Homework Help: Social Studies: World History: Greeks

Around 3,500 years ago is when the people called the ancient Greeks lived. Don't be fooled by their name, Greeks did not only live in Greece, many of them roamed the islands in places that we have now named Bulgaria and Turkey. Rocky islands in the Aegean Sea also belonged to the Greek people.

By 500BC the Greek empire stretched from the west; France and the east; Turkey. The Greek way of life was always kindled with them no matter where they went; it always had a special place in their hearts, as they were very proud people.

The Greek Empire was good and strong and consisted of good laws and strong armies. Beautiful temples and theatres were some of the things among their many indescribable building structures. The Greeks were exceptional thinkers, artists and of course athletes, the home of the Olympic games.

Over many years the land of the Greeks grew and grew. The reason for this is that Greece itself is very small and not big enough for the size of a highly significant empire. The Greeks just wouldn't have it know would they, having their homeland this tiny piddly little island. Also their agriculture wouldn't have been able to develop as their original homeland was too rocky and definitely not intended for farming. 750BC, very little room left for excess cities and towns, their empire was growing but had nowhere to go. Also due to the lack of farming, and agriculture food was running short. Due to this famine many people fled their homeland in search of new places, but they took their Greek traditions with them, so as it was Greece grew.

Greece started to become one big, happy country, and stretched for miles and miles.

Age has changed Greece, as many years ago Greece was not merely a single island like it is today. Many states made up the land of the Greeks, which were divided by high mountains, deep valleys or the sea. These states would not have been much bigger than cities, each independent with their own army and laws, this often-caused fights between them. Athens was the biggest city-state in all of ancient Greece.

Individual states contained a city and the countryside, which surrounded it, they were often close to the sea, and some even had a harbour.

In Southern there was a state called Sparta, two noble families, who were advised by a council full of wise old men, ruled this particular state.

Practically all-rich Greek households had slaves. The slaves including things like building, farming, and housework and looking after the children did hard work.

At every one of the council ceremonies there had to be at least 6 000 citizens. Raising of the hand did voting, and they all conducted this assembly on the slopes of a hill in Athens. All grown men who were not hired by the wealthy as servants were citizens. Government officials were chosen and also the citizens passed laws. They decided for and against as they saw fit to. These meetings were very casual and many citizens stood up and spoke and told their government what their fors and againsts were for the upcoming issues or what they think they should be doing. When a citizen spoke at one of these ceremonies they were not allowed to talk for an extensive amount of time. Speakers were timed with a concoction called a water clock. When the last drop of water had been emptied from the jar the speakers time was up. He then had to sit down and be quiet and let other people put forth their opinions.

In ancient Greece soldiers of Sparta where considered to be the fiercest of them all. Brave, ruthless and all round trained exceptionally well. None of these men had ordinary jobs even when they were not at war. Their whole lives were training and fighting! The warriors of Sparta were well renowned for their long flowing hair. Before each battle they would sit down and comb it. It is a theory that perhaps their long hair made them feel like lions. Spartans were very proud people as were most of the Greeks. To be a coward was the biggest disgrace known to Spartans. When cowards were punished half their hair and half their beard was shaved off.

Weaponry and armour was paid for by the soldiers, their wealthiness could be told by what armour and weapons a soldier bought. A wealthy soldier bought the most expensive and best equipment that could be found, as a poor soldier would have whatever he could spare which was often no more than an animal skin and a club. Phalanxes were the name given to the rows which Greeks soldiers fought in while in a battle. This worked by warrior's shield overlapping the next ones, working as a sort of a wall, which gave good protection for all of them. When winning a battle soldiers would often give their armour as a gift to the gods to thank them for their good fortune. As one of the principles the Greeks went by was always honour your gods and good things will come.

Pregnant women often did exercises, because it was believed that it would produce strong babies and some day they would turn into great warriors or goddesses of Greece.

A sharp spike was at the front of all Greek warships, this was called a ram and in battle could have deadly outcomes. The oarsmen rowed as fast as possible and rammed the boast hoping to put a hole in it's side, with any luck the ship would sink and the crew would drown. Each side of the prow had a great big eye painted on it. Evil spirits were supposedly frightened away by these and protected the men until they had a safe return trip. Triremes was the name given by the Greeks to the biggest warships. These enormous ships had three rows of oarsmen along each side of the vessel. 170 men is what it took to move the ship reaching amazing speeds. Flute players were on each ship with tunes that had a steady beat. The music gave the oarsmen a beat to row to. Greece is made up of various islands and sometimes even today boats are the best way to travel around. In ancient Greece they used boats not just to go from island to island but also to go around parts of the mainland. It was much quicker than struggling up a rocky mountain on the back of a weary old donkey.

Goddess of war and wisdom was Athene, and therefore her symbol was the wise old owl. Her powers were special and were believed to have protected the city of Athens. Due to this the citizens of Athens praised and worshiped her. The Parthenon was built by the people of Athens in honour of their protector Athene. Inside this great building they placed an overwhelming statue of their much-adored goddess, Athene. This statue is around ten times taller than the average person, covered with gold and ivory. This was built on the Acropolis, high up, which is a hill overlooking the city. According to legend the Greek gods lived at the top of mount Olympus, the highest mountain in all of Greece. Apparently they spent much of their time quarrelling, not exactly the way you would expect gods to act. Zeus was the most powerful he ruled all the gods. Hermes was messenger of the gods. Poseidon was god of the sea. Demeter was goddess of crops. A goddess called aphrodite-ruled love and beauty. Hera was the queen of all gods and also in charge of women and children. Hades was the evil god and most likely the most feared, as he was god of the underworld. The Greeks had many different gods and goddesses and each had powers of their own some were cruel others blind with hatred.

Dryads were nature goddesses who lived deep in the woods. Priests and priestesses were keepers of the woods and prayed to the dryads. Rustling in the trees was listened for, which they believed to be the gods replying to their prayers. Dryads were believed to wear a crown of leaves, dancing in the woods and carried an axe with them so they could protect their much beloved trees.

Many people had their own altar in their home where they could pray to the gods. Presents of food and wine were often given to the gods. At times some worshippers would pour a whole jar of wine over the altar. More often than not they drank more of the wine and gave the gods a tiny drop. Many wealthy families took their animals to the altar and sacrificed them in the name of the gods. Poor families could not afford to do this so they gave pastry ones instead as tokens of the gratitude. Each year in Athens there were over 40 religious holidays. Much of ancient Greek pottery shows illustrations of these holidays. People enjoyed the festivals because they didn't have to work and there was lots of free food and wine for everyone.

The temples were built by the Greeks as homes for their gods. As gratitude towards to gods, these temples were built as grand as possible so the gods would be pleased with their efforts. The rooms were filled with treasures and decorated with massive statues.

Greek craftsmen were extremely skilful; their pieces of work were beautiful. Stonemasons carved marble figures. Metalworkers created things like statues and vases of bronze. And potters and painters made wonderful jars and flasks. Many craftsmen became wealthy and famous which lead to them selling abroad as well as from home. Bowls, vases and cups are what Greek potters were famous for.

Couples were married when given consent by their parents, and were married to people of rather the same rank as them, preferably. Rich married the rich and poor married the poor. When a girl was married she was only around 13 or 14 years old and was married to a man in about his thirties. After the wedding the brides chariot was broken as a sign that she could never go back home. On the day of the big occasion torches were lit and the couple were taken in a chariot to the husbands house and their was dancing and laughter.

Some young girl from well off families were taught to read from home, but none went to school. The ladies spun all the materials and their mother taught all girls. A few women did learn to read and write as there is a famous female poet Sappho who lived about 2500 years ago.

An ancient Greek story tells the fable of a girl who claimed to be able to spin cloth better than the goddess Athene does. Athene got so angry with her that she turned the girl into a spider, so all she could spin was a web.

Gymnasium is the Greek word for school. At around the age of seven boys started going to school. They were taught how to read, write, maths, how to make a speech, recite poetry and sing.

The Greek style of clothing was light and loose fitting, with no tight buttons or zips. Just long flowing robes or tunics called chitons. Chitons were just big square shaped pieces of cloth, placed over the body and held in place with pins at the shoulders also with a belt around the waist. Greek women loved to wear jewellery. The wealthier you were the more glamorous jewellery you wore. Many of the Greeks clothes were brightly coloured and decorated with embroidery.

Many of the Greeks would walk around the house without any shoes. But whilst outside they wore either cool summer sandals or warm winter boots. Some had soles made out of cork which were very comfy. The cork made them have a soft and bouncy effect. This made them perfect for Greece's rocky roads.

Greeks had a shower by sitting in a large pottery bowl, with no clothes on. Then they would get one of their servants to pour cool jars of water all over them.

People who lived in the town bought their food from an open-air market at the agora, which was in the centre of town. Plenty of the fresh fruit and vegetables that were grown around the area were available at these markets. When it came to cheese you could buy either cheese made with goats or cows milk; both were flavoured with herbs. Farmers used donkeys to cart their food to and from the market and also as a sort of stand to sell things when they got to the market. Once a year Greeks had their grape harvest, where people would get into great big wooden tubs and crush the fruit to turn it into wine. Before harvesting olives farmer's huge sheets were put along the ground and they would bash the tree, and all the ripe fruit would fall off. Much quicker than picking them off one by one. When poor people ate meat which was a very occasion, they ate everything brains and all. Greeks liked to drink a lot of wine but didn't get drunk at breakfast. If they did drink wine it was watered down. Most of the time milk was drunk for breakfast.

Boys and men were the only people allowed to become actors in ancient Greece. Masks were worn to determine their characters. The Greek theatres were enormous and housed upto 17 000 people sometimes. Also if you were at the back the masks would help for you to follow the play. The theatres were built on hillsides, in a semi circular format, as this would carry the actors' voices to every corner. Some performances lasted all day, so people bought food and drink with them. People who worked in these theatres carried around big clubs with them, in case of any crowd problems.

An instrument called the double flute was quite popular, but very difficult to play as you had blow twice as much wind through it than normal.

Tortoises were killed so their shells could be used as substitute for a harp. Musicians fixed strings to the shell and plucked them, making a tune.

The Greeks were extremely well known for their Olympics as it is one of the very few traditions that is still carried on today. Obviously people in the Olympics today don't go around naked, but the Greeks use to as they were very proud of their bodies, so a few modifications have been made over the years. The Olympic was a festivity to the Greeks in honour of their powerful king of gods zuess. These games would occur every four years and people, around 20 000 would gather to watch people compete in long jump, running, wrestling, throwing the discuss and throwing the javelin just to name a few of them. Women were barred from competing in the Olympics, but their had their own games, which only had one event, running in honour of their god Hera. Unlike today winners in the Olympics did not receive medals, but crowns made form laurel leaves, jars of olive oil or beautiful pots and vases. Winning the Olympics was considered a tremendous achievement just as it is today. When boxing the Greeks rapped strips of leather round their fists. The Greeks won a battle at marathon, which is about 42 kilometres out of Athens. Pheidippides, a Greek warrior ran all the way to Athens to tell the citizens the good news. The soldier was so exhausted by his efforts that he collapsed and died.

In ancient Greece doctors found that it was a good idea to find out as much as they could about their patients, the asked many questions to help them get to the bottom of the illness as quickly as possible. At first the Greeks thought that being ill was a punishment from the gods, but their doctors had more specific reasons. Th doctors were happy, well dressed and clean this made people trust them and be more open about their illness.

In 250BC there lived a mathematician called Archimedes. He often found out the solutions to his problems best when sitting in his bath.

One of the Greeks favourite past times was finding out new things and ideas, they would often sit under trees and talk for hours. Diogenes, a famous Greek thinker, proved to everyone that the only thing he was worried about was thinking about new ideas, he did this by living in a wooden barrel with no possessions.

Earth and space was something that Greek scientists found ver y fascinating. In 470BC a scientist called Parmenides watched an eclipse of the moon. He discovered that the earth cast a dark shadow on the moon, therefore the shadow was curved so the earth must be round.

Many artifacts survived the ear of the ancient Greeks. Among them are buildings, statues, weapons, coins, writings and jewellery. Greek pottery often tells stories of how life was.

At around 300BC the Greek Empire began to crumble. The roman in Italy were growing stronger, they took over Greece in 148BC. Greeks made a great empire and have contributed too much of what the world is today, think what the world would be like with no Cathy freeman to compete in the Olympics!

Homework Help: Social Studies: World History

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