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Ancient Greece was a small country, but its people had great ideas. From around 2000 B.C., they created a splendid civilization that reached its peak between 500-400 B.C. All citizens contributed to a society that respected people's rights, encouraged the best in human nature and lived in harmony with the natural world. Today, we still admire Greek sports, medicine, drama, politics, poetry, and art.
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity.
In ancient times, Greece was made up of many city- states. It was not united into one country as it is today. A city- state usually consisted of a town and the villages and farmland around it. Some were bigger and more powerful than others. Two of the most famous city- states were Sparta and Athens. Ancient Greece was a hot, dry, and mountainous country. The city- states tended to grow up in the valleys between the mountains. The land was not very fertile, but the ancient Greeks were able to grow much of their food until the population grew too large for the land.
The ancient Greeks were proud of their beautiful country. There were high snowy mountains, swift rushing streams, thick forests, flowery meadows, and narrow, fertile plains beside the sea. Around the coast there were thousands of rocky islands, some were small and poor, others were large and prosperous. Greek civilization began on the islands. Some of the first evidence of Greece comes from the Cyclades.
Citizens, Foreigners, Slaves
Within most city- states, there were different classes of people. Citizens were men who were born in the city- state, together with their wives, and children. Foreigners were traders, sailors, or traveling artists and scholars. Slaves belonged to their owners. Once a year, Athenian citizens voted to ban unpopular people from their city for 10 years.
They scratched the name of the person they wanted to remove on a piece of broken pottery. If 6,000
citizens voted to ban the same man, he had to leave
the city within 10 days.
Ancient Greece was divided into 300 city- states, which were cites and the land around them. Some city- states were ruled by kings, some by tyrants (men who governed by force) and some by oligarchs (small groups of rich, powerful men). Most city- states grew rich by buying and selling. The agora (market place) was the center of many cities. Goods on sale included farm produce, such as grain, wine, and olive oil, salt from the sea, pottery, woolen blankets, sheepskin cloaks, either sandals, and slaves.
Gods and goddesses
Clothes and Fashion
From their earliest days, children were expected to play their part in the family. This meant being well behaved, obedient, sharing family work ship of the gods, and show respect to their parents. From around seven years old, boys from wealthy families went to school. They learned to read, write , simple arithmetic, how to sing or play a musical instrument and how to debate and recite poetry. They also practiced Greek sports such as running, jumping, wrestling and trowing the javelin. School was not for girls. They stayed home and learned skills like , weaving,
spinning, and cookery. Wealthy women taught their daughters to read and write, keep accounts, manage household, give orders. Older women could took part in festivals.
To the Greeks, the world was full of dangers and disasters that they could not control or understand. There were also many good things, such as love, joy, music, beauty, that were wonderful but mysterious. The Greeks thought all these unknown forces as gods and goddesses who shaped human life and ruled the world. Gods and goddesses were pictured as superhuman creatures. They were strong and very beautiful. However, like humans, gods and goddesses also had weaknesses, Aphrodite was thoughtless, Hera was jealous, Apollo and his sister Artemis were cruel, and Ares was bad tempered. Poets and dramatists retold myths and legends about the gods. Some stories were explanations of natural events-thunder was the god of Zeus shaking his fist in anger. Others explored bad thoughts and feelings shared by gods and humans, such as greed and disloyalty.
Greek clothing was draped around the body. They were loose, and flowing, for comfort in the summer months. For extra warmth in winter, both men and women draped a thick wooly cloak over they're shoulders. Each piece of cloth used to make a garment was specially made. It had to be the right length and width to fit the wearer. All cloth was handwoven, usually by women in their homes. Cool, smooth linen was the favorite cloth for summer. In winter, Greeks preferred cozy wool. Very rich people
wore fin clothes imported from India. Curls were very fashionable . Women grew their hair long and tied it up with ribbons or headbands, leaving long curls trailing their shoulders. Men, expect for spartan warriors , had short curly hair.
Inside a house
However wealthy they are, the ancient Greeks built their houses with mud bricks. These bricks were made from a mixture of mud and straw, which was then shaped into bricks and left in the sun to dry. Many of the wealthier homes had a passage that led from the front door to a courtyard with a well. The courtyard was open to the sky and around it were the rooms. The biggest room was the andron. This was where the men ate and had parties. Houses had small windows from the outside. Most of the air and sunlight came from the courtyard. Next to the andron was the kitchen, with a big fire in the middle of the room for cooking. When the women were not in the kitchen , they spent they're day in another large room, where they did the spinning and weaving. The bathroom had a big basin for everyone to wash in. The bedrooms were usually upstairs
Why did the Greek civilization collapse?
This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest. Roman Greece is usually considered to be the period between Roman victory over the Corinthians at the Battle of Corinth in 146 BC and the establishment of Byzantium by Constantine as the capital of the Roman Empire in AD 330.
Bibliography
Sparta
Currency:
Before th ancient Greeks had money, they used a system called bartering. In the 700s B.C., people began to use coins as currency in addition to the barter system. The first coins were called the drachmas. Drachmas were made out of silver. Other greek coins were made out of electrum, a mix of silver and gold. Coins were foreign, or faraway, lands were used in ancient Greek trade, also. For example, the Persians used pure gold coin call a daric. Gold coins were also used in ancient Egypt. In Greece, coins were made
by hand in workshops called mints. To make coins, a piece of metal was placed on an anvil between two molds. A worker hammered the molds, which shaped the metal.
Life in the city- state was unlike the other city- states. The Spartans invaded and conquered the region of Laconia became slaves, but the Spartans were always afraid about rebel.
So the Spartans trained their children to become warriors.
Fun facts about Ancient Greece
Manufacturing Pottery
People in the ancient world made by hand everything they needed. Different parts of Greece were known for the things they manufactured. At Kerameikos, in the northwest of Athens, artisans made all sorts of ceramic goods, including roof tiles, figurines, large sculptures, architectural decorations, and pottery. Made of clay, pots were made on potters wheel turned by the potters feet. Potters dried the clay pots in kilns, or special ovens. They created the few different colors seen in Greek pottery by controlling the oxygen flow to the pot. air around the pot that was high in oxygen produced the color red.
In Washington D.C, the white house (home of the president of the U.S.A) has design features borrowed from the Greek buildings, such as porch with tall columns.
A Greek dinner party might go on for hours and hours. Guests discussed sport and politics, listened to music, played silly games and sometimes fell asleep between courses
Ancient Greek soldiers rarely rode horses-because stirrups had not been invented . Without stirrups to support him, a soldier on horseback who hurled a
spear or stabbed with a sword was likely to fall back-
wards
Book: 100 facts Ancient Greece
Pages: 6, 7,8,9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 24, 26, 27, 29, 28,30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 46
URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greece
What was ancient Greece
Book: Growing up in Ancient Greece
Pages: 4, 26
Introduction, Inside a house and Sparta
Temples and festivals
In ancient Greece and the lands where the Greeks settled, we can still see the remains of huge, beautiful temples. They were built as holy homes for gods and goddesses. Each city- state had its own guardian god and many temples housed a hug, lifelike statue of him or her. People hoped the god's spirit might visit them and live in the statue for a while. People offered prayers and gifts to their gods and goddesses. Gifts might be a few drops of wine or a value able live animal. The meat of the gift was cooked and shared among the work shippers and the bones and skin burned on the altar..