The Athenian Gazette Local News Political The first ship arrived from Persia today, and anticipation and nerves were high as the soldiers climbed out of their ships. They climbed out of the ship into the light, illuminating their skin. Each was poorly dressed and dragged their armor in thick sacks behind them, which tugged at their bodies. With a look of exhaustion across their faces, the only thing lifting their spirits and leaving their mind behind was looking up and seeing their family in front of them. No matter how sore or broken each soldier seemed, there was an undying sense of pride. The first off the ship was Adonis. A fearless warrior built like an ox and one of the strongest in his group. Each man after him was built nearly as strong, but Adonis, a spectacle to many, was godlike. On a bright sunny day like this, all the men were covered in dust and ash and something that looks to be blood, none of these could cover their beauty. One by one each soldier stepped onto their homeland, only to be tackled to the ground by their loved ones. They wept and cried out in joy and excitement. It is moments like those that make my love for this city grow beyond belief. The importance of family here is overwhelming. These warriors sent to Persia left ten years ago to battle the Persian Empire and save our home. Emotions run high and will be rising in these next few days.
Men coming home being loved like gods. These families have been waiting for ten long, strenuous years for their loved ones to return home. Children have been born and grown from their infant years, never having laid eyes on their fathers or brothers. Boys have grown to men and girls to women in the absence of their family members. With all these factors coming into play, the anticipation of waiting for your family member to come out of the lower levels of the ship, or to be told by a returning soldier that they lost their life in battle, is overwhelming. The expression of the family’s faces could break your heart. Even though these families are sad and are grieving, they are all proud of their son, father, or brother that lost their lives in the most honorable way possible. As Spartan women have said, “Come back with your shield or on it.�
Local news Athenian Pride Here in Athens, we are not so military orientated, but are respect and pride for those who die in battle is still remarkable. This day should not be sad need you, there are celebrations all throughout the city. There will be peace, dancing, and much more to celebrate our victory against the Persians. This celebration would not be happening if it weren't for the warriors who fought with all their strength, and would have had at least a much harder battle, if it wasn't for their tactical fighting formation with rows of soldiers causing hard, swift and blunt attacks. This formation is called a phalanx. The iron crafted by many of our own neighbors also assisted in our victory. Those who made the weapons for the army assisted in the glory of our superior weapons. The pride of our army is astonishing. They overcame all odds and achieved the impossible - defeating the Persian Empire. The Athenian army did this through their sense of pride and brotherhood. We are all one family and those men are a rock solid group of brothers. Together we have proven anything is possible. The Parthenon sits upon the hill as we continue our celebrations daily sacrifices are made to thank the gods and ask for continuous
These subjects will be taught using Aristotle's writings on each subject, as well as Aristotle's set subjects. Student’s will also be taught his theories and ideas. For example, his ideas on government and suspicions on the system of democracy. Students were taught by Aristotle to question democracy, just how Plato taught him to question this system of government. The idea of questioning systems and structures are good values to instill into our youth. Another of his other ideas consists of how people should live by pursuing the “golden mean.� His idea of the golden mean was for people to take a moderate path between two extremes in life. The school is a step forward for our city giving more kids opportunities than they would have never had before. The Olympics In other exciting news, the Olympics will be starting soon, so athletes are completing their training and preparing themselves for the big event. As athletes prepare, families are also getting ready for the festivals brought on by the games. These religious ceremonies are to honor Zeus. The streets will be filled with dancing and mock games. Families will be feasting and offering sacrifices. A fun fact of the Olympic Games - this will be the 372nd year the games will be held. This exciting event will take place in a short couple weeks. Wives and daughters have already begun to prepare homes and ready the food that can be kept in cool storage rooms. The markets are going to be busy, so go now and stock up on non perishable items that are going to be essential to the feasts. The mock games that will be held in the street and will consist of a foot race around the marketplace, and to mimic the chariot races there will be two per team and one will pull the other in smaller wagon on the same path as the foot race. So contestants find your teams and prepare your wagons.
good fortune. Coming back from this victory is a showing of our unity and strength. A New School A new school has opened up. It is a whole new idea, it teaches more children, even if they are a little less fortunate. The founders believe more children have a chance to change the future, and this new school year will contain the teachings from Aristotle. The curriculum is set to
Olympic foot race track
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Religion Throughout Greece there are different religious festivals. Most of the festivals honor a god or goddess. This Sunday the festival of Agrionia will be held at 10 pm in the center of Athens. We will honor the god of festivals, Dionysus, in many ways. It will be fun for the -All of gods in Mount of Olympia whole family! After women look for the god playfully, they will come to an agreement that the god has hidden himself among the Muses. After that the women will begin to feast and look for riddles. Legend says that the daughters of King Minyas, who despised Dionysian rites, began to have a feeling to eat human flesh, so he ate his children. Now one of Dionysus priests had to follow a women from the Minyan family and kill her with a sword as a form of sacrifice. So come -Statue of Poseidon What do our gods do? They influence us and control many elements of our daily lives. We build temples and have religious festivals to honor them. Our gods live at the top of Mount Olympus. Do you know our 12 main gods? Zeus the ruler of all the gods is the god of the sky. His wife Hera is the goddess of marriage, mothers, and families. Zeus has many children with Hera, but with other women too. Zeus’ brother, Poseidon, is the god of the sea. Along with Poseidon there is Demeter. Demeter is the goddess of agriculture. She's a strong goddess, considering that if she's not happy, no crops will grow. There is also Artemis, god of the moon and hunting. Athena is one of the strongest gods, being goddess of war, wisdom and useful arts. Athena helped Odysseus come
back from the Trojan War. Hestia is the god of hearth and architecture. The important thing about Hestia is that she receives the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. Hades is the god of the underworld. Hades kidnapped Demeter's daughter Persephone, and now Persephone has to go to the underworld one time a year, and that season is winter. That makes Demeter sad, so no crops grow throughout winter. Apollo god of - Jose Miguel Bello archery, music, poetry, prophecy, medicine, and the sun is really competitive. Apollo thinks he's better at everything than anyone else. Last but not least is Hermes. Hermes is the god of
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Criminal Acts Wanted Dead or Alive There are many criminals throughout Athens, but the most dangerous criminal is on the loose! Last seen in the center of Athens, Kristops Antetokounmpo has been stealing anything valuable that he sees. He is a 6 foot man with a big beard and a scar under his left eye. He's the most dangerous criminal on record. He has murdered 38 victims and stolen many valuable objects. The most valuable thing he stole was a bag of drachmas. Kristops doesn't have any family members or friends alive, so nobody can track him down. Antetokounmpo has been wanted by Athens Guards for years. One of his victims has survived his attack and lived to tell the story. Ariadne Colonomos was kidnapped by Kristops: "One day I was buying tomatoes in the market, when a man came running towards me. He grabbed me and punched me, knocking me out. I woke up 5 hours later, I couldn't feel my whole body. Kristops stabbed me 4 times in the legs, and I couldn't walk. I fell unconscious but Athenian guards showed up shortly after." Kristops will have many punishments for the rest of his life if the - Jose Miguel Bello
-Barathron, pit full of spikes. For every crime, there's a different punishment. Proteus Alanis is a criminal who was caught and is now being punished. He has killed, stolen and kidnapped people. The penalty for theft is returning the object and paying double its amount. The penalty for murder is being thrown into a barathron, which is a pit full of sharp spikes. The penalty for kidnapping is being put to death. Proteus is now on trial. Many people want to ostracize him. Ostracism is a form of democracy in which people vote to excluded someone from a society. They want to ostracize Proteus make him suffer, but others want the guards to throw him in the barathron. We interviewed Lauren who is on the Jury and asked him some questions. Miguel: “What do you think about murder, kidnapping and theft.” Lauren: “It's not okay and you have to be crazy to think it is.” Miguel: “Should Proteus be killed or suffer the consequences and be Ostracised?”
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Real Estates Sales Recently, a bunch of citizens have gathered to confront the government. They beg to get their lands back. The land they have been forced to sell to a local, wealthy family. Now they don’t have any income, but they still have debt. They will become slaves of that wealthy family later. The government and the wealthy family have not give any responses yet. The tendency will be more slaves and poor people will rise over time. Many families will become slaves and can never be citizens again. Beggars also increase as the time passes. Wealthy people stay wealthy and some became even more wealthy. If the government does not make any change, people's lives will be harder and harder. Many people became wealthy by usury now, because they always get estates from their debt, and most of time these people will get slaves. So most of people who asked them to lend money became their property. Our new leader Solon has shown his ambition recently. He wants to let people have a new life without the control of wealthy people. We have successfully invited him to do a interview with us to see what he will do.
Interview with Solon
Our new leader Solon's sculpture
Eric: Solon, you have just become the leader of Athens, what are you going to do? Solon: For sure, I want to make Athens, this great state, becomes even better. And one of the reasons why I want to be the leader of Athens, is to make this state’s peoples lives better. As we can see, now the property of Athens is mainly controlled by wealthy people and merchants. Foreigners and poor people were struggling for jobs and homes. They were sold to wealthy Next Page
They ask money for their emergencies, like illness or for some food to eat. None of people want to borrow them. So in order to keep themselves alive they have to find usury. However, they payed more than double of the money they borrowed and couldn’t pay back the debt. So include money they rent, all of their property and themselves became a part of the wealthy people’s property. Eric: I have the feeling that some part of Athens became really terrible and that the number of slaves has become more and more. How are you going to change this kind of situation? Solon: I am going to change the government to help people live better. The slave policy was evil and we should cancel that. Many wealthy people utilize this policy to make them even more rich. Poor people suffer from this policy because they definitely can’t pay their debt in the future. After this I am going to decrease taxes for a few while to let people live better. Eric: That will be great, I really hope that policy can be cancelled one day! Thoreau: Yes, I have seen this when I was young, I hope one day I could cancel it. Eric: What else are you going to do? Solon: Cancel the slave policy can’t solve problem from its base, poor people will still struggle to live because wealthy people have power to influence policy; poor people do not. They will be exploited again as time pass. So I decide to give them power on decision making in the
- Lewei - Tang
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Weather Today we will have a really hot and sunny day. The sun will burn heavily in the morning. Please be careful about the temperature and women take care of your skin by using olive oil. The temperature will not be too high. It will be perfect to harvest your crops today. Maybe tomorrow we will have heavy rain that will last for a whole day. It seems we will have nicer harvesting next year. Demeter has been good to us. The famous priestess who is also a weather predictor, said she learned from Demeter that she was satisfied with our sacrifice. We will have a nice year if we continue our sacrifices. In the winter it will be warmer than most years. The soil will be nourished more than most years. In the spring we will have more rain than usual. She said if we continue sacrifice to gods the gods will continually lead us and give us a better life.
A famous philosopher told us that as he looked at a star last night, he predicted that there will be a terrible winter and snow will fall heavily and temperatures will drop to the lowest in memory. Spring will be really dry, which will be hard for people to grow crops. We don’t know which one we should believe. Gods may be right, but the philosopher has proven that he is a good predictor of weather too. As an editor, I advise the public to be prepared for a bad year. Though we know the gods will be right, we'd better prepare for the worst situation. Eric Tang
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Obituaries Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was born in Macedonia in 365 B.C. to King Phillip II and Olympias. He became king of Macedonia when he was 20, when his father was assassinated by Pausanias, his bodyguard. Alexander started an expedition to conquer the East. He started the expeditions in 345 B.C. and conquered parts of Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Mesopotamia. He named many cities after himself, like Alexandria. He continued his conquest but did not finish it because he died. He was 33. He is survived by his three
- Lauen Baradon
Socrates Socrates was born in Athens in 469 B.C. to Sophroniscus and Phaenarete. He is considered to be the founder of Western Philosophy, and spent many of his days in the town square questioning the people that passed him about their beliefs. Because of this, the government believed that Socrates was trying to corrupt the mind of the young in Athens, and he was put on trial. In the end, he was sentenced to death and was forced to drink poison hemlock. He is survived by his wife,
wives, many children, siblings, and the people
Icarus
Diotrephes
Icarus was born on the island of Crete. He
Diotrephes was born in 478 B.C. Ever since
spent most of his life with his father, Daedalus, working on the Labyrinth for King Minos. He was then unfairly imprisoned with his father when his father helped Ariadne, Minos’ daughter, who helped Theseus get out of the Labyrinth. His father made wings for both of them and warned him not to go too close to the sun or to the water. Unfortunately Icarus did not pay attention to this and when he was flying, the sun melted the wax on his wings and he fell to his death.
he was little, he wanted to be a doctor and at the age of 21, pursued his dream and became a doctor. He saved many people and they considered him a great doctor. He met his future wife when she started working for him as a slave. Together they had two children, Baucis their first born girl and Mikon their second born son. He lived his normal life until his death in 443 B.C. when he caught a bad sickness from one of his clients. He tried to cure himself but was unable to. He is
Agapetos
Homer Homer was born to Krithiida and Meonas some time between the 12th and 8th centuries. He was one of the most famous Greek poets of his time. He is most famous for his epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey. Not much is known about Homer except that he wrote these two famous
Agapetos was born in 456 B.C. To a wealthy family in Athens. His family wanted him to be a wealthy aristocrat, but Agapetos decided to follow his dreams to be a sailor on a trireme in the Athenian navy. He fought in the Greco-Persian War and was a good sailor. Sadly, he died on his
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Classified Ads HELP WANTED
Sale at Market!
Woman who can cook food for family of 6, sew
Olives and Olive oil are 1.20 drachmas per half a
clothes for children and occasional repairs for
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adults. Is also willing to help around the house.
Athena in the city-state of Athens. Olives would be
Payment will be a decent sized room in the house,
good to snack on during the festival and a good
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animals. Please contact the family’s bard, Menos, SLAVE FOR SALE Olympic Training Coach As you all know the Olympics are coming up within the next few weeks. This means that our athletes need to be training hard. I for one, am a great javelin coach and have gone to the Olympics myself, and won many wreaths. If you are
Tall, young man who can carry over 90 pounds. Slave is very healthy and is almost never sick. Follows direction and doesn’t complain when faced with a lot of chores and tasks to do. He is also very friendly to his owners. For sale for 450 drachmas. Come to the blue house closest to the ocean. if
interested in winning big time and need a javelin HELP WANTED Yard Sale Come to my villa to get some pretty valuable stuff! I have three bird shaped vases, a few oil lamps, books by Aristotle, The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer, and so much more! Sale ends in a week so hurry to get the good stuff while you can!
Laborers needed for building a new temple. The temple will be dedicated to Zeus and the gods will be very pleased. It should take roughly three years to complete this and there is a risk of death. However, by picking this job you would get a lot of money at the end of the three years.
Sports and Recreation Greek Sporting Events and Olympic Overview By: Joe Godomsky and defined skill as a very young athlete is unlike any other and he should definitely be feared. Agathon's most recent victory was in the stadium of Olympia. He was off to a great start by winning in wrestling. He then proceeded to come in second in the discus, which made him very mad. He proceeded to win the javelin by 8 forearms. Finally the event we have all been waiting for, the Long Jump. Agathon excels in this event winning every time he competes. He even beat the world renown Tartarus who won the world championship 8 times before. Agathon was off to a good start. He had a 20 forearm jump the biggest in the group. He then proceeded to jump 22 forearms even higher than the last. He was down the final stretch with his last jump when he ran as fast as he could, faster than anyone has ever seen, and with a huge jump he flew over the 24 forearm mark to win the Olympic pentathlon and set a new world record. It was a truly incredible day for all athletes. The most important event in the Olympics is the Pankration. This event has historically been the most violent and eventful. A star athlete competing in this event is Aristeus. He is said to be the Aristeus the ginormous and bulky most vicious and physically gifted competitior. See page 2 for the schedule man in the world. His body physique is defined by his huge chest, his broad shoulders, his ginormous thighs, bold calves, and a thick neck. It is said when you approach These Olympics are projected to be one of the the 7 foot beast that he appears 6 times the size of you. best and most eventful yet, due to the amount of He is feared by his coaches, his friends, colleagues, and talent that is competing. One of the star players, his family members due to his massive size and body Arrachion, is said to be vicious and he is going to physique. Aristeus did not compete in the Olympics come out with a bang, so all competitors should be last year because he was too dangerous for the field. I scared. Another competitor that is going to come would invite you to all come and support this massive out strong is Agathon. He is said to be one of the beast fight against the average Aresthese in his quest fastest and most athletic competitors ever, as his for the Olympic gold medal. rare and unique skill has led him to many Pentathlon victories. His rare As of recently there has been a very important event starting: The Olympics! This event will be held in the large city of Olympia and in the stadium of Olympia. We would love to invite anyone and everyone, besides women, to come and support our fellow athletes and competitors. The Olympics are a time for everyone to come together and support athletes through sporting events. The more men that come to watch, the more the athletes are supported. There are many events that are held in these Olympics: running, boxing, wrestling, javelin, discus and many others. One specific event in these Olympics is the Pankration. This is an all strength event, more violent and more dangerous than wrestling and boxing. This event allows you to have no restrictions and no rules, therefore it is a very entertaining event. We would love for you to come support world fighting champion Arrachion in his conquest for a world title. It will most certainly be an entertaining fight. There will be a schedule coming out in another article that will show all the times and places of each event. Each and every event is required once you pay for your ticket, there are no refunds!
Sports and Recreation Greek Sporting Events and Olympic Overview By: Joe Godomsky This is the schedule for the 207th Olympiad
8:00 - The Stade 9:00 - Horse Racing 10:00 - Boxing 11:00 - Wrestling 12:00 - Lunch/ Break 1:00 - Chariot Racing 2:00 - Pankration 4:00 - Pentathlon 6:00 - Awards 8:00 - Celebration Ceremony
Emma Folkstead in the preview for the Herrera Games
Now reporting live from the Herrera Games is Tom. He will speak to us about the significance of the Herrera games, the athletes, and the results. These games were very important because it allowed women to have an Olympics of their own. Tom: I am down here on the field with Julia, one of the athletes. Julia: Thank you Tom I am glad to be here. Tom: So Julia, how do you feel about the Herrera games being dedicated to women? Julia: Tom, it is truly amazing, I can’t believe after all these years women finally have an Olympics of their own. Tom: It is isn’t it. Julia: I was getting tired of watching men win all of these Olympic medals and finally we have an opportunity to display our athletic skills. Tom: Oh look its Emma Folkestad the world renowned pentathlon athlete. Emma: Hello Tom, I am privileged to speak to you. Tom: Well so are we. Emma: The Herrera’s are great aren't they. Tom: Yes they are Emma. How do you think you will perform today? Emma: I think that I will need to work very hard because there are many talented athletes here today. Tom: The stakes are high. Do you think you will crack under the pressure or conquer the field? Emma: If I perform well, I believe I could conquer the field. I have trained very hard for this day and I can’t have regrets. Tom: Sounds great and I wish you luck. Emma: Thank you Tom! Tom: Well you heard it folks, the Herrera games are truly a unique experience and most women have much joy for it. Tom: Back to you.
Sports and Recreation Melankomas The Great By Ethan Ganley-Green Melankomas is a Greek boxer from Ceria. He is 30 years old, and having his best boxing season of his life. He is unique in the way that he has a different fighting style from every other boxer. His fighting style is based on the mentality to let his opponents throw all of the punches, dodge them until they are weak, and then attack them. This season he has yet to lose with an outstanding record of 24-0. Today, I have gotten the chance to meet up with the one and only Melankomas to ask him a few questions. Billy: Hello, I would like to say thank you for giving me a chance to interview you. Melankomas: No problem, anytime. Billy: First question, how many hours a day do you train? Melankomas: I'd say on average, about 10 hours each day. I have a great trainer that pushes me to my full potential.
Billy: How old were you when you first started boxing? Melankomas: Well, I first started fighting when I was 10, and I have loved it ever sense. Billy: Do you have any brothers or sisters? Melankomas: No I am an only child, but I do wish I had a brother to train with. Billy: If you could train or play any sport in the olympics, besides boxing, what would it be? Melankomas: Well, that's a hard one, I think if I had to pick it would probably be running. Running is a big part of my training. It keeps your body in great condition and it clears your mind. Billy: Last, but very not least, what would you tell all of the young kids that look up to you for advice? Melankomas: If I could tell them Melankomas vs opponent one thing I would tell them greatness doesn't come easy, if you feel like you want to give up, keep pushing through the pain, it will make you better. Billy: Thank you, that's everything. Melankomas:No problem, have a great day.
Sports and Recreation The Best Sporting Event By Ethan Ganley-Green
I've always wondered what the most popular sporting event in the olympics was, so today I will be walking the streets of Greece asking people what their favorite event is. Before I start walking around, I think the most popular sporting event will be chariot racing. When the crowds see the men on chariots getting pulled by horses in the hippodrome, it just electrifies the crowd. I went into town, and everyone was happy because the 207th Olympic Games have finally arrived. Fifty thousand people have arrived from all over the Greek world. Here are some key quotes I got from today walking the streets in Greece. Agot: My favorite sport is boxing because you get to watch people put their heart and soul into their fighting. This is a graph depicting the most popular olympic Alejandra: sports. Chariot racing is my favorite event because the horses are moving so fast, it is hard to keep up with them. Frank from Sparta: The best sporting event in the Olympics is the Pankration because there is a lot of violence and the men have to try their hardest. If they don't, they will be very badly hurt or could even die. Jeromy: The stade is the best sporting event because the men are going so fast, they look like lightning.
Sports and Recreation Sideline Watching By Ethan Ganley-Ganley The Olympics are the best sporting event that has ever happened. Yesterday I was on the sideline of the Pentathlon with my good friend Billy. We got to see five amazing sports ranging from javelin, to discus, to long jump, to running, and wrestling. We will be showing you my live announcing and thrilling adventure inside the Olympics. Chris: Hello Billy, what a beautiful day for some sports! Billy: Yes, today is a beautiful day. When you're standing or sitting in the stands, you don't realize how big these guys really are and how much work they put in to become the greatest. Chris: Yes exactly, you don't realize how great these A crowd watching athletes really are. the chariot race. They are all grateful for getting a chance to participate in these sports. Billy: Here is the first event, wrestling, these guys are in great shape. Chris: One of the best wrestling match ups of the day is Jimmy vs. Frank. The match has now started. BIlly: Jimmy gets Frank in an early headlock but Frank breaks out and gets Jimmy in a headlock. Frank taps out and just like that it's all over. Chris: Our next event is discus. BIlly: Personally, this is my least favorite sport. The men are just spinning around throwing a disc across a field. Chris: The winner is Ali from Sparta. Billy: This next event is a thriller: javelin throwing. Chris: Men throwing spears as far as they can. You must be very strong to be able to participate in this event. Billy: The most well known household name is Gibby the Great. He is the best javelin thrower in the world
Chris: Well, you're right. If he doesn't win, I will be shocked. I have never in my lifetime seen someone throw a javelin that far. Billy: Just like that, he throws it farther than I have ever seen a javelin thrown. Chris: No one has ever been able to throw it that far. None of the other contestants threw even close to the distance of Gibby’s javelin. Billy: Now on to the long jump. To be able to do this you must be able to run fast and have great legs. Chris: This should be a fun event, unlike javelin there is not one person that is better than everyone. Everyone is pretty much even with each other. Billy: A man that goes by the name of Norris is up, and he looks like he is built differently than others. He is like a giant. Chris:He gets his running start and just like that he jumps farther than we have seen all day and he is going to win this. Billy:What a crazy outcome an unknown name has just won. Chris:On to the final event, running. Billy:This is one of my favorites, these guys are so fast it's like lighting. Chris:I have my eye on Steven from Sparta, he is the fastest guy in the world. Billy: The 200 yard foot race has now begun. Stevan takes the early lead, just like I had predicted, and does not let up, and wins it all. Chris: Today's events are all over. Come back tomorrow for more coverage on more events.
Sports and Recreation Discover the Secrets of Winning By Dexuan Tang “After the athletes finish their weight lifting, they practice their fighting Games. Now I’m on the way to the gymnasium that skills with each other,” Coach says. “We hold 10 holds individual training of these athletes. The competitions each day, and we found that is a very gymnasium is called a xystos. Today we are going to good way to increase their fighting skills. Later they discover the secrets of training. are going to take their non-specific training, which is The xystos is a professional gymnasium. It is running around the xytos. They are going to do 5 laps, located in Athens, close to the stadium that holds then they will do some push-ups. They are getting the Olympic Games. It has a one-diaulos of dust stronger and stronger, and their skills are excellent, so track for jogging, walking, and running. Inside of I think we are going to win.” the building, there are fighting stages for peer “The games will begin 2 months later. We have to training and an area for weight lifting and pushcharge our athletes to their full power in the game, so ups. Besides the fighting stages, there is a big dining we have a well planned schedule,” the manager of the hall. The building is built of stone and marble, and xytos says, “The athletes get up at 6 every day, then it has columns around the building. At the back of they are going to do their 2 laps of jogging as part of the xytos, there is a their non-specific dorm for all athletes. training, then they will They live here before have their breakfast at every Olympic Games. 7. At 8, they will have a Everyone who works one hour class of the here are qualified, and rules and competition they came here skills. After that, they because they like will have their specific athletics and the training of their own Olympics. events. Professional The training here is coaches will coach separated into specific them. At 12, they will training and nonbegin their lunch for 1 specific training. Now Peer Training hour. At 1 pm, they will these athletes are doing specific training for have a non-specific training, which is 5 laps boxing and wrestling. They lift weight to running, push-ups, and muscle training. At 3, train their muscles. They have professional meals to they will have a specific training again, but they are make them stronger, and they eat a lot because the going to train with their peers. At 5 pm, they will have competition isn’t broken into weight classes. their dinner, and at 6 they will have a two hour relaxed “In pankration, we have to know the rule,” One training, which includes jogging, walking, and athlete says. “So we have classes that coaches can showering. Then they will have a class for one hour teach us how to fight effectively but not break the and have a light meal of vegetables again. Lastly, they rules. They taught us that in the competition, we will go to bed. This is a very effective schedule.” can use any kind of fighting skills other than biting Continue to the next page and attacking rivals. Of course we won’t do it; only barbarians fight like that.
There are only 2 months before the Olympic
Then I go to the dining hall, which is a room in the xytos. In this room, nutritionist makes healthy supplies for the athletes. On the other side, athletes eat their meal in here. “As a nutritionist, my job is to make sure our athletes get stronger and eat safely. Therefore, we did many experiments about what food can provide the most energy for our athletes.” The nutritionist says, “We found that if the meal contains egg, milk and meat, the meal can give the athletes the most nutrition. Also, vegetables are very important. We discovered that breakfast is very important. A good breakfast can make an athlete win easily over an athlete that doesn’t have breakfast.” I asked them about what they will do if someone is sick. The doctor at the xytos answers me, “If someone is sick, what we will do depends on the condition of that athlete. If he isn’t very sick, we will stop his training for a few days, but his class will not be stopped. If he is very sick, we have to stop the training until he recovers, and he will not be able to engage in the game. He will be a backup for other athletes, so it’s quite unfortunate to have a very bad sickness here.” At last, I ask the athletes about how they feel about the training, they say the training is good, and it can really help them be stronger. They are confident they are going to win. The crew here say that they will provide the best training and life for the athletes.
Statue in the xytos
Sports and Recreation Recreational Games Ainsley King Join in the Fun!
Starting next week there will be organized games for boys of all ages in the fields. We invite everyone to come; parents, grandparents, etc‌ We will have games such as ourania, episkyros, and ephedrismos. These games will be a great way for your children to make new friends and find special athletic abilities they never knew they had. For those that Two Greek athletes fighting in the Olympic Games. do not know, here are the rules: Ourania: one player bends over and throws a ball into the sky over their head. Other players will then try to grab the ball and dribble a different ball against the wall while counting the number of bounces they get. The loser is called the donkey and the winner is called the king. The king gets to give the donkey orders. Episkyros: This game involves two opposing teams of equal men. The ball is set in middle and thrown over the other team. This continues until the starting team finally gets the ball over the opposing team's backline. Ephedrismos: Place a setting stones at a distance then take turns trying to hit it with balls or stones. Whichever team doesn’t knock over the setting stones has to carry the team that did, with their eyes held shut until they find the stones. This event is a great way to showcase your son’s athletic abilities to the greater community. There will be plenty of athletic skill involved to win these games. The overall winners will be crowned with sacred olive branches! Best of luck to all possible contenders!
Player Profiles The olympics is a great event for fathers and sons to come and spend some quality time together. There are many special athletes performing this year such as Athenodorus of Aegium, Lysis of Lemnos, Melankomas of Caria, Nymphicus of Calymna, Hippokratides of Corinth, Arrachion, and Gelo of Lindos. STADE Athenodorus of Aegium was born in Aegium. He started running at the age of five and became interested in the olympics at the age of 10. Read more about him below. HORSE RACING Lysis of Lemnos was born in Corinth and moved with his family to Lemnos at the age of eight. He started horse racing when he was just three and began competing competitively when he was five. He has won many local competitions and has been trading for the Olympic Games for three years. BOXING Melankomas of Caria was born in Caria. He started boxing when he was ten years old and also started competing competitively at the same time. He has gone on to be the best boxer of all Greek history. Read more in his interview. WRESTLING Nymphicus of Calymna was born in Athens and moved to Calymna was he was fourteen. He started wrestling with his two brothers at the age of six and fell in love with the sport at the age of eight. He has been wrestling competitively ever since and is determined to be the best. Continued on next page.
Sports and Recreation Recreational Games Ainsley King
CHARIOT RACING Hippokratides of Corinth was born in Corinth and started chariot racing when he was seventeen. He has only been chariot racing for six years. Ever since, he has won every race he has ever been in. He has told us that he is very confident about the games and is Olympic events counting on victory. PANKRATION Arrachion will be competing very closely this year for the title of victor and has said that he is ready for everything coming his way. Let's see if he can hold his own and pull through for us or if he will give in to his opponents. PENTATHLON Gelo of Lindos was born in Lindos. He became interested in the pentathlon when he was nine. He would watch his older brothers pretend to do the pentathlon and one day he decided to try it, and fell in love with the sport. Can Gelo pull out the victory? Come watch and find out. What are the Olympic events anyway? The stade is a 200-yard foot race. This was the first Olympic event up until 724 BC. This event is part of the five major pentathlon events and is performed nude. This event will take place in the stadium at 8:00am. Horse racing is the most prestigious competition in the Olympic Games. This event will take place in the hippodrome. The hippodrome is the length of four stadia or 780 meters, the largest stadia. The hippodrome is located in the area between the stadion and the valley of the Alpheios river. This event takes place at 9:00am. In Boxing, boys and men fight with no rules. The matches will be chosen randomly, so make sure you arrive early to find out your placement. The competition is going to be very hard this year. Competitors are stronger than ever this year, come down to the spectator section early to be sure to get a
good spot. The sport of wrestling is where an athlete needs to throw his opponent on the ground. A legal fall is when your opponent lands on their hip, shoulder, or back. Three throws are necessary to win a match. Biting and genital holds are illegal. Although attacks such as breaking your opponent's fingers are permitted. Chariot racing had 2-horse and 4-horse chariot races, with separate races for each pulled by horses. Another race is between carts pulled by 2 mules. The race is 9 miles long. Chariot racers are very strong and have a special connection between the animals and the chariot. The pankration is an event that men and boys fight until someone has been knocked out or in some cases killed. The only rules are that you can’t bite or gouge your opponent's eyes, nose, or mouth with your fingernails. You are, however, allowed to attack your opponent by kicking them in the stomach and it is perfectly legal. The pentathlon is an event made up of five different events, the discus, javelin, long jump, running, and wrestling. The discus is made of stone and is shaped like a flying saucer. The object is to throw it as far as possible. The javelin is a sport where the athletes have to throw the spear as far as they can. In the long jump, athletes have to jump as far as they can and whoever jumps the farthest wins. For running and wrestling information, see previous articles.
Arts & Architecture Antigone Samantha Gumprecht A brand new playwright is coming to the stage soon. Antigone by playwright Sophocles, is a edge of your seat kind of story. The story unfolds with a young woman, how unusual, who returns home to help with the burial of her brothers, but is not allowed to bury one of them. She is banned from burying her brother because he is thought to be a traitor. So she has to decide whether to break the law and bury her dead brother or stick with her morality. In this tear jerking play, you are going to be experiencing a unique story of a woman with conflicting duties. Should she follow her heart or mind? It's a shame that a real woman could not play the part of Antigone herself, instead a man of humor with be on stage. The author hopes that the audience could relate to this story, especially families of soldiers lost in the battle of Troy. Sophocles has cast a number of famous actors to play the main parts in his play. Sophocles has been studying the respectable duties of a person, that go against the laws of government. These studies of his were then put into his play, it focuses on the moral duties to god's versus the laws of the democracy. This play was written over the course of three years and a lot of blood sweat and tears went into the playwright. Come to the opening for a great night full of emotions and wonderful actors. The first performance of Antigone will be next Monday in the Athena Theater, in Athens.
You can reserve your seats in advance and admission runs at a price of 1296.86 drachmas per person. But your children are free, so come enjoys the brand new play!!
Above: This is an image of the new play Antigone by Sophocles
The Iliad and the Odyssey Samantha Gumprecht The original book of the Iliad and the Odyssey was in a very early form of Greek we have not used in many years. So now the renowned author and poet, Homer, is making a new translation. In an interview, we discovered that he is the one who looks at foreign literature and translates it himself. Everyday at six o'clock in the morning, he sits down at his wooden desk and translates a chunk of the story to more modern Greek. As the days go by, the story builds up and right about now he has the Iliad done and four books of the Odyssey done. He says it
Arts & Architecture The Iliad and the Odyssey Continued should be out by the coming autumn, when Demeter begins the new harvest. The book is planned to be written in calligraphy and bound in leather. The tale of the Iliad and the Odyssey includes war, gods, goddesses, and emotions on high. As the story goes, the Iliad is about the Trojan War, a main event in our history, that shaped our society. The pairing book, the Odyssey, is about a scorned warrior coming home from the Trojan War and is relentlessly pestered by the god Poseidon. These are two great stories and Homer is doing a great job to translate the writing for his audience’s enjoyment. Look forward to the books coming out and maybe put in an order for your own copy soon, it is bound to be a very popular book!
Above: The image is of the new Odyssey translation.
New Rising Poet Samantha Gumprecht Agapios, a brand new, young poet, in Greece, in the midst of writing a new anthology of poems. He currently lives on the coast of Sparta in a small hut, which he says is all he needs to write his special poems. Agapios’ writing style is unique and modern; it is very different from any other poets styles. It has a rhythm that sounds like music but is read as literature. The poems are based on society’s injustice for the lower class, the gods and their feuds with mortals and the luxurious life of a man with the world's riches. In his poems he clearly shows his opinions and emotions about today’s society and an unjust lack of opportunities. Agapios is also a philosopher, which explains some of his unique ideology that is provided in his new poems. Some people have begun to question if he is doing this for creative purposes or if it is some way for him to spread his radical ideas. Though anyone can write about what they want, if this turns into some political idea, the anthology will be discontinued. So far the anthology is approved of and will be put around for audiences alike. We do not recommend the poems to children or young adults there are radical ideas and gory scenes not meant for younger crowds. But adults, it will challenge your ways of thinking and possibly give you a new outlook on life. Enjoy! Left: An image of the new anthology of poems written by Agapios Below: A poets' quill, used for writing poetry
Arts & Architecture Women as Writers? Samantha Gumprecht In the literary world of Greece, there are many authors. But most of them are men, though recently women have been joining in the fun. Some women have began writing stories, others poetry or even journalism. As opportunities for women to voice their opinions come up, they are taking them. One of our most popular rising female poets is, Sappho. She currently lives in Lesbos, and is writing poetry about love in a lyric form. Her poems are recited to music which is unique to the common styles of poetry in our day to day arts. Sappho has began to cover topics that are different from the common material of poetry, written by other contemporary authors. These poems have become more popular just because of the style and content. Along with writing her poetry, she is currently running her own academy for young unmarried women. This is where she teaches poetry, basic academics, and good relationships. So far Sapphos is a very successful woman. Let's see where she goes from here!
Top three images: These are all depictions of Sappho, a new poet.
Arts & Architecture
Architecture Review: Parthenon Oliver Jacques Tonight was the big night. It was the grand unveiling of the temple dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. This temple is called the Parthenon. The day had finally come for the great architects Iktinos, and Callicrates to show the city-state of Athens their amazing artwork. After fifteen years, this glorious temple, that is a representation of Athena’s victory over the god Poseidon, was completed. Athenians had gathered at the top of the acropolis, where the Parthenon is located, to see Phidias’ amazing feat of architecture. As I walked up to the front, the candle light lit up the front entrance of the temple. It towered over everyone at about thirteen meters high. The front face is made up of eight doric columns, a frieze, metopes, triglyphs, and many more key architectural features that are found all over Greece. The most eye-catching pieces are the many sculptures that are inside the pediment. The pediment includes sculptures that depict scenes of war. There are soldiers clashing on horseback, and warriors in hand to hand combat. There are also people in scenes of daily life, as well as what appear to be people
dying. A special part of these Below: The Parthenon sculpture is that they have a life-like qualities. This is a very special kind of sculpting that allows people to imagine as if the figures are moving, and that these scenes are happening at that moment. I joined the rest of crowd as we all filed in through the columns in the front. This brought us into the colonnade between the front doric columns that have a very simplistic, but classical look, and the entrance way into the temple. I had to wait in the colonnade for a little while while everyone went inside. I got a chance to take in the doorway that is painted brown with gold trim, and a very tall doorway Above: The east end of the that allows you to see inside. I was Parthenon finally allowed in the main part of the temple. It was such an amazing sight to see all of the sculptures, columns, and most of all the statue of Athena. Continued on page 5...
Above: The west pediment of the Parthenon
Art & Architecture Architecture Review: Parthenon Continued ...This statue towered over everyone, and still didn’t reach the ceiling of the Parthenon. The candle light made it shine, and I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I was lucky enough to interview the sculptor who made this sculpture. Phidias said that it stands eleven meters tall, and is made completely out of gold and ivory. In her right hand she holds the statue of victory which symbolizes her victory over Poseidon. In her left hand she holds a spear, and a shield at her side because she is the goddess of war. She wears a tunic with the head of medusa that is carved out of ivory. Lastly, at her feet next to the shield is a large serpent that is coiled. Along with the glorious statue of Athena, the whole inside of the Parthenon is extravagantly decorated for the occasion. There are banners strung across the columns, golden shields hung around the hall, many sculptures set around the inside of the parthenon, and the sculptures of angels hanging from the ceiling. This display of architecture and craftsmanship is inspiring. The attention to detail that the architects and the sculptor put into the Parthenon is amazing. This is what makes this temple so special and is a great way to worship Athena.
Architecture Review: Erechtheion Oliver Jacques Located next to the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis of Athens is the Erechtheion. This is another temple that is dedicated our Greek gods and goddesses. This particular temple is dedicated to both Athena, and Poseidon. Even though Athena won the battle against Poseidon when she presented the olive tree, a much better gift, it is still dedicated to both of them. The architect was Mnesicles, and like in the Parthenon, Phidias made the sculptures in the Erechtheion also. This temple is an iconic style of architecture that is displayed in the many columns that support the structure. It stands at a little bit over three meters high, but it varies in places due to the building being constructed on a slope. The temple is made up of many compartments, but is consists mainly of four main rooms. The great altar of Athena Polias can be accessed through the largest room that is located to the east of the temple. The trademark of the Erechtheion is the Porch of The Caryatids. This porch is made up of six caryatids, which in this case are draped female figures that are supporting columns. These were added to the temple after the budget along with the size of the temple was reduced because of the added expense of the Peloponnesian War. This design allows for a very special place to worship the gods and goddesses we cherish so much.
Above: The Statue of Athena in the Parthenon on opening night
Above: The Erehtheion
To the Right: The Porch of Caryatids
Arts and Architecture Theatre James Fu
It is hard to believe that I still have the energy to edit this newspaper after I went to the theatre yesterday. There were a bunch of people going around and watching the tragedy, but the theatre still had a very open space for me to jump around. The reason I had to do this was because the theatre is not very large and has a lot of special structures for the audience, like the auditorium, which is shaped like a semi-circle and built around the stage. No matter where you choose to sit, you are always able to see what is happening on the stage. Also there are some walkways, on which I walked around freely between the seats like a bird flying in the sky! Around the stage there is a row of reserved seats, from which you can see the actors more clearly. These seats are for the VIPs. To be a VIP, you need to pay a higher price for a ticket. When the tragic play was born from Aeschylus’ mind, it became very popular and attractive. Aeschylus, the first playwright in Greece, developed the tragic play. Theatre emphasizes the existence of gods and goddesses because the gods control our lives. Plays are mostly about the sacrifices to the gods. But starting yesterday, the style of the plays has changed! The plays now are not only about religion, but also social issues! In an interview of an audience member yesterday, Themocles, said that the play was wonderful and that it easily told people the social issues happening in Greece, such as being treated unfairly by the government, and what opposing opinions people had against the government. But I am wondering if everyone can express their own opinion freely in the play. So I was very fortunate that I interviewed one of the
directors of the stage, and he said that before performing the play, people are required to have an audition by which he will decide who is going to perform. He also mentioned that sometimes they will face someone who holds a negative opinion about society, so he thinks that it is necessary to have an audition before the play. Another important type of play is comedy, which is designed to entertain people, and show people’s daily problems and make the audience laugh. Yesterday’s comedy was so good, and I even forgot what my job was! In that play, there were dancers, singers, and people debating against each other. Most of the times there was only one star performer, and two other actors performing speaking parts. The males put the mask on, and acted as females on the stage to make people laugh. The Greek comedy mask has become the most important part of the play. After the play was over, I interviewed one of the most famous playwrights, Aristophanes, and he told me that it is very easy to beat other writers in the audition. That is because his plays are always about poking
at other famous playwrights. Aristophanes told me that it is very easy to beat other writers in the audition because his plays are always about poking fun at politicians, artists, philosophers, and even some of the audiences, and those are all what people like to see. One of his plays is called Lysistrata, in which the women used extraordinary ways, denying having sex with their husbands, to persuade them to be peaceful. In that play, women successfully ended the Peloponnesian War. After the play was performed on the stage, Greek women were strongly inspired, and started to use similar ways to force the man to negotiate peace. His play was the notable transition from the old comedy to a new comedy, and it played an important role of leading the new trend of comedy.
son of Aegeus, king of Athens. However, the great sculptor, Myron, sculpted one of these minotaurs, and gave us a chance of appreciating it. Myron is an Athenian sculptor, and he was born in Eleutherae, on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. His teacher is Ageladas, the greatest instructor who instructed three masters, Phidias, Myron, and Polykleitos. When he was still young, he began to use bronze to sculpt some imaginary things, like gods and minotaurs. Using bronze to sculpt heroes and athletes has become his expertise now. Last week, he displayed all of his sculptures including another sculpture called Diskobolos. Diskobolos was a discus thrower depicted about to release his throw, and this kind of style is the most creative sculpture we have ever seen. It is about 1.7 meters high and 1050 millimeters wide. The sculpture has very little emotion on his face, and the strain of his muscles is very apparent. Myron is still very famous now because of his two amazing sculptures, and I heard that he is still working on other new sculptures.
Greek masks
Myron's Sculpture
Myron just sculpted one of the minotaurs! The minotaur was a creature with a body of man and a head of bull, and he lived at the center of Labyrinth, which was a construction of a maze, and was designed by the architect, Daedalus, and his son Icarus, on the command of the king. Eventually, the minotaur was slaughtered by the hero Theseus,
The sculpture of minotaur
Roman copy of Diskobolus
Art & Architecture Black Figure Pottery by: Jordyn Mecervier
There's a new potter in town that has come up with a new style of pottery, it's called black figure pottery. I went and interviewed the man about the style and saw some of the works done in this new style. The process of the black figure pottery had many different steps, but he summed it all up so I could explain it to you. He worked on dry unfired clay vases. He painted with clay slurry which after it has been fired, it shows as the black color. He also used two other earth-based pigments which are used
to add the details. The two pigments come out to be red and white, and when he goes to paint women on the vases, he uses the white pigment as their skin instead of the black like he does for the men. After he paints it, he then starts a threephase firing process to get the colors to show and for everything to dry.
~four examples of his black figure pottery~
Art & Architecture Red Figure Pottery by: Jordyn Mecervier
After meeting with the last Potter, he told me about a friend of his that has also created a new style of pottery. This style was called red figure pottery. It's the reverse of the black figure technique, and it also uses the three-phase firing technique. This man said that for the outline of the figures he draws with charcoal, and then when you fire the vase, the outline completely disappears. He said he uses a blunt scraper instead on a different vase, and after he fired it, it left a slight groove in the vase. After firing, he then goes back and redraws the figures with a brush using glossy clay slip. Then at this point he applies details with red and white colors. Then the painted vase was sent through the threephase firing and the glossy clay had finally reached its black or blackish brown color, and after a few more steps the vase was
finished. The red figure pottery technique has a great advantage in sales in his small shop. The man has a small pottery shop, where you can buy some of his vases for your friends and family or yourself.
~four examples of his red figure pottery~
Art & Architecture New Art Exhibit by: Jordyn Mecervier
There is a new art exhibit, showing many new works and new styles. There is pottery, sculptures, paintings and more! There are sculptures showing off different styles throughout the ages, and I will be telling you what's in store with this art gallery. First the sculptures. The first style of sculpture I saw was Archaic sculpture: inspired by Egypt these sculptures are carved into stone. While these sculptures are less accurate looking than newer styled sculptures, they show a greater understanding of anatomy. The next sculpture style I saw was the Classical style: the classical style sculpture changed the way we sculpt. Anatomical proportions were correct and the sculptures look more realistic. The last style of sculpture I saw we call Hellenistic. These sculptures show more of
daily life among common people and animals. This sculpture shows figures that look to be in motion. The next part of the art exhibit showed panel paintings, which were done on wooden boards with paint. These paintings are mostly about religious events. Lastly there is pottery. The exhibit has both the black figure pottery and the red figure pottery. So you should go and check out the art exhibit before it's to late!
~Panel painting ~
~Hellenistic sculpture~
~ Classical style sculpture~
~Archaic sculpture ~
Lifestyles: Celebrity News BY DAZHEN CHEN
D: What did you do before you were a philosopher? S: I used to be a stonemason like my father, I really enjoyed that time. D: Why have you married Xanthippe? S: At the time, she was so beautiful and kind... D : At that time? S: Yes, now she is so aggressive. D: Why don’t you have many of your own books? S: Because I do not want to waste time on editing instead of thinking. D: Ok, I heard that you joined a battle in the Peloponnesian War. S: Yes, I would consider myself brave enough. D: Great, how did you introduce dialect to the world? What does that mean? S: Dialectical method is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject, but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments. D: Wow, sounds great. Who taught you these? S: I had 2 teachers, Prodicus the Rhetor, and the philosopher, Diotima. She is a witch and priestess. D: What did they teach you? S: Diotima taught something about love experience. And Prodicus taught me the general idea about philosophy. D: Nice. Have you learned from other philosophers? S: Yes, I learned from Parmenides and Anaxagoras. Their books are fantastic. D: Excellent. Thank you for coming. S: No problem.
I am reflecting on my dear friend Socrates with news of his passing. Socrates was punished by death, in Athens, and the public thought he was an atheist. They believed he wanted to influence others’ religious beliefs. However, Socrates’ students, Xenophon and Plato, claimed that Socrates actually had the chance to escape from death. They were already prepared to bribe the guards to help him escape, but he chose to stay. First, Socrates believed that this fight would spread a fear of death. A philosopher should not spread these bad feelings. Second, if he fled, he could not really teach others in another country, because they would not trust him anymore. What’s more, having knowingly agreed to live under the city's laws, he implicitly subjected himself to the possibility of being accused of crimes by its citizens, and judged guilty by its jury. To do otherwise would have caused him to break his "social contract" with the state, and so harm the state, an unprincipled act. Finally, he had a lot of friends in Athens, if he escaped, his friends might suffer.
The sculpture of Socrates
Lifestyles: Celebrity news BY DAZHEN CHEN
Although Socrates is dead because of drinking poison to get rid of prison, his spiritual legacies last on. It is very hard to find what he believed because most of the time he just taught his students. He has some famous arguments and paradoxes, including: no one desires evil; no one does wrong willingly or knowingly; virtue—all virtue—is knowledge; virtue is sufficient for happiness; and what I do not know I do not think I know. This is one of his self-referential paradoxes. In addition, Socrates believed that wisdom was parallel to one's ignorance. One's deeds were a result of this level of intelligence and ignorance. He constantly connected the 'love of wisdom' with 'art of love'. It is worth arguing whether he believed that humans could become wise, but he drew a clear line between wisdom and ignorance. In addition, Socrates also joined some plays as a character, but he thought it more difficult to answer the questions in the theater than answering them to his accuser. He wanted to help spread his thoughts to the world through many forms. Socrates had a really famous student called Plato who plans to help spread his ideas to world.
The sculpture of Plato
Plato was born in a rich family, and he was the student of Socrates. Plato has been feeling extremely disappointed about the government at that time. Thus, he chose to travel around the world. He went to Egypt, Sicily, and many other places. After he came back from the travel, he established his own school called “Plato Academy” in Athens. To this day, he successfully spreads Socrates opinions as well as his own theories about metaphysics, epistemology, and so on. Plato also has a famous student called Aristotle to keep spreading his and Socrates’ thoughts. Aristotle is the student of Plato. He is also a really famous philosopher in the world. Aristotle is not only a philosopher, his writing includes physics, zoology, biology, logic etc. He is also the founder of the western civilization like his teacher Plato. Aristotle’s writings are regarded as true treasures in the Greek world. He almost has the writings about every field of human knowledge. Although Socrates did not leave much to us, his students, Plato and Xenophon, truly remain the carriers of our philosophy. We can describe Socrates as a light, an inspiration, and a person of authentic intellect.
The sculpture of Aristotle
Lifestyle Style and Fashion Welcome to the column all about Greek Fashion: The fashion for men and women usually consists of them both wearing two pieces of clothing draped over themselves: The undergarment is usually a chiton or peplos, and the cloak is himation or chlamys. These are usually handmade out of various different lengths of rectangular linen or wool fabric with very little cutting or sewing. They are usually held together with clasps or pins and sometimes a belt. Pieces of the clothing are interchangeable between the men and women. There are several types of garments and some people wear tunics instead. The tunic is worn both by men and women and can change according to their job and gender. The tunic is often tied at the waist, and can possibly be pinned at the seams depending on the style of garment. There is a type of tunic worn by the women, and it is called a peplos. This is made by heavier wool material and from large rectangular pieces of fabric. It can be draped and fastened. This is worn as a fulllength garment so that a proper Greek woman could reveal nothing. In colder weather, they wear a cloak over their tunics for warmth -known as a himation. They make this with wool and is fashioned from a rectangular piece of cloth that is draped over someone. It serves as a multiple purpose, especially for the men. This comes in handy for soldiers away from home, and can also serve as a blanket on a cold winter night. There are also some more cloaks worn. For example, the epiblema is worn by women and the chlamys which is a some cloak worn by young men. They don’t really like wearing hats or shoes, except on special occasions or on matters of business. They sometimes wear leather sandals or boots with their tunics but they usually like to go barefoot. They usually like to cover their heads. Men like to wear petasos, which is a wide-brimmed hat that helps to protect them from the hot sun. Women usually like to wear hats that have high-peaked crowns. They are not very fancy but functional and long lasting.
Women and men wearing the chiton
Women wearing different types of chiton
Women & men wearing different types of clothes
Lifestyle Style and Fashion Geek Chiton
Interview with special Fashion Designer Aella Hi Aella, thank you for being here today! Hi, thank you for having me, I couldn't be happier to be talking about our fashion here in Greece! Great, let's get started! How long have you been interested in Greek fashion? I've been interested for a very long time now. I like to be a part of designing Greek fashion, and of course having the responsibility of designing what people are wearing. There is nothing better than walking down the street and seeing people wearing your designs. How do you know what to design, or what people should be wearing? It's pretty easy, but also challenging. Whatever you are designing is most likely what people are going to be wearing if it is good enough. I usually try to base it off what people are wearing and update it more. Being a fashion designer, I want it to be what people will enjoy: comfortable and stylish all the way! Have you designed anything that has become a huge success for you in Greek fashion? Yes, actually! I've designed the chiton -- a clothing article that every woman wears currently. It has become a huge success, and I'm very proud of my work. I wasn't expecting my work to become this popular, but I had courage through it all. Have you changed the design of the chiton or any clothing you have designed? I have redesigned the chiton and some of my other designs, but they weren’t as successful as some of my original designs, which is strange. I would have thought people would be more interested in a better design.
Greek Jewelry
I imagine that my designs will become more successful as the original chiton becomes older and falls out of fashion. Do you have any words for us about the design and fashion of Greeks? We have a very different style and fashion than most people in the world. What I've designed is a lot more effective and long lasting than just regular clothing that people wear in other places around the world. What have you seen for what jewelry Greek women wear? Wealthy Greek women like to wear jewelry made from metals like gold and silver. They sometimes wear rings, necklaces, and earrings. We sometimes have jewelry sewn into the fabric of our clothing. The most popular type of jewelry is a decorated pin or fastener, which we use to attach the wrap or cloak we are wearing. If you could put Greek fashion and style in one word, what would it be? Creative. Greek fashion and style is very different than other fashion and style in the world. For example the connected eyebrows or pale skin is unique, and something that other people would call “ugly.” Well, thank you Aella for coming today and talking to us about Greek fashion! Of course! Thank you very much for letting me come and talk about this since I absolutely love my job. Hope to see you another time soon.
Lifestyle
Food & Restaurant Reviews An exclusive interview with Maeja Parthenope, the most famous and renowned cuisine consultant. I stopped by Miss Parthenope’s lovely home in Thebes today, and could already smell the aroma of bread, olive oil, and spices coming from her kitchen. She and her partner, Cleionos of Thebes, graciously welcomed me into their home to talk about nothing other than food. As the conversation began, Maeja gave me lots of fantastic options for restaurants, and some pretty interesting facts about food here, too. The most highly regarded restaurants in Greece are as follows, “To Nóstimo Thési in Pylos, To Kalytero Estiatório in Athens, Poiklíes Psomioú in Olympia, and Óla Ta Lachaniká, also in Athens.” Personally, I have been to Poiklíes Psomioú in Olympia, and their assortment of bread is astounding! They have over 60 kinds. Taking word from Socrates himself, I have never touched the whole wheat bread… it is considered “pig’s food.” Maeja's favorite restaurant of these four is To Nóstimo Thési in Pylos. “A divine restaurant -- they have a wide assortment of food. Meat, vegetables, bread and olive oil, wine, etc..” I guess I don't get to Pylos enough! After this wonderful interview with the most famed cuisine consultant in Greece, I couldn't resist taking a trip to Athens. Óla Ta Lachaniká was calling to me! My meal at this delicious restaurant consisted of cooked cheese, various assortments of bread, and figs, olives, and other vegetables. I combined these delicacies to create a cheese plate. Overall, Óla Ta Lachaniká was a divine experience. I recommend it to all who are able to go. Until next time, thank you and have a great week.
Hello readers, and High-end Greek art on welcome to the next plate section of food and restaurant updates by your very own, F.O.O.D. team. We are bringing you coverage today from the polis of Rhodes. I had recently spent the day with a family who live on this beautiful island. Two nights ago, they invited me to attend their annual beach fest! Full of dancing, treats, and entertainment -- it was a very special night. I could write extensively how you Greek readers should have feasts more often, but for now, I will simply report on the food. For the first course of the feast, they provided a bounty of cheese and figs. Not that extravagant, since cheese and figs are staples of our cuisine, but this first course was truly delicious. The meal continued into the main part. The chefs brought out salads, sliced meat, and yogurt with honey. The meat was tender and fresh -- the best I have ever had! At last, we had a cake and finished the night with that. When you find yourself with any free time, take a trip to Rhodes, or have your own feast with family or friends. I promise, you won't regret it. -Rena Pangiota, proud member of the F.O.O.D. team
-Altair Demopulos, proud member of the F.O.O.D. team Greek feast
Lifestyle
A&A: Recipes and Advice Hello everybody, and let me warmly welcome you to Cooking with Aristarchus. Today, we will be making the wonderfully unique feta cheese. The ingredients you’ll need are goat’s milk, rennet, and feta cheese culture. To begin with, warm the goat’s milk until optimum temperature ensues. When it’s set, pour the culture into the milk and stir thoroughly. Allow the milk to stay undisturbed for an hour at room temperature. Once the milk is ready, dilute the rennet with water and mix the rennet/water into the milk base. Do not overmix! Let the mixture set overnight with a lid covering it. Use a knife to cut the now gelled curd into small pieces. Gently stir the curd off and on for about 20 minutes. Proceed to drain the feta curd until all the whey is gone -- take note, this may take up to five hours! When you go to brine your feta, create a salt/water brining solution, and place your curd into it. Let it brine in a cold place for 25-30 days. After this is complete, enjoy! -Aristarchus, author of The First Cookbook
The Advice Column. Greeting once again readers, here is your trusty advice column for the week. Involving style and fashion, we are approaching these colder months -- so it is time to grab some cold-oriented clothes. Readers have sent in recommendations on some choices, so here they are. Thicker and woolly robes plus boots are a highly raved about combination. The warmth that the robes provide with the comfort and protection of the boots is perfect for winter attire. For all of the students out there, make sure to organize your notes and philosophical ideas. Organization is in right now! Furthermore, there is a new olive oil product that has been developed by an olive oil connoisseur in Crete. It is made from the most rich olives, and provides a nice glow and moisture to the skin. A great piece of advice from the mastermind behind this new olive oil mix is to always wash your hands with water after application. “The oil can become too greasy and slick when large amounts are on the hands. No one likes a greasy hand to hold!”
feta cheese -- in progress
finished product of the feta cheese
-Gabe Randall, supervisor and director of the F.O.O.D. team
Crete
Lifestyle
Women’s Life Women’s lives are different from men’s. They have different rights. Women have no share in political life and some men say that they should be guided by the men. They have an important role in religion, and they participate in ceremonies and processions which are for the wellbeing of the city. When they are young, only the girls from rich families receive formal education. If they cannot afford the education, they have to stay home and start helping their mother with the household. When they have a husband, they are in charge of the household while the husband goes to work and wins some money or to the army. If they want to divorce, they have all the right to. Their slaves or children are sent to buy food and to fetch water from the river. Some women are satisfied with their role and other women think that they should be free to participate in other things. We are going to interview Agathe, a woman that will tell us about her daily life in Greece.
This image explains the motherhood in Greece. They are praying to the gods.
Hi Agathe, how are you? Hi, I am good, thank you. Tell us, how is your daily life in Greece? I am in charge of the household. I sometimes go to the political house and give my opinion so they can make political changes. My husband leaves home every day early so he can go and train to be a warrior. My two kids go to school every day and come back in the afternoon to eat. Are you satisfied with the work that you do? Yes, I am satisfied with my household life. I am very proud that I can send my children to school. I like how I can participate in political life so women’s voices are heard. Do you think that women should be able to do something else? Yes. I think that we should be able to participate in sports and also we should be able to work and win some money. Thank you for coming Agathe. Thank you, it has been a pleasure.
This image explains the female role and women’s daily life activities. One is knitting, another one is washing and the other one is showering her little kid.
Interview and text by: Iker Cue
Lifestyle
Army’s Life Warriors are born. As kids, they are educated with reading, writing, public speaking and music. After that, they are trained as warriors to prepare for war. Adults are used to going to war whenever there are battles. Nowadays, we have a battle formation called Phalanx. The warriors have to line up in rows, shoulder to shoulder. It is very useful so the warriors can surround the enemy and then kill them. Our weapons are not made of bronze anymore, now we make our own weapons made out of iron. The iron is easier to get and cheaper so we can make more weapons to kill the enemy. We won the Battle of Marathon against the Persians. One of the reasons that we won this battle is that we had a lot of alliances between the Polis and this helped us to fight the Persians with more power. Themistocles who before the war was a very important populist politician, was the leader of the army and he gave us the victory. We also won the Battle of Salamis where Themistocles became a hero. It was a naval battle and we destroyed the Persian navy. We will interview Themistocles to see what he is feeling after becoming a hero at these two battles.
Themistocles, the warrior that saved the Greeks.
Hi Themistocles, how are you? Hi, it is a pleasure being here. I am very good, thank you. How do you feel after becoming a hero at these two battles? Well. I feel very happy and I think that these are the results of very hard work and preparation for war. What did the Battle of Marathon teach you? It taught me that not all the battles are easy and if you act wisely with courage, you will achieve your goal. The Persians had a very strong army and they were hard to deal with, but now that we had developed a new battle formation, we could defeat them. And the Battle of Salamis? This was a harder battle because we had lost a lot of warriors during the other battles but we fought with everything we had. Finally we achieved our goal which was defeating the Persians again. Thank you for coming and I hope you win all the coming battles. Thank you for receiving me in your program. It has been a pleasure.
This image shows the formation of the Greeks. It is called the Phalanx. Interview and text by: Iker Cue
Lifestyle
Greek’s Arms Today, I am going to explain the warrior’s armor and the arms. The Greek army had bronze armor and arms. Then they changed the armor to iron, which is cheaper and easier to acquire. Now that they have iron armor and arms, they are ready to go to war. Both the armor and the arms consist of many things. They have the Corinthian helmet which allows the warriors to see and listen better, and they use a Chiton underneath the armor. The armor is composed of many things. The Yoke covers the shoulders. The Linothorax, made of hemp covers the thorax, and it is decorated with Pteruges which are linen stripes. They have a water bottle hanging from the Linothorax. Covering their legs, they have Greaves and they wear sandals as shoes. For arms, they have many things to defend themselves. They have a small Kopis, which is a knife with a solid bone grip. They have a bigger arm which is a Doru. The Doru is a spear which they use to stab their enemies. The point of the Doru is made of iron. The bottom part of the spear is also sharp and made of bronze, so they can stab enemies with both sides.
The primary weapon is the Xiphos. The Xiphos is a sword which is made of iron so it is very hard and resistant, and it has a wooden grip and a bronze pommel. The waist of the sword is narrow. They have an Ax with a wooden shaft and the spike is made of bronze. This spike has one advantage: it can penetrate the armor very easily so they can kill the enemy. They don’t only have to kill the enemy, they have to defend themselves. They defend themselves with the Aspis, which is a shield, and they usually have different decorations on it. As you can see, they carry a lot of things which are very heavy to battles. This is one of the reasons why they train a lot and they are considered heroes. Now that you have read this article, you know what it takes to be a warrior. The warriors now are ready to defeat the enemies and come to Greece with the victory!
This shows the typical warrior with all the equipment he needs.
This is an image of a Greek warrior at the Battle of Marathon. Text by: Iker Cue
Opinions Olympic Spectators By Ellena Frumiento I was excited to finally compete in the Olympic Games after training for ten years for this race. The only part that made me sad was that my mother would not get to see me and my brothers race. She was always encouraging us through all our training and now she can't even be their to cheer us on. She thought about sneaking in, but they will throw her off a cliff if they found out. I don't know what I would do if they did that to her. What is wrong with my mother coming to watch me compete? After all I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. When I found out her plan to sneak into the stadium my first reaction was NO!! I was afraid of them killing her. But after a long conversation about how much she loved me and wanted to watch, I agreed as long as she was careful that no one found out. After I won that beautiful olive branch crown, I looked up and saw my mother disguised as a man cheering loud and hard. But suddenly from all of her excitement her robes flew off. My heart stopped. Now everyone knew her real gender. They were going to throw her off the the cliff. When the judges saw what had happened they actually showed mercy for my mother because of my victory. Thank you to those judges. They decided she could live, but that was her last Olympic Games because now everyone has to attend naked. This isn’t fair, instead of making the rule that everyone attend naked they should have made it that everyone, including married women, could attend. Nothing bad happened when my mother attended so why can't all people attend, men or women?? What are we as a society afraid of.
Finally I got a little break from cleaning, and I can continue writing this. Nothing exciting happens around here. Each day I wait long hours for my husband to come home with his stories from town and tell me what is happening outside the walls of this house. Before he left this morning, he At the Olympic Games, as the crowd celebrates the athletes told me to make him victories! a new pair of socks, so I have to do that this afternoon. But My Life first I need to go check on the By Ellena Frumiento children's chores that they were This morning when the sun rose, suppose to do this morning. I was out of bed, preparing Finally the socks are finished, breakfast and I had already started and my husband should be home cleaning. My name is Aja. As an soon. I am standing at the window Athenian woman, this is the story waiting for him but he doesn't of my life right now. When come. I think about going out to breakfast was prepared, my find him, but a woman like me is husband got up and ate, and then not supposed to be seen in public. he left to go into the town to meet Why is that? Who makes up the up with all his friends and hear the rules of society? Men all have news from town. As always I wives that they see in private, so cleaned up and cared for the why can't we see them in public? children. Aegaeon, my son is old Two more hours pass by and the enough now to go to school, but we dinner I worked on is getting cold. have to see if we can afford to send If he walks in now and wants him. Meanwhile, I am going to dinner it will be cold, so I should go educate my two girls as much I can. and warm it up. I am not educated much myself, but Dinner is warm again and he is I think it is important that they get still not home. I look outside and I some skills. If he goes to school, he see him off in the distance finally will learn how to read, write, play coming home. If I was ever three music and also how to memorize hours late to make dinner, I would poetry. They are also teaching the be in trouble. Why does he get to by art of public speaking. I wish that I three hours late? had a chance to learn all that as a We all ate dinner, and I cleaned child, but as a women everyone up again. The children were put to knows that is impossible. I will do bed. Then I went to hear from my the best I can by teaching my girls husband about today's adventure. and we will work on perfecting our sewing and cooking skills. Now it is Continued on page 2 time for me to prepare lunch.
Opinions All he said was that he got to catch up with some of his friends, which made him late, and that he needed to go to bed. That was typical though. I am pretty used to it. I just like to hope that when he comes home, he will have something exciting to tell me. I should get to bed now too. Tomorrow is going to start early. I hope that one day I wouldn't have to look forward to my husband coming home and going to bed. Instead I can look forward to going out into town. Maybe some day. For now writing this article is a start, thank you.
Happy 7th Birthday By Ellena Frumiento Today is finally my sons 7th birthday. Finally he can go and start training for the Spartan military. My daughter and I will have to step up our work now that he is leaving. Taking care of the land is going to be a little harder. Early this morning, my son was taken off to military training and my daughter and I started earlier that usual out in the fields working on the property I had inherited from my father. My husband was off fighting. Every night we hoped to see him come home with his shield and a smile across his face from his victory. With my son and my husband gone me and my daughter
are in charge of the land and the house. I trained my daughter to be strong and skillful so that one day she can govern this land by herself. I want to wish my son good luck for his military training. I am so proud that finally he can go and develop into a strong man that will lead our society.
Spartan solider prepares for battle
The Athenian women in the town doing the behind the scenes unappreciat ed work in the house.
Opinion The Death of Socrates. By Andy March 1, 339. This is the day that the great philosopher Socrates left us. Even now I still clearly remember the scene that day. There was a jury of 500 of his fellow Athenians standing in front of him. He was accused of treason by "refusing to recognize the gods recognized by the state" and of "corrupting the youth." The trial took place in the center of Athens; I saw the jurors seated on wooden benches surrounded by thousands of men. Then, three Athenian citizens, the accusers of Socrates, were allotted three hours to present their case. Socrates also used three hours to defend himself. After the arguments about the punishment from both Socrates and his accusers, the jury was asked to vote on the guilt of Socrates. The jury decided his judgment finally by voting "guilty" or "not guilty." Finally, Socrates was found guilty by a vote of 280 to 220, and the jurors were asked to select Socrates' penalty. I heard that his accusers argued for the death penalty loudly. Someone said he deserved death as the penalty; other accusers said he might just be exiled. However, Socrates was given a chance to give advice about his punishment, which means that he could probably live by recommending exile for himself. Eventually, Socrates chose a sarcastic recommendation that he be rewarded for his actions. He suggested that he may be fined a modest sum of money. However,
The jury chose death as the punishment for Socrates, when they were faced with the two choices. At this moment, I saw his students crying loudly because of the final decision that the jury made for their teacher. There was nothing they could do but but accept the reality. I didn’t see how Socrates died. But The story of the execution of Socrates was recorded by Plato. In this story, Socrates is convicted and is forced to drink the poison hemlock. Socrates takes his death and uses it as a final lesson to teach his pupils and
contributions he made to society. He spent most of his life in the public discussing war, politics, art, friendship and ethics. His philosophy mainly talked about ethical problems. His talking was based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking. We now call it the Socratic method. I still clearly remember him several years ago. I saw him alive discussing these issues with his friends in the morning. I used to listen to what they talked about sometimes, and I was astonished by their conversation because his thoughts were not only attractive but also caused me to think very deeply about the moral standards. I was always inspired by their talking. In some ways, Socrates was also my teacher. But now I can’t see him discussing in the morning anymore.
Socrates is drinking the poison students. He faced his death calmly and do not flee. After I had read his story, I cried. His last lesson has immortal meaning to me because his death doesn’t end his contributions to the whole of society but enlightens it. Imagine when a person uses his death, the end of life, to tell his students and world how to live their lives. I think this is epic and great. In my mind Socrates is a great man. I sympathize about the end of our great philosopher, Socrates. I appreciate all of the many
The saying of Socrates
Opinion Cherish the Life We Have By Andy Last week, I watched the play, The Odyssey in the theater of Athens. The Odyssey is written by Homer, and in this book, Odysseus is the main character, and it talks about the journey of Odysseus back home to Ithaca, which lasts ten years after he already spent ten years fighting against Troy. The Odyssey talks about his ten year journey back home. He meets lots of people, who include men and women, and the gods and goddesses. Because the Odyssey was written a long time ago, I found some
Odyssey traces that display the development of society. There were lots of scenes that showed that women don’t wield the real authority in this book. After watching this play, I was deep in my thoughts about their societies and our societies in Greece today. Even though this is just play, the truth is women in the past were not respected. I think we should cherish our life now. There were two scenes that were really impressive to me, which proves my point that women don’t
Greek theater wield the real authority. First, when Penelope, the wife of Odysseus, wants to stop the singer from singing a mournful song, which makes her feel sad and miss Odysseus, her son, Telemachus, tells her coolly to go upstairs and take care of her work. Even though Penelope is the mother of Telemachus, Penelope still listens to what her son says and weeps for her husband in her room alone. In this house, Penelope as a woman doesn’t have the real authority but his son as a man does, which tells the sad story of women in the male-dominated Greek world. I feel sorrow for Penelope because I my mind a mother is a person who we should respect. Second, Odysseus's stayed with Calypso for seven years on the island of Ogygia. Calypso had seduced Odysseus all this time until one day, Hermes comes to tell her an order from Zeus that she must let Odysseus leave. The nymph Calypso obeys the order from Zeus. Even though she has fallen in love with Odysseus and wants to make him an immortal, she must give him up to obey the order. She doesn’t get him to stay but
she does protect him for seven years from troubles. Calypso is powerless to stay with Odysseus and must listen to Zeus. It is another example of the male-dominated Greek world. Penelope as the mom of Odysseus is not respected, even by her son; Calypso as the lover of Odysseus has to obey the order from the god, Zeus. I feel sad about their experiences as women. I also feel angry about that because they as the women are not treated equally by the men. We should cherish our life because we are living in a world of gender equality and social justice. Women now have the right to go to school and attend the political activities. When I see this play, I let out a sigh of emotion: “ The societies are improving, I feel it.” Because this is not only playing to me, but also a door which leads to the past world and opens our eyes and causes us think about life deeply. I hope that everyone in our society knows how wonderful the world we are living in is. So let us cherish our life and live happily.
Opinions Kill or be Killed
Kill or be Killed
Hi, my name is Haernimous and a couple of days ago we watched the men of Sparta and other city states in our beloved Greece, march to Thermopylae where they met the Persian forces hoping to destroy Greece. But recently we have discovered that the Greek forces were defeated by the Persians, and King Leonidas is dead. We only have two questions now: Can the hero Themistocles defeat the Persians at the bay of Salamis? And, If he doesn’t defeat them, how fast can we run? We are interviewing some of the people here at Athens about what they think will happen if we are defeated at Salamis. First up is Lomanis, the owner of Jakil, the most popular blacksmith shop here in Athens. Lomanis weighed in about how his workers have been pumping out swords, armor, shields, helmets, spears and all these different types of weapons for the people of Athens. He says people are scared and the only reassurance they have is the fact that they always have their sword by their side. I then asked him what it felt like when he was at the Battle of Marathon and how that might affect the bravery of the Athenians at this battle too. Lomanis replied by saying how he felt honored to be at the Battle of Marathon and fight alongside his fellow citizens. He then said that the Athenians at Salamis will feel scared at first, going against the massive Persian fleet. But soon their fear will be turned into bravery when the great strategist, Themistocles hatches his plan. I then thanked Lomanis for attending this interview and he left.
The next person we will be interviewing is Hourinou, a man that lived in Macedonia for two years after the Persians had taken it over. I asked him what it was like in Macedonia once the Persians took over. He says to me that he does not mind it actually, and came here to convince people that Greece should surrender to Persia and that they will spare us. He then says that the Persians mostly leave the Macedonians alone. Except for paying taxes, they are mostly left to their own beliefs and their culture is not forced to be altered. I then asked him what he thinks will happen to Athens if they take it over. He replies saying that they will probably defeat the forces defending it but do what they did to Macedonia and leave them alone. He then thanks me for letting him spread the word of subjugating to the Persians, and I thank him for attending and that I hope he doesn't get killed by someone who reads this paper. In conclusion, I think that we should repel the Persians and never give them the gratification of conquering Greece. For if they conquer Greece, the world is doomed to the fate of the Persians. We are the last force standing, and pray to Athena and Zeus that we have victory at Salamis Bay.
The Fat Man I woke up this morning and looked at my son, lying on the straw floor, shivering. I got up and went outside yawning. I was met outside by a fat man on a small, struggling horse. He was the tax collector. He somehow got his foot on the other side of the horse and slid off on his belly. He then walked over to me like the way penguins walk. He then stuck out his hand and said to me, “Money peasant.” I looked back to my son, still sleeping. I then looked out to my small farm, and felt my stomach grumble because I hadn't eaten any food in two days because I had to feed my child. I felt inside my pocket for any money and grabbed out a silver coin, I said to him, “This is all I got.” He then replied, “Peasant, you are supposed to give me 5 silver coins. WHERE ARE THEY!” I then said to him, “This is all I have, I am a poor man.” He looked at me with hate in his eyes and said to me, “I'll give you till tomorrow to get the money or else I will come back here and collect it from your limbs.” He said this ten days ago, and I don’t know where my son went. He went to town to buy some food and he never came back. He disappeared two days ago, and I am now missing a finger. I don’t care about what they do to me, but please, give me back my son and I will get your tax money. Some of us simply can’t afford to give five silver coins a week when we only make three. I am now asking for the 500 men in Athens to please vote to make the tax lower. I cannot do this anymore. please.
Opinions Merchants
Ordinary Father
A couple of days ago, my merchant friends and I took several boats and tried to sail from Paloukia Bay to Psyttaleia but while we were on our way to Psyttaleia a couple of my friends were intercepted by the Persians. I saw the ships burning and heard my friends and their crew screaming. Luckily I was on the only Trireme we had. I would have helped them, but we were heavily outnumbered and all I could do was row. I know that we need more ships for the war, but we really need to build more escorts for the merchant ships in Greece. With the Persians controlling the seas around Greece right now, we are losing money much faster than we are making it. As a wealthy merchant myself, I will now be building many Triremes to protect my interests.
Hello my name is Giklious and I want to share with you something very dear to me, and that I am very passionate about. Yesterday, I was asked to join the Athenian army. I know that many other Athenians would join the army in a heartbeat, but I didn’t say anything to the man. I just shook his hand and left him puzzled because everybody else says, “HELL YES!” I went home into my shack and looked around. I am a poor person and when I thought about it, I could not afford the equipment and weapons needed for the military. And if I died in battle, then my family would be in harsh times with no man to make money and a mother that isn’t allowed to work for money. Also, none of my sons could make money because they are all under the age of 5. If I leave my family for war, and never come back, then they would be
UPDATE I have built about fifty Triremes for my merchant fleet, and I am now trading again. But recently the government of Athens said they are confiscating my triremes for the war. I am extremely angry at this because I have worked so hard to get those boats so that I can get rich again! And now I have to give them up for the cause! The Greeks had better win this naval battle or else I will be helping the Persians take Greece.
homeless,and that is not the father I am. Three days ago all of the men around me left for war. I am the only farmer in my area that is not at war. I am being shamed by all of my neighbors and even by my own family. I don’t know if I can take it anymore. UPDATE Hi, my name is Jill, and I would like to write about what happened to my father and my family once he went to war. Once he went to war we had no money so we couldn’t pay the taxes. We couldn’t even feed ourselves. Today we received our fathers shield and spear. Meaning he was killed in battle. Nobody seems to know how he was killed but we do know his garrison died fighting. Thank you for reading this.
Fight Night A week ago I watched my twenty year old son walk into the Olympic stadium ready for a bloody battle. My son competes in the most gruesome sport in the Olympics, the Pankration. Many of you readers didn’t know about my son before he walked into the stadium. But now all of Greece knows him. For the readers who weren’t at the Olympics, I’m going to tell the story of what happened in that stadium last week. My son was competing against the famous Jaxua, a man feared by Xerxes himself. When my son, Klio, walked into the stadium he got massive boos. Nobody knew him, and he didn’t know anybody. He trained himself to become the fighter he is today. Klio entered the ring and then Jaxua’s appearance began. He got so many cheers that even the pillars in the stadium seemed to shake. The second the fight started Jaxua gave a right hook to Klio’s jaw, nearly breaking it and knocking him out. I slumped into my seat losing hope that my son would ever win this match. Klio was hit several more times and looked like he was beaten. Then, like a newly revived man, he came out hitting Jaxua hard. Jaxua now looked like the man that was going to be beat. Then Klio gave an uppercut to Jaxua’s chin and knocked him out cold. But on the way down Klio gave Jaxua an extremely hard kick to the head. The crowd stopped their cheering and booing and the stadium was silent. Slowly blood spilled onto the floor of the ring, it was Jaxua’s blood from a massive crack in his skull. It was later determined that Klio had killed Jaxua with that final kick. The crowds didn’t care though, they cheered, for that is what they came for, competition and that is what they got. He was then rewarded the olive branch crown. My son was once an underdog but now the most famous man in Greece!