Greece BY: Mitchell, Brett, Branden, and Gavin
In this Book you will learn about Greek culture and its wonderful features. The Greek culture is a fascinating subject and will keep you wondering all the time. In these pages you will learn about Greek myths, wars, architecture, and sports.
Mythology In ancient Greece, mythology and religion were an important part of life. In this mythology, the Titans were figures, more powerful than the gods, who ruled the Earth. Gaea was the Earth Titan. Her husband, Uranus, was the Sky Titan and ruler of the Titans. Cronus was Uranus’s son. He became ruler when he overthrew his father. To make sure his children wouldn’t do the same, he swallowed them as they were born. Rhea was Cronus’s wife. She was upset that Cronus swallowed her children. When her third son, Zeus, was born, she gave Cronus a rock in blankets to swallow instead of Zeus. Zeus eventually grew up and forced his father to throw up his siblings.
http://www.pablowang.com/myth/Myths/Iliad_files/image002.gif
Zeus was the god of the sky and king of the gods. His brothers were Poseidon and Hades. Poseidon was the god of the sea. Hades was the god of wealth and the Underworld. Some myths say that the only reason Zeus is the king of the gods because he and his brothers decided to draw lots to see who would be king and Zeus won. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are sometimes referred to as the Big Three. Sometimes a god or goddess will have a child with a mortal person. This child is known as a demigod and has special powers. Hercules was a demigod.
http://www.kusadasi.tv/wp-content/uploads/Zeus-greek-mythology-god-of-the-gods.jpg
Heracles, or Hercules, killed his wife and children in a fit of madness. He was told that, if he completed twelve great tasks, he would be forgiven. Because he was a demigod, he completed the tasks with ease. The Odyssey is an epic, or long poem, written by a blind poet named Homer. It is about Odysseus, a veteran of the Trojan War. It tells about his sea journey and adventures back to his homeland.
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War
http://clengwell.wikispaces.com/file/view/persian_war.jpg/33839949/persian_war.jpg
In Greek history there have been many wars that have affected the world. One of these wars is “The First Major Persian war.” That’s what we’re going to learn about first.
During 539 B.C. Cyrus, The Great ruled Persia and most of west Asia. The Greco-Persian wars are a sequence of wars fought between the great empire of Persia and the coalition of Greek city-states. The Ionian
Revolt initiated the first Major Persian war. The war lasted for about a half a decade from 499 B.C. to 488 B.C.
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Now, the second war we are going to learn about today is The Trojan War. The Trojan War was fought in the city of Troy. Troy is a city that is now located north of western Turkey. The Trojan War was fought between the Mycenaean’s and the people of Troy. The Trojan War started because a Trojan prince named Paris, kidnapped Helen, the wife of the Mycenaean king. The king’s bother, Agamemnon, then took soldiers over to Troy to get Helen back. The war lasted for 10 years.
http:// campbell-hist.wikispaces.com/file/view/Peloponnesian _War_Pic.jpg/41333477/Peloponnesian_War_Pic.jpg
Last but not least, the final war we are going to learn about today is The Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian war reshaped the Ancient Greek world! The war was fought between Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian league led by Sparta. The economic costs of the war were felt all across Greece; poverty became widespread in the Peloponnese, while Athens found itself completely devastated, and never regained its pre-war prosperity. The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 B.C. to 404 B.C.
The Four Main Periods Of Architecture
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/art/painting/greekpainting.htm
In Greek history there were four main periods of architecture: The Geometric (1100-7000B.C), Archaic (700-500B.C), Classical (500323B.C), and the Hellenistic (323B.C-now). In the first period, The Geometric, architects used simple symmetrical designs. In the second period, The Archaic, Greeks started trading with the Egyptians. During the third period, The Classical, the Greeks tried to outdo one another
by making splendid paintings. Pottery soon came to Greek islands and the mainland in the south.
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Aegean/Ephesus/prien_milet_didim/didim.html
Next, the Erechtum, a Greek temple built on the Acropolis of Athens, a Greek town, was in The Classical period. It contained rooms to Athena, Poseidon, and Erechtus, which were gods and goddesses of Greece. The ancient Greeks also built The Temple of Apollo about
300B.C. The temples design is known as dipteral. This refers to two columns surrounding the inside. The temple was sixty-four feet high. The Ionic order was a time in Greek history with buildings made by people from the mainland. The colonizers that made these buildings soon founded great towns like Ephesis and Miletus whose civilians were called Ionians. The bases of these buildings were made of super imposed registers. As times passed though these buildings changed structure and crumbled
http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Miletus/Ionia.html
Sports Greeks enjoy sports, activities, and recreation just like everybody else. Greeks also enjoy many activities like their national sport soccer. The Greeks also like to play basketball. In Greece the tourists and locals also enjoy swimming, and diving into Greece’s blue waters. Also many Greeks enjoy fishing, boating, sailing, and waterskiing.
http://tourismhoteltrip.com/search/greek-shipwreck-beach
In Ancient times Greece was known for the Olympics in honor of Zeus. In these Olympics only men competed. To make them selves faster, they would be absolutely naked with only olive oil spread around on them. In these games they would hold the javelin throw, discus throw, a footrace, and jumping. Finally non Olympics recreational games consisted of field hockey, dice, and juggling. http://www.athenstourgreece.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/776-BC-first-Olympic-games.jpg
Over time Greece has accomplished a lot in sports even they are only a small country. For example Greece was the first country to ever receive a gold medal in the Olympics. The Greeks have also won the world cup. Next the Greeks found basketball, and went on to winning the European basketball Championship and getting second in the basketball world cup.
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We hope that you learned a lot about the Greek culture. We also hope it was an enjoyable experience and that you learned more about Greece. .