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Poppell, Amelia Project
Poppell, Amelia Project
Program
Greece/Bulgaria
Amelia Poppell
Unit Topic: _Overview-History of Greece Grade level: World History
Students will make tourist Posters Feedback from the display will be
for display in the Media Center. used to evaluate how effective the
information was presented.
Students will complete a timeline
and pictures will be displayed
indicating that period of history.
Discuss with the students what ancient means and place the period of
the ancient Greek Empire on the class time line. Discuss or recap on
BC and AD and relate these two periods the students have already
covered.
Locate mainland Greece and its islands on a map. Discuss the physical
features and highlight the difficulty of travel, e.g. Would it be easiest to
travel by sea or land? Relate this to the idea of city states, which were
isolated from each other by the difficulties of communication.
Working in pairs, students can choose one of the five aspects of Greek
life to research. For example, they may focus on the role of women in
ancient Greek society, literature and drama, education, warfare,
philosophers, the Parthenon, and so on. (Students in pairs should
choose separate topics.) Have pairs create a list of little-known facts
about their topics to share with the class. Individually, students can
use their research to write essays on how ancient Greek life compares
with, or has influenced, modern society.
Background Notes for the Teacher:
Time Line
Date Event
B.C.
Circa 300 Bronze Age begins
Circa 2200 Minoan Culture on Crete begins to
flourish
Circa 1600-1450 Eruption of Thera volcano and
takeover of Minoan places by
Mycenaean’s from the Greek
mainland
Circa 1200-800 Greek Dar Ages. First Greek
settlement on the coast of Asia
Minor
Circa 850 Archaic period
776 First Olympic Games
750-700 Development of Greek alphabet.
730 Rise of Corinth as leading city
621 The statesman Draco makes the
first written laws in Athens
594 Salon becomes leader of Athens
546 Persian king Cyrus the Great
conquers Greek cities on Ionia
508 Cleisthenes establishes Athenian
democracy
500-300 Classical period
490 Athenians defeat Persians in battle
of Marathon
480 Greeks defeat Persians at Plataea
and Mycale, forever ending the
Persian threat to Europe
461 Pericles leads Athens, until 429,
Athens at war with Sparta until
451
451 Athens passes a law defining who
is a citizen
447 Work begins on the Parthenon
Circa 430 Hippocrates and Socrates active.
Pheidias sculpt statue of Zeus
425-405 Playwrights Euripides,
Aristophanes, and Sophocles
popular
404 Sparta wins Peloponnesian War
and dissolves Athenian democracy
404-360 Plato active
358 Work starts on the theater at
Epidauros
338 Philip II of Macedon conquers
Athens
336 Philip II dies. His son Alexander
“the Great”, becomes king and
conquers Asia minor, Egypt,
Mesopotamia, and parts of India
334 Alexander invades Persia
323 Death of Alexander and break-up
of his empire (311) although
Greek kings still rule Egypt and
Syria
300-148 Hellenistic period
A.D.
30 Rome makes Egypt a province and
dismantles the Ptolemaic
kingdom, last of the independent
Greek states
64 Seleucid kingdom ends
In 3000 B.C., the first people inhabited Greece. They built settlements along
the shores of Greece so they could trade with other civilizations. The Greeks
relied upon the Aegean Sea for trading their supplies. Traveling by sea
exposed the Greeks to many different cultures. They were also exposed to
the various western benefits, such as agriculture and metalwork.
City -states were soon growing larger in population. The city-states were
beginning to transform into empires. Empires are big nations that control
many different city-states and they have one ruler. The many different
empires soon had rivalries going on between them. The first war took place
around 1200 BC. This was a ten-year battle that mostly took place at the
city of Troy. There is a myth that says armed Greek invaders hid in a giant
wooden horse. When the horse was taken into Troy the invaders stormed the
city and left it in ruins. Homer, a very famous poet, wrote an epic about the
hero Odysseus who was a major part of the destruction of Troy.
The Persian wars began in 490 BC. Darius the Great of Thrace led an
invasion into Greece. The Greek defensive army crushed the invaders at
Marathon, under a commander named Miltiades. Later in the year 480 BC,
the Persians launched another attack led by Xerxes. Unfortunately for Greece
this attack left the city of Athens in ruins.
The Peloponnesian wars took place in 461 BC. The first of these wars were
between Athens and Sparta. Athens won this war and they decided to make
a truce with Sparta. Athens lost the second Peloponnesian war to Sparta.
The thirty tyrants, a group of aristocratic Spartans, took control of Athens.
There were many famous people in the history of Greece. Socrates was one
of them. Socrates was a famous philosopher in 399 BC. He objected to some
tyrants because he thought they were unfair citizens. He was tried and
executed for these reasons. In 386 BC Plato, a famous pupil of Socrates
founded his philosophical academy. In 359 BC Philip II, became the king of
Macedon. Thebes, Athens, and Sparta were three major competing powers
in Greece at this time. Philip 2 took control of the entire Greek peninsula,
and in 336 BC he was assassinated. His son Alexander the Great took control
of the kingdom. Alexander took Egypt and conquered the entire Persian
Empire. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC. His empire was divided into
three regions: Ptolemaic Egypt, Antigonid Macedonia, and Seluced Syria.
After Alexander the Great1s death, the three kingdoms constantly feuded
with each other. This time period was known as the Hellenistic Age. Finally in
197 BC a vicious battle took place at Kynoskephalai. King Philip V lost to
Roman forces. The mighty Roman Empire destroyed the Greek warriors.
After Rome overtook the Greeks, they tried to incorporate the Greek culture
into their own culture.
Unit Topic: _Ancient Olympic Games Grade level: World History
1. Where did the Olympic Games What influence did the Ancient
come from? Olympic games have on the
2. Why were they held at modern day Olympics?
Olympia?
3. Were there other contests like How did the Ancient Olympic
the Olympics? games contribute to modern
4. Who could compete in the day Olympics?
Olympics?
5. Were women allowed at the
Olympics?
6. How were the athletes
trained?
7. What prizes did Olympic
victors get?
8. Who were the Olympic judges?
9. What was the penalty for
cheating?
List the activities that took place during the Ancient Olympic games.
Compare those activities with the modern Olympic games.
Describe the modern marathon and how it developed from the Ancient
Olympic games.
Describe how the Modern Olympics games and the city in which they
were held.
Background information:
Today, the Olympic Games are the world’s largest pageant of athletic skill
and competitive spirit. They are also displays of nationalism, commerce and
politics. These two opposing elements of the Olympics are not a modern
invention. The conflict between the Olympic movement’s high ideals and the
commercialism or political acts which accompany the Games has been noted
since ancient time.
The ancient Olympics were rather different from the modern Games. There
were fewer events, and only free men who spoke Greek could compete,
instead of athletes from any country. Also, the games were always held at
Olympia instead of moving around to different sites every time.
Concerned about the civil strife that was threatening his people, King Iphitos
consulted Pythia, the Oracle at Delphi, for help. She advised him to hold the
games in honor of the gods and to gather the leaders in the region and
invite them to sign a peace declaration. They couldn’t compete in the games
if they were at war.
The ancient Olympic Games were primarily a part of the religious festival in
honor of Zeus, the father of the Greek gods and goddesses. For more than a
thousand years, this festival we held beginning in 776 BC. During the
festival, the different peoples of Greek race forgot their quarrels. The first
day was for the sacrifices and lebations to Zeus and Hestia at the tomb of
Pelops.
The second day took place the chariot races and the pentathlon, a
competition of five events, wrestling, long jump, running, discus and javelin.
The third day was given up to a procession and the official sacrifices on the
altar of Zeus. In the stadium took place foot-races and armed-races.
The fifth day the festival ended with a procession of the victors who were
given a crown made of a branch of the olive-tree. Their statues were erected
in the Altis. Altis was a scared grove and part of the Hieron (Sanctuary) in
Ancient Olympia.
The Greeks that came to the Sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia shared the same
religious beliefs and spoke the same language. The athletes were all male
citizens of the city-states from every corner of the Greek world, coming from
as far away as Iberia (Spain) in the west and the Black Sea (Turkey) in the
east.
The sanctuary was named in antiquity after Mt. Olympus, the highest
mountain in the mainland Greece. In Greek mythology, Mr. Olympus was the
home of the greatest of the Greek gods and goddesses.
In ancient Olympic Games began in the year 776 BC, when Koroibos, a cook
from the nearby city of Elis, won the stadion race, a foot race 600 feet long.
According to some literary traditions, this was the only athletic event of the
games for the first 13 Olympic festivals or until 724 BC. From 776 BC, the
Games were held in Olympia every four years for almost 12 centuries.
Although the ancient Games were staged in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BC
through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return. The first
modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. The man responsible
for its rebirth was a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who
presented the idea in 1894. His original thought was to unveil the modern
Games in 1900 in his native Paris, but delegates from 34 countries were so
enthralled with the concept that they convinced him to move the Games up
to 1896 and have Athens serve as the first host.
The marathon was not an event of the ancient Olympic Games. The
marathon is a modern event that was first introduced in the Modern Olympic
Games in 1896, in Athens, a race from Marathon northeast of Athens to the
Olympic Stadium, a distance of 40 kilometers.
The idea of the Olympic torch or Olympic Flame was first inaugurated in the
1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. There was no torch relay in the ancient
Olympic Games. There were known, however, torch relays in other ancient
Greek athletic festivals including those held at Athens. The modern Olympic
torch relay was first instituted at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Unit Topic: ___Greek gods__ Grade level: _World History___
In their effort to understand their environment and the forces of nature, the
Ancient Greeks invented stories to account for the things that went on in
their lives. These tales, known as myths, were spread around by travelers.
They were about gods who controlled the elements of nature. The myths told
tales about powerful Olympian gods, sea gods, woodland gods, sky gods,
underwater gods, half-gods, human heroes, courageous or romantic
adventures, betrayals, battles, wanderings, and so on.
Greek Gods:
1. Zeus was the most powerful of the gods. Should he have to bring order, he
would hurl a thunderbolt. Zeus shared his powers and ruled with other great
gods.
2. Hera was the wife of Zeus, and thus, the Queen. Hera was the goddess of
marriage, children, and the home
3. Poseidon, the lord of the sea, was the brother of Zeus
4. Hades, another brother of Zeus, was lord of the dead.
5. Ares, Zeus' son, was the god of war. He tall and handsome but cruel and
vain. Ares could not bear to suffer pain.
6. Hephaestus, god of fire, often made metal tools and weapons to aid the gods
and some fortunate mortals.
7. Hermes was Zeus' son and the messenger of the gods. Hermes was noted
for his pranks as well as for his speed.
8. Apollo was Zeus' son and god of the sun, light and music.
9. Artemis was goddess of the hunt
10. Dionysus was the god of wine.
11. Athena, for whom Athens was named, was the goddess of wisdom.
12. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty
13. Eros was the god of love. He had a bow and arrow to shoot people and make
them fall in love.
14. Dionysus was the god of life, hospitality, and wild things
15. Pan was half man, half goat, and the god of all nature. He was also the
protector of shepherds and their flocks
16. Hercules was another of Zeus' sons. He was half man, half god, and very
strong.
17. Centaur was half man, half horse, and tried to steal Hercules' wife.
18. Pegasus was a winged horse
19. Cerberus was the three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the
underworld.
20. The Muses were daughters of Zeus. They made such beautiful music with
their singing that it brought joy to everyone who heard them.
The gods and goddesses with bold Greek names were the most important
gods. They were known as the 'Twelve Olympians'.
The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses who watched over
them and controlled the world. The gods had many human characteristics-
they were sometimes angry, or sad, or happy. But they were also immortal
and all powerful and had to be honored and respected. The most important
gods were the 12 Olympians.
The Greeks built beautiful, elaborate temples for the gods, where sacrifices
and offerings were made. Wealthy people took animals to the temple to be
sacrificed to the gods. Poor people couldn't afford to take live animals so
they took pastry ones instead.
The Greeks also had altars in their homes. Sometimes, worshipers poured a
whole jar of wine over the altar. More often, they drank most of the wine
themselves and left only a tiny drop for the gods.
The origin of the Olympic games is based on a myth of Pelops. Pelops was a
son of Tantalus who had been favored by the gods. Tantalus invited all the
gods to dine with him. His son Pelops was his greatest treasure, so he
sacrificed him to the gods. The Olympian gods hated this act and threw
Tantalus into the underworld. The gods brought Pelops back alive, and
Poseidon gave him a team of magical horses.
The Games tested manly skills and strength and many were of military
origin. The first day of the Olympics was reserved for sacrifices to the gods.
On the second day, foot-races were held. The most respected event was the
foot-race of about 220 yards. On other days, wrestling, boxing and the
pancratium, a combination of the two, were staged. Horse racing was
restricted to the wealthy because horses were expensive to purchase. The
pentathlon tested all-around strength. The pentathlon included five events: a
200-yard (180 meters) sprint, the long jump, wrestling, javelin and discus.
The Olympics closed with a running race with contestants dressed in armor.
The games also featured music, oratory and theatrical performances.
The Olympic Games were very important to the Greeks for their goal in life
was to be the best. Competition was tough, and although many people
assume it is because the Greeks enjoyed the sport, Greek motives were not
always pure. Winners of the Olympic Games were only given an olive
wreath, but they became very popular in their own city-state. Winners were
looked upon as stars; they were invited to luxurious parties; they
could marry the girl of their dreams; and they were sometimes freed from
taxation. The winners were not only viewed as stars, but so were their cities.
If a city-state's athletes won many victories, it showed that its men were
strong in battle. Training and special diets a competitor needed took money,
and wealth was necessary in war.
The games dated from 776 BC., and reached their height in the 4th and 5th
centuries BC. In AD 393, they were ended by Christian Byzantine emperor
Theodosius I. It was not until 1896 that the modern Olympics were staged
again, and they have been repeated every four years with the exception of
1916 (World War I), 1940 and 1944 (World War II).
In the very first Olympic Games, only the foot-race was held. As time went
on, more events were added to the competition. Historians have speculated
that the games in 776 BC were not the first games held, but the first
organized games which served as a peace agreement between the city-
states of Elis and Pisa.
Unit Topic: _Greek Government Grade level: _World History_
Explain that a great civilization thrived in Greece between 800 and 323
B.C., during a time in history called the classical Greek period. The
ancient Greeks developed new ideas for government, science,
philosophy, religion, and art. The center of ancient Greek culture was
the city-state of Athens. Although wars between Athens and the city-
state Sparta would eventually weaken Greek civilization, its influence is
visible today.
Ancient Greece was divided up into many city-states. These city-states were
also referred to as a polis, which makes up the English word, politics. These
city-states made up ancient Greece from 800 BC to 300 BC each city state
was capable of ruling itself, even though some were joined in alliance or
some wishing to take over their neighbors.
The occurrence of the city-states has two main factors: geography and the
refusal of kingship. Geography played a part in the rise of the city-states
because Greece is full of different terrain, such as: mountains, valleys, and
islands. Different people found ways to populate the area that they have
lived in, as well as developed their own cults based on the twelve main
Olympian gods. The second reason, refusal of kingship, contributed to the
rise of the city states because some people who were in the aristocratic clan
relied on their own power, not someone else’s and formed their own cities.
Religious beliefs in the city-states were based around the main twelve
Olympian gods- Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Demeter, Artemis,
Apollo, Hestia, Hermes, Ares and Hephaestus. They also believed natural
causes could be explained with myths about the major and minor gods of
Olympus. Many polis's had roughly the same layout. The city-states
consisted of a central square, called the agora. Inside the agora were shops
and offices and public buildings. This was where some of the city's temples
were located. The gymnasium was a sport center as well as a cultural center.
The cultural center contained running tracks and places to bath. There was
also a stadium for those competitive athletes, particularly foot racers. The
theater was used for entertainment of others. Here in the theater there were
dramatic plays. The rest of the city contained houses and privately owned
stores.
Ancient Greece was divided up into many city-states. These city-states were
also referred to as a polis, which makes up the English word, politics. These
city-states made up ancient Greece from 800 BC to 300 BC. Each city state
was capable of ruling itself, even though some were joined in alliance or
some wishing to take over their neighbors. When you were a member of the
polis you had more than a voice in the government. You would have to carry
out military duties and obey the laws. The government in a polis has three
main features: the Assembly, this consisted all, or almost all of the citizens.
Then there was the Council, which prepared work for the Assembly, and the
chief executive officers.
Before Athens had discovered democracy, there was monarchy. The Greek
word, monarchy, means "ruled by one". Monarchy did not last long before
Athens had discovered democracy, there was monarchy. The Greek word,
monarchy, means and oligarchy took its place. Oligarchy, "ruled by few",
existed in the 600’s and 500’s BC. Soon tyranny began. Tyranny was when
one person took over and led the government in his own ways and only his.
But this did not last long, either. Then came a new way of government that
lasted through the centuries: democracy.
Democracy comes from the Greek word, demokratia, which means, "power
by the people". Democracy emerged in Athens during the 500’s and 400’s
BC. The purpose of democracy was to assure the middle class, that they had
a voice in the government. The middle class people were the backbone of
the army and the city of Athens did not want to lose their army in case of
war. Democracy also benefited the poorer of Athens by giving them
representation, because they made up the navy oarsmen, and Athens could
not afford to lose them in case of an attack.
The citizen’s assembly contained 30,000 to 40,000 male citizens (the women
had no rights). They met around forty times a year. In their meetings, they
would debate on important issues and vote. They also changed the law, once
in a while, to fit their needs. The 500 people in the Council prepared the
Assembly's schedule. Democracy is used in many countries and many people
benefit from it as they did in ancient Greece.
2. Describe the form and function of the Parthenon and its major parts.
Describe the location of the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Explain the
significance of this location for Athenians at the time of the construction of
the temple.
What were the optical refinements used in the Parthenon? How did each
one create an illusion that enhanced the gracefulness of the structure?
• What are the crepidoma and the stylobate? (The crepidoma was the
stone base of the temple, with three levels or steps; the stylobate
was the top level that formed the floor of the temple.)
• What were they made of? (stone)
• What optical refinements were used? Why? (The three levels of the
crepidoma are slightly domed in the center because purely horizontal
lines would have appeared to dip in the middle.)
Background notes for the teacher:
The Parthenon had been kept in relatively good condition right up until the
19th century. During this time it had seen a number of changes. For nearly a
thousand years the Parthenon was still used as a temple to Athena until as
late as the 4th Century AD. By this time Athens had been turned into a
province of the Roman Empire and had lost most of its former glory.
Unfortunately sometime in the 5th Century the Parthenon was raided by a
Roman Emperor and the statue of the cult image of Athena was stolen and
taken to Constantinople where it was later destroyed during the crusades
(around 1204 AD). After the looting by the Roman Emperors the building
itself was still intact and was turned into a church in the 5th Century AD by
the Christians. The Byzantine Christians converted the Parthenon in honor of
Parthena Maria (Virgin Mary), or the Church of the Theotokos (Mother of
God), which it remained for around 250 years.
Books:
Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation. Aristotle Onassis Beyond His
Myth. Benaki Museum, 2006.
Pamphlets:
American Consulate General Office. Welcome to Thessaloniki, February,
2007.
European Commission. National Summary Sheets on Educational Systems in
Europe and Ongoing Reforms, 2006 Edition. www.eurydice.org
Magazines:
Shugart, Diane. Royal Passage, pp 70-72, “The World of Greece Odyssey”
Magazine. May/June 2008. www.odyssey.gr
www.archaeolink.com
www.coreknowledge.org
www.library.thinkquest.org
www.school.discoveryeducation.com