Ancient Greece
Do you want to learn all
about Ancient Greece?
well read on to find out
what year 5 have been
learning about……..
In Year 5 we wrote
our own descriptions
about Greece.
Sunlight glistens over the sinister, dangerous mountains. Rough
rocks shine upon the sky. Gentle waves are lapping on the golden,
shiny sands. Shiny, crystal, fresh water is swirling all around.
The air is filled with tranquillity and harmony. The island has a
fresh summer breeze and feels joyful. The mountainous rocks have
green, soft moss on them.
by Aniqah
Athens
Athens was the largest city in Greece. Athens became rich
because they had lots of silver and gold. Athens had a beautiful
and a busy city with lots of work. The city’s most famous
building was the temple called the Parthenon. In the Parthenon,
there was a statue called “The Proctector” and it was the
goddess Athena.
Sparta
Physical training and
fitness was considered to
be an important part of a
Spartan child’S education.
Girls did not fight in wars
but they took part in
physical activities
because Spartans
believed fit and strong
women would have healthy
babies that would be good
soldiers.
Year 5 have been
debating which city is
the best. There were
lots of different
opinions and we
decided a mixture of
both cultures would
be best.
We learnt all about Mount Olympus:
the home of the Greek Deities.
Scylla and Charybdis
The Minotaur
We also wrote information texts about the Greek
Deities and monsters. There were many monsters in
Greek mythology and here are some of them.
The Chimera
The Hydra
Ancient Greek Myths
In their effort to understand their environment and the forces of nature, the
Ancient Greeks invented stories to account for the things that went on in their
lives.
These tales, known as myths, were spread around by travellers.
What were Myths about? They were about gods who controlled the elements of
nature. The myths told tales about powerful Olympian gods, sea gods, woodland
gods, sky gods, underwater gods, half-gods, human heroes, courageous or
romantic adventures, betrayals, battles, wanderings, and so on.
A lot of these myths involved a quest. A hero would have to go on a quest to find
something or rescue someone.
There were three types of plays:
Tragedies: The first type they invented was the tragedy. In tragedies, one or
more major characters always suffered a
disastrous end.
Comedies: Comedies were invented next. In comedies, plays always had a
happy end.
Satires: Satires were plays that made fun of mortal legends and of real
people. In Ancient Greece, you did not make fun of the gods not in a play, not in real life, not ever.
In Greek drama, the chorus or the singers told the story, not the
actors. Actors used gestures and masks to act out their parts.
Actors changed roles by changing masks. Probably the most famous
actor in Ancient Greece was a man named Thespis. Actors today are
called "thespians" in his honour.
We also acted out the story of
Perseus and Medusa.
Greek Olympics
In year 5 we looked some of the Olympic events and tried them in our own
Olympic Games. We also created Olympic medals using a range of pencils
to shade.
The first Olympics games are usually given the start year of 776
BCE, but they probably began even sooner. 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.
Did you know that only men and boys were allowed to
attend the Olympic Games. Women were forbidden,
on penalty of death, even to see the Games. Women
could own horses in the chariot race though.
Slaves were not allowed to enter the games either, as
they, and women were seen as second class citizens.
It wasn't until 1900 that women were allowed to enter
the games.
We thought this was wrong so we wrote persuasive
letters to Zeus asking him to allow women and slaves
to enter the games. Our letters were amazing and
Zeus was definitely convinced.
Making Chariots
We made Greek chariots
using cardboard
templates, straw,
hacksaws, wheels and
sellotape. It was tricky to
glue the frame together
but we persevered and
some pupils made
horses to attach to their
chariots.
We also wrote
instructions so that
other people could make
the chariots.
Polystyrene Printing of Medusa
In year 5 we used
polystyrene and
scored Medusa’s face
into it to allow us to
print her face
repeatedly on a
piece of paper. This
was quite tricky but
we enjoyed it!
In Literacy, for the past few weeks, we have been learning
about the myth of Pandora’s Box. We described the
characters, interview them, wrote letters and a discussion
text about whether Pandora should be blamed for opening
the box. We discovered that it was actually Zeus who made
her open the box and therefore we believe it is his fault.