A Unit study on Ancient Greece
for 3rd grade
Essential
Question:
What role has Ancient
Greece had in shaping how
the United States is today?
Enduring
Understandings
• Modern democracy has its roots in ancient Athens.
• A republican form of government is based on the
principle of separation of powers.
• Many U.S. Government buildings have been influenced
by Greek architecture. (Parthenon, U.S. Supreme
Court Building)
• Today's Olympic Games started in Ancient Greece.
• Maps and globes can be used to locate places in our
country and on Earth.
Table
of Contents
1. Geography
2. The Dark Ages
3. Gods and Goddesses
4. City-States
5. Ancient Olympics
6. Arts and Architecture
7. Government
Geography
• Greece is on the continent of Europe.
• It is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea.
SS3G1.d: Locate Greece on a world map
Greece is a peninsula,
which means that it is
surrounded on three
sides by water.
Greece is also covered with mountains.
Three thousand years ago, it was very
difficult to get from place to place in ancient
Greece by walking. But it was easy to get
from place to place in Greece by boat. The
Greeks became known as great sailors.
The Greek Dark Ages:
the Storytellers
• The ancient Greeks loved stories.
During the Grecian Dark Ages,
some people became professional
storytellers.
• The storytellers went from town to town,
earning a living telling stories. They told the
same stories over and over, and they told them
in the same language, Greek.
• It was not long until nearly everyone in ancient
Greece knew all the stories by heart. They also
knew the Greek language by heart, as it was the
language of the storytellers.
The storytellers told
three kinds of stories
Fables
Legends
Myths
Aesop’s Fables
A fable is a story that ends with a lesson to be learned.
• Aesop was an ancient Greek storyteller. He lived 2500 years
ago, around 550 BCE. Some say he was a slave who so
delighted his master with his stories that Aesop was given his
freedom. The Greeks were like that. They rewarded talent.
That old legend could be true.
• There are no records to prove that Aesop ever
wrote anything down. Fortunately, many years
after his death, people started to write down
the fables Aesop collected, so they could be
more easily shared.
• Over the centuries, Aesop's fables have been
rewritten into almost every language in the world.
Legends
A legend is a popular story that has been told over and over again
about something that happened in the near or far past. To be a
legend, there can be no proof that the story is true.
Legend says ......
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was an ancient city named Troy. Troy
was located on the coast of Asia, across the sea from the Greek city-state of Sparta. In
those days, people used to build walls around their city to help protect them. Some walls
were only a few feet high. Others as much as twenty feet high! The people built gates in
the wall. The gates could be opened to let people inside the city. In times of war, the gates
could be closed and locked to stop intruders from getting inside. The walls around Troy
were very high and very strong. According to the legend of Trojan Horse, for ten long
years, the Greeks had been trying to get over the wall around the city of Troy. But the
Greeks could not get over the wall. And the Trojans could not drive the Greeks away.
Year after year they fought. And year after year, neither side won. One day, a Greek
general, Odysseus, had a tricky idea. "Let's pretend to sail away," he suggested. "We'll
leave a gift for Troy, a gift to announce the end of the war, a wooden horse with 30 men
hidden inside. At night, these men can sneak out and open the gate of Troy!" That was the
way things were done back then. When you admitted defeat, you supplied a gift.
The Greeks thought it was a brilliant idea. They had their best artists
build the horse. It was a magnificent horse. When it was ready, the
Greeks brought the huge wooden horse as close to Troy's city gates as
they could get without being shot full of arrows. The Greeks pretended
to sail away. When the Trojan archers at the top of the stairs saw the
Greeks leaving, they could not believe their eyes. Were the Greeks
giving up at last? Had the Trojans won the war? It certainly appeared
so! The Trojans dragged the horse inside their city and closed the
gates. Some people wanted to burn the horse, which would have been a
sad fate for the Greek soldiers hidden inside. But the Trojan people
said, "NO! It's too beautiful! We'll keep it forever as a reminder of our
victory!" (The Greeks had counted on that reaction. The Greeks might
be famous for their art, but the Trojans were famous for their bragging.
The Greeks were sure the Trojans would want to display the
magnificent horse. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened, or so
legend says.) That night, while the Trojan people slept soundly,
exhausted from their celebrations, the 30 Greek men hidden inside the
wooden horse climbed out and opened the gates of Troy and let the
Greek army inside. That was the end of Troy.
Myths
A myth is a story about one or more magical
deities. The Greeks believed in many gods and
goddesses and magical monsters and mythical
animals. The Greek myths are still enjoyed today.
Like Hercules,
All the gods knew that Hercules was half man Perseus was
part god, part
and half god. His mother was a mortal. But
his father was a king - the king of all the man, and an
gods, the mighty Zeus. But Hercules
ancient Greek hero.
did not know he was part god until he
He was the son of
had grown into a man. Hercules was
an Argive princess and
incredibly strong, magically strong, even as a baby!
Zeus admired strength. He loved his little son. To keep Zeus, the king of all the
gods. Persus managed
Hercules safe from attack, Zeus sent him to live with a
mortal family on earth. Hercules grew up loved and
to kill the fearful Medusa,
noble. But he didn't fit in on earth. He was too big and
the Gorgon with the hair
too strong. One day, his earth father told him he was a
of snakes, who could
god, well, part god anyway. The rest of the story of
turn men into stones! All
Hercules is a series of stories, tasks, and adventures,
Greece cheered and
as Hercules earned his way into the heavens, to take
honored him.
his place with the gods.
Mount Olympus
• The Olympian gods were the
main gods of Ancient Greece.
• After overthrowing their
ancestors, the Titans, the
Olympian gods became the rulers of the World.
• The Olympian gods lived on Mount Olympus, the
highest mountain in Greece, built by the Cyclopes.
• The leader of the Olympian gods was Zeus.
• The gods were born and grew just like human beings,
however the never aged and never died.
• There were twelve Gods of Mount Olympus, but there
were more Olympian Gods in Greek Mythology.
• Greek mythology is not really clear
whether or not Mount Olympus was a
place on earth or in the heavens. But the
Greeks did name the tallest mountain
peak Mount Olympus.
• Whenever the council of twelve met, they
met on Mount Olympus. Except for
Hades, who preferred his home in the
underworld, the eleven other Olympians
kept a home on Mount Olympus.
Athena,
goddess of
wisdom
How Athena became the guardian of Athens
and Megara
Artemis,
goddess of
the hunt
Ares,
god of war
How Artemis and Ares became the guardians
of Sparta
Apollo,
god of music
Pegasus,
the flying horse
How Apollo and Pegasus became the
guardians of Corinth
Aphrodite,
goddess of
love and
beauty
Demeter,
Goddess of
the Harvest
Hera,
queen of the
gods
How Hera became the guardian of Argos
Hermes,
the
messenger
Hephaestus,
God of
Fire
&
Forge
Hestia,
Goddess of
Hearth and
Home
Poseidon,
God of the
Sea
Zeus,
King
of
the Gods
City-States
After the Greek dark ages,
villages started to band
together to form strong
trading centers. These groups
of villages that banded
together were called city-states.
Soon, hundreds of city-states had formed in
ancient Greece.
TO BE A CITIZEN OF A CITY-STATE: The ancient
Greeks referred to themselves as citizens of their
individual city-states. Each city-state (polis) had
its own personality, goals, laws and customs.
Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state.
The city-states had many things in common. They
all believed in the same gods. They all spoke the
same language.
But if you asked an ancient Greek where he was
from, he would not say, "I live in Greece."
If he lived in Athens, he would say,
"I am Athenian."
If he was from Sparta, he would say,
"I am a Spartan."
And so it went. The city-states
might band together to fight a
enemy. They also went to
war with each other. Greece was
not yet one country.
Ancient Greece was a collection of Greek citystates. The five most powerful were Athens,
Sparta, Corinth, Megara, and Argos.
The city-state of Athens
*one of the 2 most powerful
• Athenians thought of themselves
as the shining star of the Greek
city-states. They were famed for their literature,
poetry, drama, theatre, schools, buildings, and
government.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in
ancient Greece had a god or goddess in charge
of it, their special patron. For Athens, the patron
was Athens, goddess of wisdom. Perhaps
because Athena was their patron, Athenians put
a great deal of emphasis on education.
The city-state of Sparta
*one of the 2 most powerful
• Life was very different in ancient Sparta
than it
was in the rest of ancient Greek city-states.
The Spartans were proud, fierce, capable
warriors. No great works of art came out of Sparta. But the
Spartans, both men and women, were tough, and the Greeks
admired strength.
• In most of the other Greek city-states, the goal of education was
to create a strong citizen of that city-state. In Sparta, the goal of
education was to create a strong warrior. All of the ancient
Greeks were warriors, but Sparta's warriors were legendary.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient Greece had a
god or goddess in charge of it, their special patron. For Sparta,
the patrons were Ares, god of war and Artemis, goddess of the
hunt.
The city-state of Corinth
• As a coastal city-state, Corinth had a
glorious history as a cultural and trade
center. Corinth was a monarchy. The
people were ruled by a king. The king had many advisors.
Together, Corinth's government solved many problems
that face cities today. The government of Corinth created
its own coinage. They forced traders to exchange their
coins for Corinth's coinage at the bank of Corinth, for a
fee of course. Corinthians were very good with money.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient Greece
had a god or goddess in charge of it, their special patron.
For Corinth, the patron was Apollo, god of music and
Pegasus, the flying horse.
The city-state of Argos
• The ancient city-state of Argos had a
nearby
harbor for trade and commerce. But Argos
was located on a plain. The weather was hot
and dry in the summer, and cold and wet in the winter. The soil
was not especially good. The people of Argos had to fight to
grow food.
• Argos was actively involved in the arts. Their magnificent stone
sculptures of athletes were the envy of many a Greek city-state.
Argos was famous for their wonderful musicians, poets and
drama. Their government was a monarchy - Argos was ruled
by a king.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient Greece had a
god or goddess in charge of it, their special patron. For
Corinth, the patron was Hera, queen of the gods.
The city-state of Megara
• Megara was a highly respected
city-state in ancient Greece. As a
coastal city-state, their history was
similar to Corinth's, their neighbor.
• Like Athens, Megara offered its citizens a great deal
of freedom. Like nearly all Greek city-states, Megara
had beautiful temples, gorgeous statues, and openair theatres. They were famous for their glorious
textiles, which were the envy of other Greek city-state.
• The Greeks believed that each city-state in ancient
Greece had a god or goddess in charge of it, their
special patron. For Megara, the patron was Hera,
queen of the gods.
The Olympic Games began over
2,700 years ago in Olympia, in
southwest Greece. The Games
were part of a religious festival.
The Greek Olympics, thought to have
begun in 776 BC, inspired the modern
Olympic Games (begun in 1896) The Games
were held in honour of Zeus, king of the
gods, and were staged every four years at
Olympia, a valley near a city called Elis.
People from all over the Greek world came
to watch and take part.
The ancient Greeks loved competitions of all sorts,
especially sporting competitions. The Olympics were not
the only competition games held in ancient Greece, but
they were the most popular.
In truth, the Greeks took the games quite seriously.
Nearly all the ancient Greek cities sent teams to
participate in the ancient Greek Olympics.
Everyone wanted their city-state to win!
You are a Spartan!
Be proud! You have endured unbelievable pain
and hardship to become a superior Spartan soldier
and citizen! Taken away from your parents at age 7,
you lived a harsh and often brutal life in the soldiers
barracks. You were beat up by older children who started
fights to help make you tough and strong, but never cried
out in pain. You were given very little food, but encouraged
to steal food, instead. If caught stealing, you were beat up.
To avoid severe pain, you learned to be cunning, to lie, to
cheat, to steal, and how to get away with it! You are fierce,
capable, and proud of your strength.
You know you are superior and are delighted to be Spartan!
Spartan goals and
behavior at the Olympics!
Win at all costs. Lie, cheat, do whatever
it takes. If you can't win, at least beat your
archrival, those silly citizens of Athens. You are
the proud and fierce Spartans! Plot secretly with
other Greek city-states to sabotage any Athenian
chance at victory. Cheer only for your fellow
Spartans at each event. Lie, cheat, steal, but do
not get caught, because that is the Spartan way.
Good luck at the games!
You are a Athenian!
Be courteous. You have been superbly
educated in the arts and the sciences, and trained
to be extremely productive and capable in times of
peace or war. You are an achiever. You learned
drama, public speaking, reading, writing, math, and
perhaps even how to play the flute. At 18, you attended
military school for two additional years!
You are proud to be an Athenian! Famed for its literature,
poetry, drama, theatre, schools, buildings, government,
and intellectual superiority, you have no doubt that your
polis,
Athens, is clearly the shining star of all the Greek citystates.
Athenian goals and
behavior at the Olympics!
You know your archrival, those horrible
Spartans, will do anything to win, even lie and
cheat, but you are Athenians - you would never
stoop to such bad behavior. Cooperate with your
fellow Athenians to defeat those brutish Spartans,
and do your personal best! You are Athenians,
the clever, creative, courteous representatives of
that shining example of all that is fine and noble,
the polis of Athens.
Good luck in the games!
You are a Corinthian!
As a coastal city-state, you have a glorious
history as a cultural and trade center.
Although your schools are not as fine,
perhaps, as those of Athens, you have been
educated in the arts and the sciences. You also went
to military school for at least two years. Your polis
is famous for its bronze statues, pottery, and vase
painters. You are creative problem-solvers.
Literature, culture, art, and businesses thrive in
your city-state.
You are proud to be a practical, productive
Corinthian!
Corinthian goals and
behavior at the Olympics!
If you can't win, help Argos and Megara to
defeat those vain Athenians, and those animals,
the Spartans. Do what it takes, but be honest
about it. You cheer the winner of each event. You
greet your fellow Corinthians with warmth and
good sportsmanship whenever you see them. You
are proud of your abilities, your achievements,
your honesty, and your obviously superior citystate.
Good luck in the games!
You are an Argive!
You have been educated in the arts and the
sciences, and trained to be productive and capable
in times of peace or war. You have much of which to
be proud. Your magnificent stone sculptures of
athletes, rippling with muscle, are the envy of many a Greek
city-state. You are famous for your wonderful musicians and
poets. Drama reached new heights in your polis. Plays are
performed in open-air theatres, drawing crowds of 20,000 or
more Argive citizens!
Unfortunately, you have a problem. When Athens and Sparta
asked your polis to send supplies and troops to fight the
Persians, after the battle of Thermopylae in 480 BCE, you
refused. For this decision, you are held in disgrace by the
other Greek city-states.
Argive goals and
behavior at the Olympics!
Your goal is to reverse the negative reputation you
currently hold in the ancient Greek world. You will
have to work hard to convince other city-states that your
athletes, soldiers, scholars, orators, architects, poets,
dancers, and artists are as fine, if not superior, to the other
city-states. You cheer Argive victories, and win as many
events as you can. Your goal is to make sure that Athens and
Sparta don't win at all. (Your plan is to throw your support to
Corinth or Megara toward the end of the competition if it
appears you can not win.) You are Argives, hard-working,
honest, loyal, clever, creative, courteous representatives of
Argos, and of her glorious past.
Good luck in the games!
You are an Megarian!
Be proud that you are a Greek and come from such a respected
city-state as Megara. You believe your schools are as fine as those
of Athens, although you have no doubt that any Athenian would
disagree. You have been trained in the arts and the sciences where
you memorized poetry and studied drama, public speaking,
reading, writing, science, poetry, the flute, the lyre, and a great deal
of mathematics. Like most Megarians, you love money and have
been trained to be an excellent accountant. Your polis is famous
for its glorious textiles, which are the envy of other Greek citystates. Literature, culture, art, and businesses thrive in your citystate. You believe you offer your citizens even more freedom than
Athens.
You are proud of your city-state's past and present achievements,
and proud to be a Megarian!
Megarian goals and
behavior at the Olympics!
If you can't win, help Argos and Corinth to defeat
those boastful Athenians and those militant
fanatics, the Spartans. If it comes down to Athens or
Sparta, cheer for Sparta, loudly. (They might be militant,
but those are good friends to have in time of war!
Besides, you are tired of hearing about wonderful
Athens.) You are Megarians, proud of your history,
your flourishing businesses, your world famous textiles,
your freedoms, your schools, your coastal advantage your rich and vibrant city-state, Megara.
Good luck in the games!
Where did the Olympic games come from?
• There are many stories about the
beginning of the Olympics.
• One myth is that the guardians of the god
Zeus held the first footraces to celebrate
his victory over his father to
control the world.
• Another myth is that after the
Greek hero Pelops won a
chariot race to marry a princess the
games began with chariot races,
footraces, discus matches,
wrestling, and boxing.
Why were they held in Olympia?
• Olympia was one of the oldest religious centers in the
ancient Greek world. Since athletic contests were one
way that the ancient Greeks honored their gods, it was
logical to hold a recurring athletic competition at the
site of a major temple.
• Also, Olympia is convenient geographically to reach by
ship, which was a major concern for the Greeks.
• An international truce among
the Greeks was declared for the
month before the Olympics to
allow the athletes to reach
Olympia safely.
What were the events at the Ancient Olympics?
• At the first one-day Olympic Games, the only event was
a short sprint from one end of the stadium to the other.
• Gradually more events were added to make four days
of competitions. They included wrestling, boxing, long
jump, throwing the javelin and discus, and chariot
racing.
• In the pentathlon, there were five events: running,
wrestling, javelin, discus and long jump.
What prizes did the victors get?
• A victor received a crown made from olive
leaves, and was entitled to have a statue of
himself set up at Olympia.
• Although he did not receive money at the
Olympics, the victor was treated much like a
modern sports celebrity by his
home city.
• His success increased the
fame and reputation of his
community in the Greek world.
SS3H1.a: Identify the influence of Greek architecture
(columns on the Parthenon, U.S. Supreme Court
building), law, and the Olympic Games on the present.
Who had the
best architecture?
The ancient Greeks loved
beauty, music, literature,
drama, philosophy, politics and art. There was an
ongoing competition between city-states as to which
city-state had the best statues and the most beautiful
temples.
The ancient Greeks made statues of perfect people.
The ancient Greeks invented three types of columns that
were used all over ancient Greece. The columns were
placed to support a building, but also adjusted in size
and angle and in footage from each other, so that from
a distance, the columns looked perfectly symmetrical.
The Ancient Greeks invented
3 types of Columns
Doric
Ionic
Corinthian
The Doric Column
is the most plain.
The capital
(the top, or crown)
made of a circle
topped by
a square.
The shaft
(the tall part of the column)
is plain and has 20
sides.
There is no base.
The Parthenon
The Ionic Column is
famous for its scrolls.
The capital
(the top, or crown)
consist of
scrolls above
the shaft.
The shaft
(the tall part of the column)
were taller than Doric ones.
They also had flutes, which
are lines carved into them
from top to bottom.
The bases were large and
looked like a set of stacked
rings.
Temple
of
Athena
The Corinthian Column
is the most decorative.
The capital
(the top, or crown)
has flowers and
leaves below a
small scroll.
The shaft
(the tall part
of the column)
has flutes and the bases
were large and looked like
a set of stacked rings.
e Temple Of Sybil
SS3H1.b: Explain the ancient Athenians' idea
that a community should choose its own
leaders.
The Ancient Greeks
had 3 main forms of
government.
Monarchy
Oligarchy
Democracy
Monarchy
Rule by a king.
One city-state whose
government was a
monarchy was the city-state of
Corinth.
Oligarchy
Rule by a small group.
One city-state whose government
was a oligarchy was the city-state
of Sparta.
Around 510 BCE - The Ancient
Athenians
Invented Democracy
Democracy
Rule by the citizens,
voting in an assembly.
One city-state whose government
was a democracy for about 100
years was the city-state of Athens.
Over 2400 years ago, the famous
Greek general, Pericles, said,
"It is true that we (Athenians)
are called a democracy,
for the administration is
in the hands of the many
and not the few, with equal
justice to all alike in their
private disputes."
• Only in Athens, and only for a
short time, "rule by many“ meant
that all citizens had to be willing to
take an active part in government.
That was the law!
• Each year, 500 names were drawn from all the
citizens of Athens. Those 500 citizens had to
serve for one year as the law makers of ancient
Athens.
• All citizens of Athens were required to vote on
any new law that this body of 500 citizens
created. One man, one vote, majority ruled.
Types
of
Democracy
• A Direct Democracy: A government in which
people vote to make their own rules and laws .
• A Representative Democracy: A government
in which people vote for representatives. The
representatives make rules and laws that
govern themselves and the people.
SS3H1.c: Compare and contrast Athens as a direct democracy
with the United States as a representative democracy.