Blast off into ancient Greece
Get your pens ready ladies and gentleman for I shall take you into a marvelous journey into the past. Our first (and only stop) is the spectacular ancient Greece. Now I don’t know about you, but mythology is one of the most fascinating subjects there is; so much to see and explore, so much to learn. Anyway let’s get to the journey. First, I will start with the basics; Greece came up with the very first democracy and is the origin place of the traditional Olympics held in Olympia 776 B.C. Moreover, the Greeks did just about everything in the name of the Gods. For example, the Olympics were a way to honor Zeus and his wife Hera; all wars between the city-states (Athens, Sparta, and Corinth) must come to an end for
In early fifth century BC Greece, the Greeks consistently suffered from the threat of being conquered by the Persian Empire. Between the years 500-479 BC, the Greeks and the Persians fought two wars. Although the Persian power vastly surpassed the Greeks, the Greeks unexpectedly triumphed. In this Goliath versus David scenario, the Greeks as the underdog, defeated the Persians due to their heroic action, divine support, and Greek unity. The threat of the Persian Empire's expansion into Greece and the imminent possibility that they would lose their freedom and become subservient to the Persians, so horrified the Greeks that they united together and risked their lives in order to preserve the one thing they all shared in common, their
The Greek Society believes in many Gods. The first one that I will talk about is Zeus. Zeus is The God of The Sky, Thunder, Lightning, and Justice. Zeus made sure that justice was always served. So he made sure that there was justice everywhere. And if someone was doing wrong he would punish them deeply.
Ancient Greece became a very influential civilization. Founded by the Minoans who first moved to the island of Crete in around 2000 B.C and lasted to about 1400 B.C. The Minoans developed an advanced civilization and expressed their culture in their constructed palaces. Great monuments were reached at Greece’s Golden Age from around 500 B.C to 300 B.C. They created long lasting contributions in subjects such as Philosophy, Military, Health, and Government.
In this paragraph will be information on Greek Gods and Goddesses. There was a governing body for the Grecians. This mythological group was very important. They were usually the reason for war and many believed that they were so superior that they would bring disease and death upon others that they dislike or the people that would try to out shine them. They were called The Olympians. There were twelve Olympians, however before I name them there actually were 13, but Hestia gave up her position for Dionysus. There was Zeus, Poseidon, Hermes, Hephatus, Hera, Demeter, Aphrodite, Athena, Artimes, Dionysus, Aries (Ares or Aris), and Apollo.” (Greek Gods and Goddesses) There was one other God that is also very important to the Olympians. His name was Hades and he was the God of the Dead. He was not considered an Olympian though because he was always to be in the Underworld. Hades had one day decided that he wanted a partner however
There was a myth that at the beginning of the existence of the city of Athens both gods offered gifts to the people of Athens, in order to sway them in deciding their patron god. Athena offered peace and prosperity while Poseidon offered naval power. The Athenians accepted Athena’s gift. Athens overall culture continued to reflect this decision, the city, in addition to being a center for architecture and mathematics, also played an important role in the progress of government, theology and philosophy. This myth could also give an explanation of why Athenian people may have felt superiority to other city states such as Sparta. The mythological significance it had was much greater than with another city-state such as Thebes, although it was related to the story of Hercules, and
The two dominating Greek city states, Sparta and Athens, have there own strengths that make them the strongest throughout Greece. Sparta is "located in the southeastern Peloponnesus, in an area known as Laconia" (Spielvogel 53). Athens is on the peninsula of Attica (Geography). Sparta is know for their immense military might (Spartan Military). Athens is known better for their "leading naval force in Greece" (Women of the Ancient World). Their government systems were very different but very effective. Each Greek state was able to conquer a lot of land using different tactics. This brings up the thought that every country or state could be effective if all the people supported the cause. Political correctness however tends to breed idiots. With this being said, unenforced laws leads people to start thinking that they can get away with whatever they want or better yet, defy the lawful order of an officer. This can than become deadly and spread, until it cripples the system and a new one takes over. What does this new system believe in? Are they idea 's that are realistic? Or are they the idea 's of tree-hugging hippies who thinks everyone is going to "play ball." Well little does the tree-hugging hippie know, is that "The Man" who was "keeping him down" actually did know what he was talking about. Maybe the thirty plus years of military experience wasn 't complete garbage. Maybe it was keeping him and his family safe from the psychopaths and terrorists that
The Olympics helped the Greeks civilization by providing entertainment to the people. it gave people jobs and opportunities to win big prizes if you win. it also brought in lots of money to greek to watch the Olympics. the Olympics also brought in more people in their land which was good for them because some of the people who come to watch the Olympics might want to stay and see some of their tourist attractions. this would help make the population of the Greek people bigger than it is. which would bring in more money to Greece and it would make Greece a more popular country.
From the struggles the people who lived in Ancient Greece had to face to the positives, geography has always had a great influence on Greece and how the people there survived. Two big positives being the climate which was perfect for growing valuable olive trees and another positive being the seas that surrounded Greece and allowed the Greeks to trade and help them in many other ways. Two big negatives being the rocky, mountainous terrain and another negative being the common volcano eruptions and earthquakes. Although Ancient Greece had its negatives so does every country and it were these pros and cons that helped the Greeks develop essential survival skills.
The expanse of time that the term “Ancient Greece” defines is all the way from around 7,250 BCE when the first evidence of burial sites were discovered in Argolid, Greece, during the Mesolithic Period, to around the year 30 BCE when Cleopatra died in Alexandra, Egypt (1). That is the better part of 7,200 years. Trying to fit all of that information into five to seven pages would be nearly impossible. That is why I will be focusing on the Classical Era of Greece which spans from about 500 BCE to around 320 BCE. During this time in Greece there were many conflicts and wars, but there was also much growth in the cultural aspects of their society.
In ancient Greece there were two major polises which allowed the Greek culture to achieve greatness during the 400-500 B.C.E. era. These two polises were Athens and Sparta; both city states differed in many ways before the start of the Persian War. There were low rugged mountains that separated these two city states so communication and travel were difficult. The government of these two city states can be seen as a primary difference between the two. Draco, Solon, Pisistratus, and Cleithenes were four leaders that greatly influenced the political development of Athens. Athens and Sparta differed primarily in their political, social, and economical aspects. But there were other difference that Athens and Sparta share which I will examine in this essay.
“Have you ever thought about how much Greek traditions have changed over time?” Chances are you answered no to that question. However, Greece is very interesting when it comes down to how much it has changed over time. Particularly in its traditions about death. The Greeks believe in very specific things when it comes down to what happens after death, and what they believe about death at the time influences their traditions for it, and the traditions for death have changed over time.
The Temple of Athena Nike exemplifies the early Greek belief that the gods, specifically Athena, held divine providence over government and victory in war. It was built as part of the same project as the Parthenon, one of the greatest achievements of Mycenaean Greece. Lasting from 1300-1000 B.C.E, Mycenaean Greece bordered Epirus, Macedonia, Phrace, Phryapa, Mysia, Caria, and Lydia. Encompassing this time span, Ancient Greece lasted from 8000 to 50 B.C.E. The achievements of Athens in this time include the Pythagorean Theorem and the Socratic dialogues. The epic Trojan War was said to have occurred in Mycenaean times as well. So were the Ionic Greeks who built this ancient temple. (Ancient-Greece.org)(about ancient history.com)
In a relatively resource-poor region, a society rose from the access of foreign sources of raw materials and markets abroad. This society came to be known as one of the largest nations in Eurasia. The rise and fall of this great nation has to do with war-fare and the conflict between city-states. Their division led to the widespread of language and culture. This is the great story of Ancient Greece and how individualism changed the view Greece had on certain issues. (Bulliet 99) From 1000 B.C.E to 30 B.C.E, Ancient Greece’s view on individualism changed the political system Greece had, over time changed the way individuals thought and made important Intellectual changes, and gradually changed the Economic system such as bartering.
The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.
Some of the most famous philosophers have come from ancient Greece. These people founded theories on how to solve all sorts of difficult problems, so naturally the ancient Greeks created a very effective way to solve problems: through myths. These myths had morals, which taught people lessons that they could apply to their own life. These lessons could then be used to solve problems. People always have problems, however, they have dealt with them differently throughout time. All methods of solving problems are somewhat effective, but some of them are better than the others. Since people have all had similar issues from the beginning of time such as cheating, jealousy, and war it makes it easy to connect one method to another. Ancient Greek myths can help modern people solve many problems, from sub-par education systems to gender inequality.