This term, we’ll be studying Ancient Greece for our topic and I know you’re going to enjoy it – the Ancient Greeks were an incredible civilization, advanced way beyond their years and pioneers for so many things we have today! We’ll be looking at the following:
- Key events that happened in Ancient Greece between 2000BC and 146BC (when Greece was conquered by the Romans)
- How the Ancient Greeks invented democracy and how different/similar it was to the democracy we live under today.
- Many Greek myths and heroes inspired by the period as well as the many Gods with human attributes Ancient Greeks believed in.
- The differences between two major city-states, Athens and Sparta, and the conflict that came about.
- Ancient Greek theatre and how the comedies and tragedies Greeks enjoyed watching form the basis of theatre we enjoy today.
- The origins of the Olympic Games, which was invented by the Greeks, and what its purpose was.
- Mathematical vocabulary we use today that originated from the Ancient Greeks
- The significance of Alexander the Great, another king known as ‘the Great’, and his influence on Ancient Greek civilization
In Art, we’ll be using Greek architecture for our drawing module and we’ll be using Ancient Greek architecture to help us learn to shade and draw in 3D.
In English, we’ll be reading ‘The Odyssey’ by Gillian Cross (an incredible story of a man’s determination, resilience and misfortune – written by Homer in 700BC) and using it as stimulus for writing opportunities. For our shared reading lessons, we’ll be reading ‘Mythologica’ by Steve Kershaw and Victoria Topping, a fascinating book all about the different Greek Gods and Goddesses. ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’, a light-hearted fantasy about a modern 12-year-old boy who learns that his true father is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea, is another book we’ll be reading.
To begin our new topic, I’d like you to write three different interesting facts about Ancient Greece in the comment section. If you already have three interesting facts about the Ancient Greeks you’d like to share, great. If not, you could do some research (you can use the internet of course but don’t forget about the books we have in the classroom!). Remember what we’ve been learning in Computing recently and check the reliability of your source and its facts. I’m looking forward to learning some new facts about Ancient Greece I didn’t already know!
There were different types of slaves in different city-states.
1. In Sparta, the state owned slaves called ‘Helots’. They had to grow crops and were forced to give some of what they grew to the state.
Athens treated slaves slightly better and welcomed them into family homes with a ceremony.
No slaves were paid.
2. An engineer called Ctesibus created a system where pebbles would be dropped onto a gong.
This would then make a loud sound.
Much different to the music or beeps you might hear now!
3. Greeks never called themselves Greeks! This name actually came from the Romans.
They call themselves ‘Hellenes’.
This is because the country of Greece was called ‘Hellas’.
1.The city of Athena was named after Athena the goddess of war.
2.The Greeks invented the yo-yo, philosophy, athletics, theatre, whistles, spinning tops and more
3.They called themselves ‘Hellenes’.
1) The Ancient Greek civilisation started in 800 BC, approximately 3500 years ago.
2) The national animal of Greece is the Dolphin and the national bird of Greece is the legendary Phoenix.
3) The Ancient Greeks were the first civilization to come up with the Olympic games.
Ancient Greek Myth Facts!
1)The greeks refer to the planets by their original gods rather than the Roman versions.
2)The gods were worshipped in different ways in different cities.
3)The greek gods share many traits with the gods of other ancient pantheistic religions.
1. My first one is the Greek Gods. As there is so many I will give you the most known. First there is Zeus, king of the greek gods. Zeus is like Thor because he controls lightning. Then there is Hera. She is Zeus’s wife, and Zeus is an atrocious husband. Athena is the Goddess of insight, and war. Hermes is the messenger of the gods and apears in many myths like Odyssey. He is one of my favourite because he is also the trickster god.
2. The Ancient Greeks had some of the greatest minds in history. A shame about Ancient Greece is that the Romans stole their ideas and took all the credit. For example the Gods,the Olympics and their design.
3. A great Ancient Greek mind was Pythagoras. He made the Pythagoras therom which is taught to every child at KS3. It is an equation for right-angle triangles that does A squared + B squared = C squared, e.g. A=3, B=4, C=5.
1) Ancient Greece is surrounded by three different seas which are the Agean sea the Mediterranean and the Ionian sea.
2) Ancient Greeks used stones as toilet paper!
3) The city of Athens was named after the goddess Athena.
4) The Ancient Greeks worshiped many gods which they build monuments attributted to them.
GREEKS
The Greeks were great thinkers, warriors, writers, actors, athletes, artists, architects and politicians. They invented many things like water mills, alarm clocks, umbrellas and more. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their land was known as Hellas.
GREEK WARS
In ancient times, Greece wasn’t a single country like it is today.
It was made up of lots of smaller states.These states were always squabbling and often went to war. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, from 431 to 404BC. Only the threat of invasion by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their biggest enemy were the Persians, who came from an area around modern day Iran.
The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses watched over them.
GREEK GODS
These gods were a bit like humans, but they lived forever and were much more powerful. They felt human emotions, like love, anger and jealousy, and they did not always behave themselves. Every city in Greece had a ‘patron’ god or goddess. People believed patron gods protected them from harm. Some Greek Gods are Hades, Hera, Zeus and Athena.
There are 3142 Greek gods in total – although only 12 of them are main gods, the rest of them are minor. That’s still a lot, though!
The Greeks had some strange superstitions about food. Some wouldn’t eat beans as they thought they contained the spirits of the dead!
Slavery was very popular in Ancient Greece – 40-80% of Athens’s population were slaves!
1) Ancient Greece is surrounded by three different seas which are the Agean sea the Mediterranean and the Ionian sea.
2) Ancient Greeks used stones as toilet paper!
3) The city of Athens was named after the goddess Athena.
4) The Ancient Greeks worshiped many gods which they build monuments attributted to them.
1 . The Ancient Greeks used stones as toilet paper!
2. Greeks called themselves ‘Hellenes’
3. Image result
Inventions that are credited to the ancient Greeks include the gear, screw, rotary mills, bronze casting techniques, water clock, water organ, the torsion catapult, the use of steam to operate some experimental machines and toys, and a chart to find prime numbers
3 facts about Ancient Greece!!!!!!!
1. Ancient Greeks lived over 3000 years ago.
2. The Ancient Greeks were descended from the Mycenaeans, who were also the first writers and speakers of ‘Ancient Greek’.
3. The Ancient Greeks held many festivals in honour of their gods.
1.The Greeks invented shock absorbers, sirens, flamethrowers,
cranes, catapults, soldering irons, bricks, yo-yos, lighthouses, showers, public hygiene, forceps, thermometers, odometers, the Olympics, sundials, boxing, baby rattles, spinning tops, central heating, fire extinguishers, syringes, pontoon bridges, prisms, dolls, anchors, chewing gum, puppets, dice and lots and lots and lots more!
2. King Pirus Of Greece once had a war with the Romans but he used elephants in his army, but the Greeks lost because elephants are scared of fire and pigs so the Romans set pigs on fire and sent them charging at the elephants.
3. Hippocrates, the Greek father of medicine, thought that drinking wee was good for you.
Marathons were created by Ancient Greece
You’ve probably seen marathon races where you live or even on the television!In Ancient Greece it is believed that a man called Pheidippides ran 26 miles from Marathon to Athens.He wanted to announce the news of the victory of the battle of Marathon.This is where the race comes from and why it is so long!
It’s believed the Greeks invented the yo-yo
Scientists argue that the Greeks invented the yo-yo.This was after they found a device which is very similar and dates back to 500BC.It is believed that the yo-yo is the second oldest toy in the world.
The Greeks invented the first alarm clock
An engineer called Ctesibus created a system where pebbles would be dropped onto a gong.This would then make a loud sound.Much different to the music or beeps you might hear now!
The Ancient Greeks worshipped lots of Gods and Goddesses, for different things.
They built temples and shrines where they could worship them.
Aphrodite – Goddess of love and fertility
Apollo – God of the sun and music
Athena – Goddess of war
Hermes – The messenger of the Gods
Zeus – The Kind of the Gods.
They invented the yo-yo which is considered the 2nd oldest toy in the world after the doll.
About one third of the population of some city-states were slaves. There were more city-states than just Sparta and Athens, ancient Greece had around 100 city-states.
Facts about ancient greece:
They worshipped many gods and goddesses, such as Hermes – the messanger of the gods, Apollo – God of the sun and music, Zeus – the king of the gods and Athena – the goddess of war.
Greek is the oldest language in the world that we still use.
Democracy was born in Greece.
ANCIENT GREECE’S FACTS
-Ancient Greece saw a flowering of the arts and literature, including ,poetry, philosophy, prose and plays. Famous Greek writers include Socrates, Homer and Euripides.
-The Greeks made massive strides in science, medicine and maths; for example, the thinker Aristotle came up with the idea that the earth was a globe.
-A typical breakfast in Ancient Greece would be bread dipped in olive oil.