that enormou s work of art, and the

delicate marble carving seen here serves to remind us of the fantasticskill it took to carry ou t this remar kable task.

A long time ago, the temple of Zeus was ringed with altars, and on

some sacred sacrificial fires burned that w ere never allowed to be go

out. Sprink led among the altars were the statues of the victors of past

Olympic Games, and everywhere grew the wild olive trees that were

sacred to Zeus.

A few hu ndred yard s from Zeu ss temple stood the temp le of his wife,

Hera. Although it cant be seen here, inside her temp le there was a

statue of the godd ess seated on a throne w ith Zeus standing next to

her, and this statue of Hermes, the messenger of the gods wh o was

honor ed for his great speed and agility, stood nearby.

Outside the bound aries of the sacred grove, flowers now cover the floors

of the buildings w here the Olymp ic athletes once trained . These are


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the gymn asium and the "palestra," that w as a w restling and boxing

school. But even though their floors lie buried , many of the pillars that

once supp orted th e roofs of these fine buildings still stand today.

On the op posite side of the sacred grove from the gymnasium, the an-

cient Olympic stadium can be entered by p assing throu gh th is high

stone archway.

The Olymp ic Games were held here every four years at midsumm er,

and tens of thousand s of men came from all over Greece either to par-

ticipate in them or just to view them . Women, how ever, were not al-

lowed to attend.

Because the gam es were in honor of Zeus, a sacred tru ce was declared

out of respect for the god, and all wars between the city-states stopped

for an entire month .

The Olympic Games became so imp ortant in an cient Greece that, for

nearly all of the 1200 years they were held, even the p assing of time

came to be measured in four-year un its called O lympiads.

The Olympic Games always p ossessed a strong spiritual messagethat

men should aban don d estructive warfare and turn instead to healthy,

physical competitions, and that they should extend themselves to the

limits of their hum an abilities and , as a result, become m ore god like.

The first day of the Olymp ic games w as always d evoted to religious

ceremonies as a great p rocession of pr iests, officials, and p articipantsmad e its way into the sanctuary, stopping to m ake offerings at three

different altars outsid e the temples.

The next day, here in the stadium , the comp etitions began and these

consisted of a variety of events; among them were foot races, wrestling

contests, and b oxing m atches. Besides these events, horse races and

chariot races were h eld in the O lympic racecourse located just beyond

the stadium.

On the last day, the awards were given. First, branches were removed

from a wild olive tree that grew in Zeuss sacred grov e. Then these

branches were woven into simp le wreaths having no material value

but possessing immense spiritual value. And it was these wreaths thatwere u sed to crown the victors of the Olympic games.


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Epidauros

App roximately one hu nd red m iles east of Olymp ia, at Epidaur os, this

hu ge theater was constructed in about the 81st Olympiad. It was de-

signed to hold 14,000 spectators, and unlike the Olymp ic games, wom en

were allowed to attend the events held here.

The ancient Greeks thronged here to wa tch the all-day plays that w ere

performed in the circular area at th e foot of the grand stands, called the

orchestra, wh ere, at its exact center, an altar to the god Dionysu s was

placed...for theaters w ere, in fact, temp les to this god.

Perhaps because Dionysus was the god of pleasure, the events that

took place in the theaters were gr eatly enjoyed by the spectators, not

just for their religious merit, but for their entertainm ent value as well.

The Greeks were very famous for their plays, and all of them w ere

based on legend s and m yths. Many Greek plays are still performed to

this day; but w hether traged y or comedy , the actors in an cient times,

wh o were always men, w ore masks that had strange exaggerated ex-

pressions.

The row of seats nearest to the altar of Dionysu s was always reserved

for the priests and teachers from the sanctuary of the god of medicine

that stood among the trees and m eadows of a nearby valley. For, more

than anything else, Epidau ros w as the greatest center of healing in

ancient Greece, and peop le came here to be cured of their illnesses by

seeking the help of this god, who th ey called Asclepius.

Asclepius w as the son of Apollo, and legend said h e had learned the

healing arts from a very wise beinghalf man and h alf horsecalled a

centaur.

The temple of Asclepius, whose ru ins are seen here, was at one time

protected by thou sands of sacred snakes that were symbols both of the

god and of the healing profession. And it was outside this temple that

animals were sacrified and the offerings burned by those seeking to be

cured.

After making their offerings, sick people took a path through the woods

to a kind of hospital building where they wou ld spend the night sleep-ing on the skin of the anima l they had just sacrificed. And wh ile they

slept, Asclepius sometimes appeared to them in their dreams.


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In the morning the p atients wou ld tell the priests their dreams and ,

just like doctors today, the priests would prescribe various treatments

to cure their illnesses.

Treatments m ight involve ph ysical excercises or special baths that were

given in nearby buildings, and oftentimes treatments included mental

excercises as well, such as stu dy ing certain books or writing poetry.

Athens

Many of the people treated at the sanctuary of Asclepius travelled there

from the magnificent city-state of Athens, which lay about 150 miles to

the northeast of Epidauros.

Athens was nam ed for the godd ess of wisdom, Athena, and h er fan-tastic temp le, called the Parth enon, w hich is seen h ere, looms ab ove

the city from w here it stand s in the ancient acropolis.

Inside the Parthenon there once was an enormous gold and ivory statue

of Athena made by the same sculptor w ho fashioned the statue of Zeus

at Olympia, and du ring religious festivals this statue w as drap ed in a

special garment woven by the w omen of the city.

Next to the Parthen on, this temple called the Erechtheum with its fa-

mou s porch supp orted by statues of greek maidens, was built on the

spot w here the royal p alace of the kings of ancient Athens once stood.

The last king of Athens to live on this site was nam ed Cod rus. AfterCodru s died in 1066 B.C. fighting to save th e city from th e invad ing

Dorians, the Athenians d ecided that no one p erson could ever take the

place of such a great king, and so the monarchy w as replaced by an

oligarchyru le by a small group of men from noble families.

Then, in 594 B.C., a great statesm an n amed Solon foun d ed a p arlia-

men t, a peop les law court and a council of the people, chan ging the

way th e oligarchy governed Athens so that pow er was more equ ally

shared by all her citizens.

How ever, it was this man , Pericles, who was responsible for develop -

ing, for the first time in history, a government by the peop le starting

in the year 461 B.C. following Athens' great v ictory over the invad ingarm ies of Persia.


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Und er democracy and the gu idance of Pericles, Athens flourished; and

with th e help of some of the greatest artists and scholars in hum an

history, the city grew both in wealth and in beauty....and so Athen sentered her brief but m agnificent "Golden Age."

Most of the spiritua l life of Athens centered on th e temp les located

high abo ve the city in the Acrop olis. And the sight of these temp les

always served to rem ind the citizens of the great goodn ess and w is-

dom of Athena, their protector.

Located far below the Acropolis was the marketplace, wh ose ruins are

seen here, that was once ringed with governm ent buildings, a library,

and a gymnasium.

And on a low hill overlooking th e marketp lace, they built this fine

temple to the god of fire and m etalworking, Heph aestus; for very near

this temple there were, in ancient times, a large number of wor kshops

wh ere gifted craftsmen labored w ho sough t the guidan ce and p rotec-

tion of this god.

And looking across the marketplace from th e temple of the god of fire

is the Great Stoa of Attalos where citizens congregated to d iscuss such

things as p olitics, pr ices, their families, and the w eather.

As city-states went, Athens was qu ite large and it encompassed m uch

of the lower end of the Attica peninsu la. And here, at the extreme

southern end of the city-state and overlooking an importan t sea route,

this marvelous temp le was constructed at just abou t the same time theParthenon was being builtaround 444 B.C.

This temp le honored on e of the three greatest of the Olympian god s,

Poseidon, the God of the Seaand it is his statue we see here.

Sailors returning to Athens a fter a long voyage to th e East could see

this temple from far out on the w ater, and seeing it always m eant that

they wou ld be home soon, and for this they alwa ys gave thanks to

Poseidon.

As we h ave learned, Athens du ring its Golden Age w as quite a fantas-

tic place, and yet there w ere certain flaws in th e Athenian dem ocracy...

the same flaws that w ere to be foun d th e next time p eople tried toinstitute this form of government 2200 years later during the early years

of the United States. Na mely, only men w ere allowed to vote, and

women h ad n o legal voice in decision-mak ing at all.


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18

And the slaves, wh o were bought and sold like animals, had n o rights

whatsoever, even though they m ade u p a large part of the popu lation.

The Golden Age end ed m ostly because of an outbr eak of war in 431

B.C. between Athens an d her pow erful enemy, Spartaa highly milita-

ristic city-state a few hun dr ed m iles to the southa wa r that end ed 27

years later with the d efeat of Athens.

And although A thenian civilization w as not comp letely destroyed by

this war, it never fully regained the glory that it possessed d uring its

"Golden Age."

Alexand er the Great

Just forty-two years after Athens fell to Spar ta, it fell again to the forcesof Greek Macedon ia, wh ich lay to the north o f Athens.

The Macedonian king, nam ed Ph ilip, died just shortly after his great

victory over Athens; but the new king, Philips son Alexander, decided

to follow in his father's footsteps and set off to conquer th e lands that

had, a few centuries before, made u p the great Persian Emp ire.

In the year 334 B.C., when he was just 22, Alexander rode out from his

capital of Pella in Macedon ia with an arm y of 35,000 troop s. He won

battle after battle as he zig-zagged across the countryside, finally com-

pleting h is conqu ests nine years later wh en he reached th e western

borders of Ind iaand by now he was known as "Alexander the Great."

In western Ind ia, as well as everywhere else he conqu ered, Alexander

set up his own local governm ents that were requ ired to use Greek

money.

He prom oted Greek ideas and laws and even required that he be wor-

shipped as a god.

However, only three years after returning to his new capital of Babylon

in Persia, Alexander, the man wh o wan ted to be a god, d ied of malaria

at the age of 33 , and h is enormou s empire soon fell apart.


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The Roman Conq uest of Greece

About one-and-a-half centuries after Alexander's death, various parts

of Greece started to be attacked by forces from the great Italian city of

Rome.

In 146 B.C., ord ers were sen t out from the bu ildings that on ce stood

here in the Roman Forum to add Greek Macedon ia to a growing list of

provinces that made up the Roman Empire and to subdue, at any cost,

the wealthy city-state of Corinth . And after these d ifficult feats were

accomplished, it was not long un til all of Greece belonged to Rome.

The Romans sincerely adm ired all that the Greeks had achieved; so

instead of completely destroying her unique civilization, the Romans

simply absorbed most of it into their ow n culture.

They took over all of Greeces holy places. They tu rned the Olym pian

gods into Roman gods and gave them new Latin nam es. Athena, for

example, was n ow w orshipped as Minerva, wh ose image is seen here

adorning the w all of her temp le in Rome.

The Romans constructed bu ildings insp ired by Greek architecture all

across their expan ding em pire and d ecorated them with m arble stat-

ues carved in the Greek style.

And they tried har d to m atch the greatness of the Greek writers, scien-

tists and philosophers as well.

And so it was that the culture and ideas of ancient Greece were spread

by the Romans to even the remotest corners of their vast emp ire.

End of Part Tw o: Time 17:00


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1995 Chariot Productions Distributed by United Learning, Inc.

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DISCO VERING ANCIENT G REECE (1500-100 B.C.)

Timeline

2600-2000 B.C. Growth of a pre-Greek civilization on the island of Crete.

2000-1700 B.C. Greek speaking tribes arrive in Greece. The first palaces are built on Crete.

1650-1450 B.C. Mycenaean Greeks grow in power and and construct fortified cities on mainland

Greece.

1450 B.C. Palaces on Crete are destroyed by an earthquake and the Mycenaean Greeks

capture Crete.

1189 B.C. Force of Mycenaean Greeks attack and destroy the city of Troy in Asia Minor.

1150-900 Warloving, Greek-speaking Dorians invade Greece. Mycenaean civilization col-

lapses. Refugees from the Dorians establish cities on the eastern Aegean island s

and on the coast of Asia Minor.

900-750 B.C. Greek cities develop. Massive growth of trade between the Asiatic Greeks and

mainland cities, especially Corinth . As the populations of the cities grow, new

Greek colonies are foun ded in Sicily, the Black Sea, Asia Minor, sou thern France,

Italy and Spain as well as North Africa.800 B.C. Hom er begin s to write the Iliadand the Odyssey .

800-700 B.C. Writing, introdu ced from the East, quickly spreads across Greece.

776 B.C. The fir st Olympic games are held .

720 B.C. Spartans expand into the southern peninsula of Greece called the Peloponnesus.

700-600 B.C. Tyrants rule the city-states of Megara, Corinth, and Sicyon. Sparta has two kings.

594 B.C. Solon improves the lives of the Athenians by devising better ways of sharing power

among the citizens, making it more dem ocratic.

585-571 B.C. Ancient Greek scientist Thales correctly pred icts a solar eclipse that occured on

May 28, 585 B.C. This is considered to be the first accurately know n d ate in hu man

history.

560-541 B.C. Greek playwrights Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides flourish.

546 B.C. The Persian empire conquers cit ies in eastern Greece.540-531 B.C. A group of mathematicians and philosophers led by Pythagoras develop arithmetic

and geometry.

510 B.C. With the aid of Sparta the tyrants are driven out of Athens.

507 B.C. The very earliest Athenian democracy is tried out.

490-479 B.C. The Athenians defeat the invading forces of Persia.

470 B.C. The philosopher Socrates teaches in Athens.

461-429 B.C. Age of Pericles and Athenian democracy; The Golden Age of Athens.

431 B.C. Start of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta.

443 B.C. Herodotus begins to write the first book on history.

404 B.C Sparta defeats Athens and controls Greece.

390-381 B.C. Greek philosopher Plato found s a school in a grove on the outskirts of Athens hecalls The Academy."

380-371 B.C. Democritus recognizes that the Milky Way is mad e up of num erous stars, that the

moon is similar to the Earth, and that all matter is comp osed of atoms."

371 B.C. The city-state of Thebes defeats Sparta.

358-338 B.C. Philip, the king of Macedonia, rises up to become ruler of Greece.

350-340 B.C Aristotle develops a method of animal classification in which 500 known species

are d ivided into eight classes. He defines chemical elements an d teaches that space

is always filled with m atter.

(Continued on 1b)

1a


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343 B.C Aristotle becomes the tutor of Alexander, the son of Philip of Macedonia who will

later be known as Alexand er the Great."

340 B.C Aristotle founds the Lyceum in Athens: a school of Philosophy where teaching was

given as the studen ts walked abou t in the neighborhood of the temp le of Apollo.

336 B.C. Philip of Macedonia is assassinated.

334-323 B.C. Alexander the Great establishes a vast empire extending from Greece to Egypt and

east all the way to India.

323 B.C. Alexander the Great dies at his capital of Babylon at the age of 33.

323-280 B.C. Struggles between Alexander's generals result in a breakup of his empire into three

parts: Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Egypt.

311 B.C. Zeno of Cyprus establishes his Philosophical School of Stoics teaching in the Stoa

Poecile in Athens.

306 B.C Ptolemy, one of Alexander's generals, begins his reign as ruler of Egypt.

300 B.C. A museum (a place where the minor goddesses called muses lived) was built inAlexand ria, Egypt. It was a home for scholars, artists, and mathematicians.

300-291 B.C. Euclids 13 books, called the Elements of Geometry, organize the mathem atical

knowledge developed in an cient Greece du ring the three preceding centuries. The

first six of these books provide th e subject m atter for most of the geometry taugh t in

schools today . Elemen ts of Geometry was the basic textbook of mathematics for

over 2000 years.

291 B.C. Greek physicians flourish at Alexandria, Egypt where they perform public dissec-

tions of the hu man body, describing the spleen, liver and retina.

280 B.C. Greek city-states try to throw off the control of Macedonia. The Romans back the

Greeks as a way of conquering Macedonia.

229-219 B.C. Romans penetrate into Illyria on the border of Macedonia.

220-211 B.C. The famous mathematician Archimedes dies at the Greek colony of Syracuse in

Sicily.

214 B.C Macedonian wars begin as Rome invades Macedonia.

197 B.C. Rom ans conquer Macedon ia.

146 B.C. Greeks rise up against Roman domination and are defeated at Corinth.

145 B.C. Rome combines the Greek city-states into their province of Macedonia; Greece is

firmly under Roman control.

33 A.D. Th e d eath of Ch rist.

50 A.D. Christ ian apost le Paul teaches in Greece.

325 A.D. The Emp eror Constantine declares that Christianity will be the official religion of

the Roman Empire.

330 A.D. Because of its vast, unmanageable size, the Roman empire is divided into twoparts. The cap ital of the Eastern Roman Empire is established at the Greek city of

Byzantium wh ich is renamed Constantinople in honor of Romes first Christian

emperor.

379-395 A.D. The Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius the First outlaws the religion of the

ancient Greeks and orders that all the shrines be closed and disman tled. The

Olympic games are ord ered stopped in 393 A.D. after having been h eld every four

years for 1169 years.

410 A.D. Barbarian Visigoths plunder Rome.

476 A.D. The collapse of the western Roman empire. Rome is occupied by Barbarian tribes.

Timeline (cont.)

1b


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2a

Vocabu lary ListACROPOLIS: A word that m eans acro h igh, polis city: high city.

ADYTON : The h oliest place inside a temp le

AGAMEMNON : Famou s King of ancient Mycenae w ho sacrificed h is daug hter Iphigenia to the god s to ensure a

safe journey to Troy.

AGORA: A large open m arketplace found in all ancient Greek cities.

AGORAPH OBIA: Fear of open spaces

ALEXAN DER THE GREAT (356- 323 B.C.) : Son of Philip II of Macedonia and a great conquer or.

ALTIS: In the ancient Greek religion, a sacred grove of trees

ATOM: A Greek wor d m eaning A," cannot tomos, be cut: cannot be cut, indivisible.

APOLLO: Greek god of the sun , healing, mu sic and prop hecy.

ARISTOTLE: 384-322 B.C Famou s Greek scientist and philosop her . Student of Plato.

ARCHIMEDES 287-212 B.C.: Famou s Greek mathematician and ph ysicist wh o d escribed th e concept of d ensity and

invented a device called th e Archimedean Screw for lifting w ater and other materials from a low er to a higher

level.

ASCLEPIUS: Ancient Greek god of med icine (Roman god Aesculapius): Son of Ap ollo.

ASCLEPION : A bu ilding for excercising, anoth er nam e for gymnasium.ATHENA: Greek goddesss of wisdom, skills and warfare. Roman godd ess Minerva.

BOULEUTERION : Ancient Greek Senate building.

CENTAUR: In Greek mythology a beast with the head and chest of a man an d th e body of a horse.

CHITON : A woolen shirt worn next to the body in an cient Greece.

CODRUS: Brave king of ancient Athens (died 1066 B.C.).

CORINTH: A rich and p owerfu l Greek city-state known for its extensive trading network .

CORINTHIAN CAPITAL: A design based on acanthus leaves found decorating certain ancient Greek pillars.

CYCLOPES: One-eyed g iants wh ose job it was to m ake weapon s for the gods. The Cyclopes w ere believed to h ave

bu ilt the wa lls of most of Greeces most ancient cities including Mycenae.

DELPHI: A mou ntainou s religious sanctuary d edicated to the god Ap ollo. Site of the famou s prop hetess known as

the Oracle of Delphi w ho acted as the hu man voice of Apollo.

DEMOS: Greek word for the peop le.

DEMOCRACY: Rule by the p eople.DEMOCRITUS 460-370 B.C.: Ancient Greek p hilosoph er who first suggested that a ll ma tter is com posed of small

ind ivisible par ticles called atom s.

DIONYSUS: Ancient Greek god of wine, vegetation, and pleasu re; in Rome he w as know n as Bacchus.

DORIAN: A native of Doris, one of the four main regions of ancient Greece.

DORIC ORDER: The oldest an d simplest of the three styles of classical Greek ar chitectur e.

ECCELISIA: An assembly of the p eople at w hich all free male citizens could vote.

EPIDAUROS: The gr eatest center of healing in ancient Greece. The location of the Temple of Asclepius, the god of

med icine and site of a 14,000 seat theater.

EUCLID (c.300 B.C.): Greek m athem atician w ho w rote the Elements of Geometr y tha t became the stan da rd text-

book on math ematics for the next 2000 years.

EPICUREANISM: A school of ancient Greek philosophy founded by Epicurus which believed that happiness through

pleasu re was the ultimate goal of life.

ERECHTH EUM: A temp le in th e Acropolis of Athen s built on the site wh ere the pa laces of the ancient kings ofAthens once stood.

GIANTS: A race of huge beings that waged war on the Olymp ian Gods.

GOLDEN AGE OF ATHENS: A p eriod of peace, prosperity and great achievements in art an d k now ledge that

occur ed in Ath ens from abou t 470-422 B.C

GOLDEN MEAN: A special mathematical ratio used in designing the perfectly proportioned temp les constructed in

ancient Greece.

HEPHAESTUS: The ancient Greek god of fire, metal, and metalw orking. Same as the Roman god Vulcan.

H ERMES: Messenger to all the god s from Zeus, the god of science, bou nd aries and comm erce and gu ide of the

dep arted souls in the u nd erworld. Same as the Roman god Mercury.


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DISCO VERING ANCIENT G REECE (1500-100 B.C.)Vocabulary List (cont.)

2b

HADES: The god of the und erworld an d ru ler of the dead. Same as the Roman god Pluto. Also the home of the dead

itself.

HELLENISM: The character and thou ght of ancient Greece. The adop tion of the Greek culture by the Romans.

HERA: Wife of Zeus; greatest of all the Greek godd esses.

H ERAKLES(H ERCULES): A m ythical Hero of an cient Greece wh o carried ou t the 12 labors imp osed on him b y

Hera. He is known for his great strength and his name m eans Heras glory. He was said to be the child of Zeus and

Alcmene, the dau ghter of the Mycenaean king Electryon.

IONIA: A district of Asia Minor settled by th e ancient Greeks.

IONIC ORDER: One of the th ree styles of ancient Greek architectur e characterized by fluted tapered columns with

scrolled capitals.

ILLYRIA: Ancient land to the n orthw est of Macedon ia wh ere Albania is located tod ay.

IRENE: Daughter of Zeus and goddess of peace.

MACEDONIA: A kingdom lying to the n ortheast of Athens that grew to be a great pow er in the ancient w orld and

that w as strongly influen ced by Greece.

MINERVA: The Roman goddess of wisdom and war; same as Athena.

MOUN T OLYMPUS: The hom e of the Olympian gods.

MUSE: Any on e of the nine nymp hs or lesser divinities who presided over the fine arts and sciences. They w ere allthe d augh ters of Zeus and Mnemosyne. They were: 1. Clio, the mu se of history; 2. Euterpe, the mu se of lyric poetry;

3. Thalia, the mu se of comedy and idyllic poetry; 4. Melpomene, muse of tragedy; 5.Terpsichore, mu se of mu sic and

da ncing; 6. Erato, muse of rom antic poetry; 7. Calliope, m use of ep ic poetry and rhetoric; 8. Urania, mu se of as-

tronomy; and 9. Polyhymnia, muse of harmony and hymn s.

MUSEUM: A place for the m uses.

MYCENAE: The city that was the center of the the ancient Mycenaean Cu lture.

ODYSSEUS: Also called Ulysses: King of Ithaca w ho fought in the Trojan War an d whose ad ventu res are d escribed

in Hom er's ancient book the Odyssey.

OLIGARCHY: Rule by a sm all group of noblemen

OLYMPIA: Site of the great sanctuary of Zeus and location of the O lympic games.

OLYMPIAD: The passing of time was recorded in ancient Greece in these four year un its based on the num ber of the

pr evious Olym pic game. The first Olympiad began in 776 B.C., The second Olym piad began in 772 B.C. etc.

OLYMPIAN GO DS: The twelve major deities of the ancient Greek religion: these were Zeus, Hera, Ath ena, Ap ollo,Hermes Hephaestus, Hestia, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Artemis and Demeter.

OMPH ALOS: The nam e given to the sculp ture p laced at the center of the ancient universe at Delphi. The word

Omp halos means navel or bellybutton.

ORACLE OF DELPHI: A wom an of high m oral character over the age of 50 chosen to be th e human voice of the god

Apollo. Oracles were found at man y temp les of Apollo in ancient Greece.

ORGY: From the Greek w ord Orgia meaning secret ritesor secret worship wh ich usually includ ed feasting,

wine-drinking and wild celebration as a form of worship of certain god s; in p articular the god Dionysus.

PALESTRA: At Olympia th is was a school for wrestling and boxing; a type of gym nasium .

PAN: A rural demi-god, part man and p art goat, wh o played a seven-tubed mu sical instrum ent called the pan-pipes

and dw elt in caves and forests.

PAN CRATIUM: An athletic contest that combined w restling and boxing.

PARTHENON : Temple to Athena in the Acropolis of Athens. The word Parthen os means virgin in Greek and

refers to the godd ess Athena.PELOPON NESE: The southernmost p eninsula of the Greek mainland lying to the south of Athens.

PEPLOS: Outer garment worn by women in ancient Greece.

PERICLES (495-425B.C.): Leader of Ath ens d uring its Golden Age.

PERSEUS : Son of Zeus w ho is said to hav e found ed Mycenae. He behead ed th e snake-haired Medu sa, one of the

three Gorgons.

PHIDIAS: Great sculp tor who fashioned th e enormou s gold and ivory statues of Zeus at Olymp ia and of Athena at

the Parthenon in Athens.

PHILIP II OF MACEDONIA (382-336B.C.): The king of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great.


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2c

Vocabulary List (cont.)

PHILOSOPH Y: A wor d w hich means ph ilos loving soph os wisdom ; loving wisdom . Philosophers w ere people

wh o studied the processes that governed though t, perception, and m orality in an attemp t to understand the prin-

ciples and laws tha t regulate the universe and the un derlie reality. The earliest scientists were ph ilosoph ers.

PLATO (427-347 B.C.): A famou s Greek philosopher w ho w as a stu den t of Socrates and lived in Athens. He w rote abook called the Republic and founded a school called the Academ y that w as a center for advanced scientific stud y

in the ancient world up un til 529 A.D.

PLATON IC: Refers to following th e ideals of Plato and generally is taken to mean pu rely spiritual as opp osed to

sensual.

POSEIDON : The god of the sea in ancient Greece. In Rome he was w orshipp ed as Neptu ne.

PTOLEMY: The name of a dyn asty of fourteen Macedon ian kings wh o ruled Egyp t from the time of the death of

Alexander the Great in 323B.C. up u ntil 30 B.C. when the Roman s took control of Egypt.

PTOLEMY (100-170 A.D.): A Greek-Egyp tian astron omer who d eveloped an a stronom ical system called the Ptole-

maic System wh ich visualized the Earth as the center of the universe with the sun and planets revolving around it.

This system w as dispr oved by Cop ernicus and Galileo about 1400 years later.

PYTHON : A giant snake (or dragon) that had the job of guar ding the sacred sp ring at Delphi but that terrorized the

neighborhood. Apollo slew Python and to cleanse himself, took up the life of a shepherd for many years. The Pythian

gam es held at Delph i celebrated the pu rification of Apollo.PYTHAGORUS (580-500 B.C.): A well known Greek p hilosopher, mathemat ician and religious mystic. He re-discov-

ered the ancient Egyptian m athem atical theorem now called the Pythagorean th eorem. His followers called the

Pythagoreans helped to d evelop arithmetic and geometry.

POLIS: A Greek w ord w hich mean s city. The word Politikos," from w hence w e get the English word political,

mean s relating to the citizen.

SANCTUARY: A holy p lace

SOCRATES (469-399B.C.): A famous Greek philosopher who taught that it was more important to study the soul and

the mind than th e external wor ld. Socrates also taugh t that government should be entrusted to wise men who

know w hat good is.

SOLON (638-559 B.C.): Athenian p oet and statesm an w ho carried out im por tant economic, legal, and p olitical re-

forms in Athens w hen h e served as its Archon or m agistrate.

SOPHOCLES (495-406 B.C.) : Athen ian tragic poet an d d ram atist. His two m ost famou s plays are Antigone and

Oed ipus Rex. The plays of Soph ocles are still performed today .SPARTA: A highly militaristic Greek city-state and chief rival of Athens.

SPARTAN: Literally m eans a citizen of Sparta bu t in tod ay's English h as come to mean a p erson w ho is w arlike,

hard y, brave, severe, frugal and high ly disciplined.

STOA: A Greek word meaning p orch: a covered collonade having a wall or building on one side and pillars on the

the other sid e, usually qu ite large, and next to a pu blic place. Stoas wer e found in every city of ancient Greece.

STOIC: A follower of the ph ilosopher Zeno w ho tau ght u nd er the roof of the Stoa Poecile in Athens. He taught that

people should be free of passion, unmoved by grief or joy and always submit to the d ivine w ill.

STOICISM: A word that in English has come to mean bearing up to pain w ithout betraying feeling; a real or pre-

tended indifference to pleasure or pain.

SYMPOSIUM: In an cient Greece this was an en tertainmen t for men characterized by w ine-drinking, mu sic, and

intellectual d iscussion.

SYRACUSE: The large Sicilian colony of Corin th.

TEMENOS: The sacred enclosure of a temp le surr oun ded by a wall that was entered by passing throu gh a ceremo-

nial gateway called a p ropylaeum

THEODOSIUS I (ru led 379-395A.D.): The Ch ristian Roman Emper or w ho ord ered the closure or a ll the ancient

religious sh rines in Greece and halted th e Olymp ic gam es in 393 A.D.

TROY: Also called Illion; ancient trad ing city near the H ellespont in north west Tu rkey m ade famous in th e Iliad of

Homer.

TROJAN WAR: War between Troy and the Greek city-state of Achaea 1194-1184 B.C. The Greek forces were led by

the famous Mycenaean king named Agamemn on.

TYRANT: In Greek tyr annos wh ich m eans an absolute sovereign. Tyrants often ruled the Greek city-states.


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The Principal Gods and God desses of Ancient Greece

Names Identity Symbols

Z EUS (JUPITER) RULER O F TH E GOD SAND THE WORLD eagle, thunderbolt

H ERA (JUN O) ZEUS WIFE AN D GODDESS

OF MARRIAGE peacock, crown

APOLLO GOD OF THE SUN, MUSIC,

PROPH ECY AN D BEAUTY lyre, arrow s, lau rel tree

DIONYSUS (BACCHUS) GOD OF WINE, VEGETATION,

AND PLEASURE wine, grape vine, panther.

HERMES (MERCURY) MESSENGER TO THE GODS FROM

ZEUS, HERALD OF THE GODS, GOD OF winged sandals, winged cap,COMMERCE AND BOUNDARIES serpent rod(caduceus), the ram

HESTIA (VESTA) GODDESS OF THE FAMILY AND

HEARTH fire

DEMETER (CERES) GODDESS OF AGRICULTURE

AND MATERN AL LOVE scep ter, scythe, grain

APHRODITE (VENUS) GODDESS OF LOVE, Mother of Eros(Cupid) doves, seashell

ARES (MARS) GOD OF WAR, lover of Aphrod ite helm et, arm s, arm or

ATHENA (MINERVA) GODDESS OF WISDOM AND VICTORY

IN WAR shield , helmet, owl, olive branch

HEPHAESTUS (VULCAN) GOD OF FIRE, METAL, METALWORKING anvil, hamm er

POSEIDON (NEPTUNE) GOD OF THE SEA AND STORMS trident(a three-pronged pitchfork)

HADES (PLUTO) RULER OF THE KINGDOM OF THE DEAD: throne, beard

ARTEMIS (DIANA) TWIN SISTER OF APOLLO:

GODDESS OF THE MOON , WILDLIFE,

H UN TIN G, AN D CH ASTITY cresent m oon, bow , qu iver

ASCLEPIUS (AESCULAPIUS) GOD OF MEDICINE, SON OF APOLLO serpent, rod

PERSEPHONE(PROSERPINA) DAUGHTER OF DEMETER,

GODDESS OF DEATH AND RENEWAL plants, the rooster

(Names in parentheses are Roman)


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5

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS

1. Great conqueror from Macedonia, son of Philip II.

2. A pow erful city-state that found ed the colony of Syracuse in Sicily and tha t was located near impor tant

land and sea routes south of Athens.

3. This city, one of the oldest in Greece, was th e center of a pow erful culture in 1500 B.C.

4. Athens in 450 B.C. reached a high point in its culture called the__________ Age of Athens.

5. Athens main rival; a pow erful militaristic city-state.

6. Messenger to the gods from Zeus.

7. The greek word for high city; location of the Parthen on.

8. Location of the Olymp ian Games in ancient Greece.

9. Ruler of all gods and m en in ancient Greece.

10.The ancient king th at sacrificed h is daughter to th e gods so th at his fleet wou ld safely reach Troy.

DOWN

1. Asclepiu s was the ancient Greek god of______________.

2. A prophetess and h um an voice of Apollo was called an ___________.

3. Hep haestu s was the god of_________, metal and metalw orking.

4. God of wine and pleasure in ancient Greece.

5. The wife of Zeus and Godd ess of the family.

6. The Greek goddess of wisdom an d victory in war.

7. Rule by a small group of noble men.

8. Ancient Greek god of the sea and of storms.

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Quiz

MATCHING: Put the correct letter from the column on the right below to m atch 1 throu gh 10.

1. ____ Site of the most famous of the Greek O racles. A. Mount Olympus

2. ____ Main center of healing in ancient Greece. B. Troy

3. ____ Theaters in ancient Greece were temp les to this god . C. Olympia

4. ____ This god slew a snake tha t guard ed a sacred spring. D. Dionysus

5. ____ This man wr ote the Iliad an d the Odysessy. E. He ra

6. ____ Alexander the Great came from here. F. Epidau ros

7. ____ Agam emnon fought here. G. Delphi

8. ____ The most important god s in ancient Greece lived her e. H. Macedonia

9. ____ The most important sanctuary to Zeu s in ancient Greece. I. Homer

10. ____ Zeu s wife J. Apollo

TRUE OR FALSE: Put a T in front the following tru e statements an d an F in front of those which are false.

11. ____ King Agamemn on ru led Corinth.

12. ____ Pericles was a famou s tyrant of Athen s.

13. ____ Greek ph ilosoph ers sometimes taugh t in stoas.

14. ____ The Romans despised Greek cultur e.

15. ____ Alexander th e Great was finally defeated in Egypt.

16. ____ The ancient Greek city-states had colonies both in north Africa and in south ern France.

17. ____ The ancient Greeks contributed little to math ematics.

18. ____ Most Spartans feared war and loved luxury .

19. ____ Democracy was born in Greece.

20. ____ Slaver y was illegal in ancient Greece.

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ANCIENT GREECE discovering ancient greece 1500 to 100 bc

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