Ancient Greece G.E.T. Captions
Sparta: Once there was a city-state in Greece that was very famous, it was called Sparta. Here in
Sparta there was a place called an acropolis, an acropolis was a hill, at the foot of this hill there was a
place called an agora where farmers met to trade. On top was a walled center that citizens could go if
the city-state was under attack. In Sparta slavery was popular to help the farmers plant, tend to and
harvest the crops. Sparta was built around an acropolis as every other city-state was. Many city-states
had ports for trading, but as for Sparta it was inland. However, Sparta controlled almost all of Southern
Greece so it could trade with others. To trade specifically in Sparta clay pots would be used with Spartan
gladiators on them. (The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization)
Athens: Once there was a city-state called Athens in Greece, in Athens trade and specialized
labor was very popular. At home girls would perform household tasks and learn to weave from their
mothers. Most Athenian boys couldn’t afford to go to school, so they helped their as farmers, potters or
stoneworkers, this is specialized labor. However, the boys who could go to school would learn to read
and write, than afterwards the students would go to a gym where they would learn to wrestle and box.
(Our World)
The people of Athens ate some kind of stew with some kind of domesticated animal meat and
siderite. Then they traded other goods such as, fabric, ivory, bread, beans, fish, jewelry that were all
held in clay pots. In exchange from Pakistan they got tattooed slaves, from Cartridge they got precious
rocks and from Libya they got more slaves (slavery was popular in Ancient Greece). Finally, the goods
that Athens traded were all transported by gigantic ships to other countries. (The Greeks: Crucible of
Civilization)
Greek Economy: At first, when Greece started out everyone was supported by farming, sheep
herding, hunting, gathering for a while. However, most of
Greece’s land did not have a good climate or terrain for
farming. Later farmers started to realize that Greece’s
land wasn’t good for farming so the people started to fish
and trade. Than the Greek Dark Ages occurred from 12001000 B.C., the Dark Ages were a time period where fishing
and trading became less popular and cattle started being
domesticat
ed instead
of sheep.
After this
time period fishing and trading became popular again to
support the Greeks. After this the economy started to
run on coins which were traded with the Etruscans,
Egyptians and Phoenicians. After the Dark Ages the
Greeks started to control Southern Italy, Southern
France, Spain and Northern Africa. In 500-400 B.C. Greek
population grew making it even more necessary to trade
to get food and fight for more land. The Greeks traded
olive oil, wine and fancy pottery vases and got wheat
from areas around the black sea, Sicily, Southern Italy and Southern France.
Even more before this the Peloponnesian War occurred and Greeks were poor during the war.
Shortly after the war people became poorer than they were and the economy was worse for a while.
Finally, after the war in 300-320 B.C. the Greek economy picked up again. (Dr. Karen Carr’s essay on
Ancient Greek Economy)
Greek Technology: Labor, School and Trade: In Greece the Greek’s labor and schooling started
out in Athens: the city-state of people. Many Athenian boys couldn’t afford to go to school and girls
couldn’t, but the boys who could afford to go to would learn to read and write in school and afterwards
go to a gym where they would learn to box or wrestle. The boys that couldn’t afford to go to school
would stay home with their fathers and help them as potters, farmers or stoneworkers. This form of
labor where everyone only does one job is called specialized labor. Finally, the girls would stay home
with their mothers and learn to weave. (Our World)
In Athens especially trade was popular because Athens had a port for ships to come into and
pick up goods to trade or drop off goods. The goods that
Athens traded
are fabric, ivory,
bread,
beans,
fish,
jewelry,
olive oil and
wine that were
all held in clay
pots on the
journey to other countries. In exchange from Pakistan they
got tattooed slaves, from Cartridge they got precious rocks
and from Libya they got more slaves (slavery was popular in
Ancient Greece). Finally, the people of Athens ate some kind
of stew with siderite and meat in it. (The Greeks: Crucible of
Civilization)
Greek Geography: Greece had city-states in it that were all their own area and most of the land
wasn’t
good for
farming.
However,
some
plants
could still
be grown
such as
olives to
make
An Ancient Greek Polis
olive oil and
An Ancient Greek Acropolis
grapes to make wine. In the middle of most city-states
there was an acropolis which is a hill and on top is a wall that people could stay behind if any enemy
attacks ever happened. At the bottom of this acropolis was a polis or the head city in the city-state. Also
at the bottom of the acropolis was an open area called an agora where farmers traded with other
farmers. Particularly in Sparta a very famous city-state the acropolis was a mountain and the city-state
itself didn’t have a port because it’s inland. However, Sparta ruled most of Southern Greece so its
empire did have a port. Finally, Athens is on the peninsula of Attica and Sparta is on the Mediterranean
Sea. (Our World, The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization)
Greek Inventions: The earliest walls in Ancient Greece
were made of citadel and were heavy protection. The walls were
perfectly buttressed with its neighboring block that weighed up to
10 tons. One invention that the Mycenaeans invented is the
corbell arch, one of the first arches that was in Mycenae, the
town of the Mycenaeans was called The Lion’s Gate. The Lion’s
Gate was an arch that was built up with stones and the stones
had counterweights on them for them to stay. In the island of
Samos there was another invention made, the tunnel. The tunnel
came along when the people of Samos needed water, but there
was a mountain in the way called Mt. Castro. This is when Eupalinos came along, the engineer of
Polycrates who ruled Samos wanted to build an aqueduct, but they couldn’t build one around the
mountain. After they figured out this Eupalinos and his men dug in to the mountain to make a tunnel, an
aqueduct in the mountain. (Engineering an Empire)
Ithica: In Homer’s Odyssey we can see that the Greeks survived by living off the sea-by trading
and pirating and soldiering. The Odyssey shows us a dangerous, unpredictable sea-faring life. Odysseus
and his men escape from the Cyclops’ island with a jagged hilltop thrown at them by the Cyclops, named
Polyphemus.
In the myth we can see that sheep and goats and grapes are raised in the Greek isles—even by the
cyclops, Polyphemus. He raises sheep in pens called “folds”. There are goats on his island, and he makes
cheese from goat milk. Wine is an important product that appears in the myth. Odysseus is given a silver
mixing bowl by Maron, the priest on the island of Thrace. They use wine
as a tool to get the
cyclops drunk so they
can escape his cave.
Some of the jobs
mentioned
in
the
Odyssey are jobs that
the Ancient Greeks
actually had: sailors,
sailors, traders, pirates
and
shepherds.
Odysseus and his men are sailors and soldiers. But when
they steal from the people of Thrace and from the cyclops, they are pirates. The shepherds cyclops ask
Odysseus if his men are traders or pirates. Thus, this myth reflects much about the land and sea and
foods and jobs of Ancient Greece. (Homer's Odyssey)
Greek Inventions: The earliest walls in Ancient
Greece were made of citadel and were product heavy
protection. The walls were perfectly buttressed with its
neighboring block that weighed up to 10 tons. One
invention that the Mycenaeans invented is the corbell
arch, one of the first arches that was in Mycenae, the
town of the Mycenaeans was called The Lion’s Gate.
The Lion’s Gate was an arch that was built up with
stones and the stones had counterweights on them for
them to stay. In the island of Samos there was another
invention made, the tunnel. The tunnel came along
when the people of Samos needed water, but there was a mountain in the way called Mt. Castro.
This is when Eupalinos came along, the engineer of Polycrates who ruled Samos wanted to build an
aqueduct, but they couldn’t build
one around the mountain. After
they figured out this Eupalinos and
his men dug in to the mountain to
make a tunnel, an aqueduct in the
mountain. Later a man named
Pericles, the leader of Athens came
along and decided to build on top of
the acropolis. Him and his men
decided to build a Parthenon, it
would be very expensive, 30 million
drachmas or billions of dollars.
30,000 tons of marble were
gathered to make the Parthenon
which would have eight columns on
the front and 17 columns on the
sides. The columns would not be
made in whole form, but they
would be made with 11 blocks stacked on top of each other with a pulley crane. Finally, the blocks
would be held together by metal hooks. (Engineering an Empire)
Greek Trading Ship:
http://blogs.oswaltacademy.org/groups/navarro/wiki/1d59c/images/__thumbs__/8fb71.jpg
Olive oil: http://ancientstandard.com/images2/oliveoil.jpg
Ivory: trade: http://awf.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/ivory-bust-1.jpg
Ancient Greek Jewelry: trade: http://www.ancienttouch.com/236.jpg
Acropolis: http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/23/61023-004-498BEA62.jpg
Polis: http://www.greece-athens.com/places_images/1.jpg