5.+Ancient+Greece

** 3. Either free-hand draw a picture of your god or trace one (finish in color) **
 * Greek Gods Research **
 * 1. Email Ms. Weisz your research write-ups with information about your Greek God **
 * 2. Of all of the things your god ruled over, choose 1 or 2 things and draw a picture of it.(finish in color) **


 * Greek stuff for fun **

What Greek hero are you? Take this quiz and find out. Winged Sandals - games about ancient Greeks Weird Greek family of Olympians - Check out the Greek Gods family tree Ask the Oracle Learn More about Ancient Greece The British Museum - Ancient Greece

3/22/12
 * Greek Art and Religion **


 * The Golden Age of Athens **

The years from 479 BC to 431 BC are called the Golden Age of Athens. During the Golden Age, Athens grew rich from trade and from silver mined by slaves in regions around the city. Athens had many neighboring communities who were its allies (friends). These allies would help Athens in times of war, and Athens would use its power to protect these smaller allies. In return for their friendship and protection, these allies made payments to Athens called **tributes**. These **tributes** added to Athens’ wealth.

Athenians also made amazing achievements in the arts, philosophy, and literature. And democracy reached its high point. For about 30 years during Greece’s Golden Age, the Athenian leader Pericles was the most powerful man in Athenian politics. This well-educated and intelligent man had the best interests of his city at heart. When he made speeches to the Athenians, he could move and persuade them.

Pericles was a member of an aristocratic family, but he supported democracy. Around 460 BC, he became leader of a democratic group. He introduced reforms that strengthened democracy. The most important change was to have the city pay a salary to its officials. This meant that poor citizens could afford to hold public office.


 * The Flourishing Arts **

Today, Pericles is probably best known for making Athens a beautiful city. In 480 BC, during one of the city’s many wars, the Acropolis of Athens had been destroyed. Pericles decided to rebuild the Acropolis and create new buildings to glorify the city. He hired the Greek world’s finest architects and sculptors for the project.


 * Magnificent Architecture: **The builders of the new Acropolis brought Greek architecture to its highest point. Their most magnificent work was the Parthenon, a temple to the goddess Athena. The temple was made of fine marble. Rows of columns surrounded it on all four sides. Within the columns was a room that held the statue of Athena, made of wood, ivory, and gold. The statute rose 40 feet, as high as a four-story building.
 * Lifelike Sculpture: ** The great statue of Athena disappeared long ago. However, much of the sculpture on the inside and outside of the temple still exists. Many of the scenes that decorate the Parthenon have three important characteristics. First, they are full of action. Second, the artist carefully arranged the figures to show balance and order. Third, the sculptures are lifelike and accurate. However, they are ideal, or perfect, views of humans and animals. These characteristics reflect the goal of Greek art. This goal was to present images of human perfection in a balanced and orderly way. Real people and animals would not look like these sculptures.


 * The Search for Knowledge **


 * Greek Religion: ** Wherever the Greeks lived, they built temples to the gods. Since the gods had human forms, they also had many human characteristics. The main difference between gods and humans was that the gods were perfect in form and had awesome power. Also, the gods were immortal, which meant they lived forever.

Greeks worshipped a family of gods and goddesses called the Twelve Olympians. Each ruled different areas of human life. The following chart gives more information about the Olympians:


 * __Zeus__** – King of the gods and goddesses. Ruler of the sky and storms. Lord of the thunderbolt. Protector of the law.
 * __Hera__** – Wife and queen to Zeus. Goddess of marriage and women.


 * __Apollo__** – Son of Zeus. Handsome young god of poetry and music. The most widely worshipped of the Greek gods.


 * __Athena__** – Zeus’ wise daughter. Goddess of crafts. War goddess who defended her cities, including Athens.


 * __Poseidon__** – Zeus’ brother. Ruler of the sea and cause of earthquakes. Lord of horses.
 * __Ares__** – Zeus and Hera’s son. G od of war, especially its destruction and slaughter, but he was also called upon as the savior of cities.


 * __ Dionysus __** – Zeus’s son. Dionysus was god of wine, intoxication, madness, inspiration and prophecy, theater, and revelry.


 * __ Hermes __** – son of Zeus. Hermes is the god of eloquence, commerce, cunning, the inventor of the alphabet, numbers, astronomy, music, the art of fighting, gymnastics, the cultivation of the olive tree, measures, weights, and more, he sends refreshing sleep, conducts dreams, is the herdsman of the dead, the protector of travelers, the giver of wealth and luck, the protector of sacrificial animals, and patron of gymnastic games, among other things.


 * __ Hephaestus __** – son of Zeus and Hera. Hephaestus was the god of fire and smiths.


 * __ Aphrodite __** – Daughter of Zeus. Aphrodite is a goddess of love and beauty.


 * __ Artemis __** – Daughter of Zeus. Artemis is a goddess of the hunt, wild animals, childbirth, healing and plague, and later, the moon.


 * __ Demeter __** – Sister of Zeus. Demeter was goddess of fertility, grain, and agriculture. She presided over the Eleusinian mysteries, and was associated with law and order.

In addition to the 12 great gods led by Zeus, the Greeks worshipped many lesser gods and goddesses. They also honored mythical heroes like Achilles, who had done great deeds during the Trojan War. The story of Achilles is told in the Iliad.

3/20/12
 * The Rise of Greek Civilization **


 * Greece’s Geographic Setting **

The land of Greece looks as if the sea had smashed it to pieces. Some pieces have drifted away to form small, rocky islands. Others barely cling to the mainland. Greece is a **peninsula** made up of peninsulas. A **peninsula** is an area of land surrounded by water on three sides. Look at the map. As you can see, no part of Greece is very far from the sea. Mountains are the major landform in Greece. Greece’s islands are mostly mountain peaks. Mountains wrinkle the mainland, so there are only small patches of farmland. Only about one fifth of Greece is good for growing crops. No wonder the Greeks became traders and sailors. At times, they even left Greece to establish colonies far away.

What was life like for people living in Greece 3,000 years ago? In a way, the ancient Greeks were all islanders. Some lived on islands completely surrounded by water or on small peninsulas. Others lived on the mainland. Mountains cut off these small communities from each other. The geography of Greece made it hard for people from different communities to get together.

For this reason it is no surprise that ancient Greek communities thought of themselves as separate countries. Each one developed its own customs and beliefs. Each believed its own land, traditions, and way of life were the best. And each was more than ready to go to war to protect itself. In fact, for most of their history, the Greeks were so busy fighting among themselves that it is easy to forget that they shared a common heritage, spoke the same language, and worshipped the same gods.


 * Greek Beginnings **

All Greeks shared a wealth of stories and myths about their origins. The myths explained the creation of the universe and the features of nature. They described the adventures of Greek heroes and gods. Various stories told how cities and traditions came to be. Some of the most important stories told were about the Trojan War, a long struggle between Greece and the city of Troy on the west coast of Asia Minor. All the great heroes from both regions joined in the war.


 * The Trojan War: ** The story of the Trojan War has everything a story should have – great battles, plots and schemes, loyalty and betrayal. According to the myths, a prince named Paris, from the wealthy city of Troy, was the guest of a Greek chieftain named Menelaus. Breaking the law of the gods, Paris kidnapped Menelaus’ wife, Helen, and took her to Troy. To get Helen back, the Greek chieftains sent a huge army to attack Troy.

For ten long years, the war dragged on. Many heroes on both sides perished. At last, the Greeks conquered Troy by a trick – the Trojan Horse. The Greeks burned and looted troy and then returned home.

Two **epics**, or long poems, about the Trojan War survive today. They are the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad tells about a quarrel between Greek leaders in the last year of the war. The Odyssey describes the adventures of the hero Odysseus as he struggles to return to his homeland from Troy.

These epics may have been composed by many people, but they are credited to a poet called Homer. The poems were important to the Greeks. They taught them what their gods were like and how the noblest of their heroes behaved. Today, people think these poems came from stories memorized by several poets and passed down by word of mouth through many generations. Homer may have been the last and greatest in this line of poets who told about the Trojan War.


 * The Dark Ages of Greece: ** Not long after the end of Troy, civilization in Greece collapsed. No one knows exactly why. Life went on, but poverty was everywhere. People no longer traded for food and other goods beyond Greece. They had to depend on what they could raise themselves. Some were forced to move to islands and to the western part of Asia Minor. The art of writing disappeared.

These years, from the early 1100’s BC to about 750 BC have been called Greece’s Dark Ages. Without writing, people had to depend on word of mouth to keep their traditions and history alive. Old traditions were remembered only in the myths that were told and retold.

Greece’s Dark Ages were not completely bleak, however. During this time, families gradually began to resettle in places where they could grow crops and raise animals. Some of these family farms may have developed into villages. When they chose places to build their farms, people favored places near rocky, protected hills where they would be safe from attack. The name for such a place was **acropolis**, meaning “high city”.
 * Governing the City-States **

Sometime around 750 BC, villages in a small area probably joined together to form a city in the shadow of an acropolis. At that time, each city began to develop its own traditions and its own form of government and laws. Each one was not only a city, but also a separate independent state. Today, we call these tiny nations **city-states.** Each included a city and the villages and fields surrounding it. Hundreds of Greek city-states grew up, each more or less independent.
 * Aristocracy: Nobles Rule **: The earliest rulers of city-states were probably chieftains or kings who were military leaders. By the end of Greece’s Dark Ages, most city-states were ruled by aristocrats, members of the rich and powerful families. Aristocrats controlled most of the good land. They could afford horses, chariots, and the best weapons to make themselves stronger than others.


 * A New Type of Ruler: ** As the Greeks sailed to foreign ports trading olive oil, marble, and other products, the city-states became richer. A middle class of merchants and artisans developed. They wanted some say in the government of their cities. These people could not afford to equip themselves with horses and chariots for war. However, they could afford armor, swords, and spears. With these weapons, large groups of soldiers could fight effectively on foot. Gradually, military strength in the cities shifted from aristocrats to merchants and artisans.

As a result of these changes, aristocratic governments were often overthrown and replaced by rulers called tyrants. A **tyrant** was a ruler who seized power by force. **Tyrants** were usually supported by the middle and working classes. Today, we think of **tyrants** as being cruel and violent. That was true of some Greek **tyrants**, but others ruled wisely and well.


 * Democracy: Rule by the People: ** Eventually, the people of may city-states overthrew tyrants who were too harsh. A few cities moved to a form of government called **democracy**. In a **democracy**, citizens govern themselves. The city-state in which **democracy** was most fully expressed was in Athens.

About 594 BC, a wise Athenian leader called Solon won the power to reform the laws. Solon was well known for his fairness. His laws reformed both the economy and the government of Athens. One of his first laws canceled all debts and freed citizens who had been enslaved for having debts. Another law allowed any male citizen of Athens aged 18 or older to have a say in debating important laws. These laws and others allowed Athens to become the leading democracy of the ancient world.

However, not everyone living in ancient Athens benefited from democracy. Only about one in five Athenians was a citizen. Some of the people living in Athens were slaves. These people did not take part in democracy. Neither did women or foreigners (those not born in Athens). But the men who were citizens of Athens were free and self-governing.