Greeks were always celebrating special days on their calendars. In many
ways, these “festive” days were very similar to our holidays like Thanksgiving and
Christmas. Yet the Greeks were less solemn as they celebrated. They included
contests of all kinds: reading poetry, performing dances, playing the lyre, and
acting in plays. Like the ancient Greeks, you, too, will have your Festival Day in
class. Weeks from now, at the end of the simulation, all of you will present a
project that you’ve worked on for several days. The idea is to have each
Hellene show that he or she has researched come aspect of ancient Greek life
and culture. The project suggested in this handout allows for a wide variety of
choice. If you don’t see anything, which appeals to you, create a project of
your own and get it approved by your teacher. To help you on your project, a
MY FESTIVAL PROJECT format sheet will be passed out later. For now, read over
the general guidelines and project suggestions.
General Guidelines:
1. You may work with a partner or by yourself. If you choose to work with a
partner, choose wisely.
2. Look over the list and select a subject to research and to eventually
present.
- You must have a presentation board and a 3D object for your
presentation. (See attached layout directions for the board.) In
your presentation you must have an introduction to your
presentation, the presentation and a conclusion to the
presentation.
- You must have a short bibliography to give to the teacher at the
end.
- You must have written down five questions you’d wish to be asked
by the audience as a review of your presentation. Try to give
everyone a show!
3. Determine after some reading how best to present the topic, sing it,
dance it, demonstrate it, cook/bake/serve it, read it, draw it, compose it,
sew it, design it, explain it, or make it.
4. Try to space out the time you have. Make a note of the deadline your
teacher gives you. Set aside several afternoons/nights to spend
researching, reading, and note taking in local libraries.
5. Be sure to make your planned presentations visual. Posters, pictures,
slides, banners, music, costumes, etc., all will help make it memorable.
6. Make sure that you complete your project a day or two before the
presentations are scheduled and that you know exactly when you are
scheduled to present your project.
7. Think hard on how to be clever and catch the full and prolonged
attention of your classmates. Do something startling! Ancient Greeks
tended to be an unpredictable and emotional people. Use this fact to
make your presentation more effective.
Project Suggestions:
1. Research Socrates and the Socratic dialogue. Then write a one to twopage example of it. You might perform it with a small group.
2. Act out Homer’s lliad or Odyssey, either the entire epic or an important
part of it. Research information about Homer and the mythic hero,
Odysseus, along with some of the myths included in the Odyssey.
3. Research the Greek alphabet and explain how it came to be and how it
influenced our present day alphabet.
4. Make Greek food. Ancient Greeks ate simple food: fruit, olives, porridge,
figs, nuts, honey, grapes, watered-down wine, pork, fish, and limited
vegetables like beans, peas, and cabbage. Cook up and serve recipes of
more Modern Greek food like gyros, baklava, spinach pie, and Greek
salads. If you chose this project, please make sure you can make the item
for both your class presentation and exhibition night.Research the
traditions of food and farming.
5. Research Greek music and give a presentation on how it was used in
Greek Culture.
6. Research Greek musical instruments. If you can, make one or two and
then demonstrate how they were used.
7. Research dancing in ancient Greece. Then perform a dance with a
narrator explaining it. Then demonstrate a Modern Greek dance.
8. Act out one or two Greek myths. Research the gods/goddesses in the
myths, and why the myths were written.
9. Collect pictures of Greek art and architecture, and research art and
architecture. Mount them on poster board. Explain the pictures during
your presentation.
10. Make a mosaic or fresco in the ancient Greek style. Research fresco or
mosaic art.
11. Make a Greek frieze with heroic scenes from mythology or events. Use
clay, flour paste, etc. Include research
12. Research Greek pottery. Then make two cotta-terra vases, one with red
figures, one with black figures. You must make the pottery.
13. Make a statue of a Greek god or goddess. Use wood, wire, tape, burlap,
plaster of Paris, and various tools to complete it. Explain how you did it
and all about the god/goddess
14. Make or draw the three classic column styles of ancient Greece: Doric,
Ionic, and Corinthian. Label the various parts and explain the
construction of Greek temples. Self-hardening clay is the material to use if
you’re making them. Small carving tools will help you shape scrolls,
leaves, and other decorative elements. Include information about the
three styles.
15. Write an epic poem in the Homeric style and perform it. Include research
about Homer and the Homeric style of poetry.
16. Make a large relief map of ancient Hellas. Then explain how geography
shaped the Greek character and, for the most part, kept the Greeks
disunited.
17. Make a chart to teach how to pronounce Greek words. Then stage a
dialogue in authentic ancient Greek language between two or three
students. See if the rest of the class can deduce what’s been said.
Include research about Greek language and its origins.
18. Write a mini-drama about a Greek family’s life. Include research about
family life for each member.
19. Make a model of a Greek ship based on your research of the various kinds
of ships and how the sea influenced Greek life.
20. Create a Greek daily/weekly newspaper with headlines, articles, and
photos. Duplicate it and distribute it as students come into the classroom.
Choose five of your sections as each of the five paragraphs on your
presentation board.
21. Make a timeline of Greek history on a long piece of butcher paper.
Explain it and then display it. Include five major events on your display
board with a paragraph on each.
22. Make a clay model of the Trojan horse as mentioned in Homer’s lliad.
Explain how the horse was used to help the Greeks defeat the Trojans,
along with information about the cause of the Trojan war.
23. Make a model of a typical Greek house. Explain how different/similar
home life was for the Greeks compared to modern people.
24. Make a display explaining the differences between the beliefs of
Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
25. Make a poster and a map explaining the soldier, the phalanx, and
Alexander the Great’s conquests.
26. Make some Greek masks used in tragedies and comedies. Include
information about Greek theater.
27. Dress up like a Greek warrior. Explain the uniform, weapons, and military
techniques in your paragraphs.
28. Using a large poster board, make a maze and then illustrate the story of
Theseus and the Minotaur. Include information about this myth.
29. Create a game board about ancient Greece. Utilize a dice roll and fate
cards, but make it accurate. Invite students to come forward during your
presentation to play it. Give it a clever name. Include five main topics
from your game board for your paragraphs.
30. Create a play about Spartan life. Exaggerate its harshness and its military
aspects. Include information about Spartan, women, girls, men, boys, and
education on your presentation board.
31. Stage the final arguments for and against Socrates as the Athenian
philosopher awaits his fate in a trial. Have a narrator set the scene and do
a postscript. Possibly add a few witnesses. Include information about the
life of Socrates.
32. Demonstrate how the Greeks weighed, measured, counted, and did their
math. Use the chalkboard to demonstrate. See if your fellow students
can do some of the simpler problems. Include information about
Pythagoras or Euclid.
33. Research the odd or shady side of life. Explain how slavery functioned,
how Greeks kept clean, where they “did their business,” what happened
to the homeless, how men treated women, how children were raised,
their attitude about retarded or deformed children, the practice of
animal sacrifices, etc.
34. Make an alphabet scroll, using dowels, ribbon, tape, glue, and black ink.
Explain how you made it and how it was used. Include information about
the Greek alphabet and how it changed over time.
35. Act out a Greek myth with two or three of your classmates. Utilize a
narrator to explain the story. Include information about the
gods/goddesses in the myth, and why the myth was created.
Title of Project
By ________
Visual
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Visual
Visual
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Visual
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Paragraph describing your 3D item.
This is where your 3D item will sit.
It must be able to stand-alone and
not cover any of your other visuals
or paragraphs. Make sure it is large
enough to be seen across the
classroom. It should be hand-made.
Visual
Paragraph