Greek Mythology PDF

Station 1: Greek mythology 2304 red diamonds rule A myth is a story used to explain the world. Myths were used by the ancient Greeks, and all ancient civilizations, to explain events tha...

Station 1: Greek mythology 2304 red diamonds rule A myth is a story used to explain the world. Myths were used by the ancient Greeks, and all ancient civilizations, to explain events that they could not understand. Despite the fact that myths are entirely false, ancient people did not know this at the time since accurate scientific knowledge would take hundreds of years to develop. To the Greeks, myths not only explained their world, but they formed the basis of their religion. To the Greeks, fire was explained by a man named Prometheus. Prometheus traveled to Mount Olympus, stole fire The Greek faith revolved around a series of gods who, from the Gods, and brought it back to Earth. When the Olympian Gods found it was believed, intervened daily into their lives. As a out, they chained Prometheus to a large result, the Greeks were deeply religious as they boulder where he was punished daily. An eagle pecked out his liver during the believed angry gods would negatively impact their day; overnight, his liver would grow lives on earth. The Greeks, according to philosopher back and the eagle would return the next day to torture Prometheus again. Theophrastus, would sacrifice animals to the gods for three reasons: to honor them, thank them, or to request a favor. It was common for the Greeks to sacrifice a goat, sheep, pig, or cow before a large undertaking (such as a journey to a faraway land) to ask the gods for safe travel. It was also common to sacrifice the first fruits of a harvest to thank the gods for the bounty that was to come. There were twelve main gods in the Greek faith and they were called the twelve Olympians. They got this name since it was believed they lived on Mount Olympus. Some of the Olympian gods are… Zeus was the king of the gods and ruled over Mount Olympus; he was also the god of the sky, lightning, thunder, and law and order. Hera was Zeus’ sister and wife, and she was the In Greek mythology, Medusa is best known for having goddess of marriage and childbirth. hair made of snakes and the uncanny ability to turn Zeus’ brother Poseidon was the god of the seas. anyone who looked at her into stone. In Greek lore, the hero Perseus had to provide her head to Athena in order Demeter was the goddess of harvest and to regain his honor. He borrowed Athena’s reflecting agriculture. shield and Hermes’ flying shoes, then set out to attack Medusa. Perseus used the shield to force Medusa to Athena was the goddess of warfare and wisdom. turn herself into stone; he then decapitated Medusa and Apollo was the god of light, archery, and prophecy. used Hermes’ shoes to fly to safety once Medusa’s children sprung from her head to avenge her death. Hermes was the messenger of the gods. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 2: Greek Architecture Greek architects emphasized beauty when Symmetry is they designed buildings, homes, temples, when both sides are in equal and theaters. To achieve this beauty, the balance along an Greeks believed architecture needed to have axis. Can you see it in this order and balance. To achieve this, buildings image of a Doric were often constructed using symmetry, a column? What about the Ionic design concept when elements are arranged and Corinthian in mirroring fashion on an axis. styles below? The most popular way greek architects created symmetry was through... COLUMNS! DORIC IONIC CORINTHIAN Doric columns are very Corinthian columns plain, simple, and Ionic columns are more are very ornate and straightforward. They slender than Doric decorative. They were are also thicker and columns and are only used in the Greek heavier than the other characterized by the polis of Corinth, which styles, which has made scroll-like ornaments is how the column gets them more durable at the top. These were its name. This style over time. This was the more common on the was primarily used by most common style on Greek islands. the Romans starting the Greek mainland. around 300 BCE. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 3: Greek Literature Greek li!rature has informed much of what we know about "e ancient Greeks. #e two most popular forms of li!rature "at have been passed down "roughout his$ry are epic poems and fables. Epic Poem Fable An epic poem is a long A fable is a short story story that tells of heroic involving animals that struggles and adventures.. teaches a moral. 2304 red diamonds rule One of the most famous epic poems Aesop was a Greek writer most known for comes from the Greek writer Homer. It is his fables. One of his most popular is called the Iliad and it tells a story about “The Tortoise and the Hare.” the Trojan War. The war began when a man from Troy, named Paris, kidnapped The story tells of a tortoise and a Helen, the wife of Spartan King Menelaus. hare who are racing each other in a competition. The hare is The Greeks waged war on Troy for over a naturally much faster than the decade but were unable to breach the tortoise and quickly builds a city’s walls. Finally, the Greeks convinced strong lead. The hare begins the Trojans they had given up and left, to brag and gloat over the and when the Trojans opened the city tortoise, and after seeing walls they saw a massively constructed what an astonishing lead wooden horse left behind as a parting he has, decides to take a nap. gift. Unknown to the Trojans, the Greeks Meanwhile, the tortoise continues to were hiding inside the horse. The horse meander on the path. The hare wakes up was wheeled inside the city’s walls and, at just in time to witness the tortoise cross nightfall, the Greeks emerged from the the finish line. The race is over and the horse and destroyed everything in sight. tortoise has won! What is the moral of the story? There are two. First, one should In this war, Homer also not gloat, brag, or shame your opponent writes about the mythical in a contest. Second, hard work pays off, warrior Achilles. As a baby, so continue to do your best and try your Achilles was dipped into the hardest to find success. River Styx that would give him supernatural powers. In A second fable is called “The Ant and the the war, Achilles was struck Grasshopper.” The ant spends all summer with an arrow through his gathering food to prepare for winter heel, severing what we call while being mocked by the grasshopper. the Achilles tendon. This When the winter comes, the ill-prepared was the heel that his mother grasshopper realizes the moral of the held onto when he was story: it is always best to prepare for the dipped into the river. days of necessity. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 4: The Goddess Athena 2304 red diamonds rule Athena was viewed as one of the most powerful of the Greek gods. Each polis in the Greek landscape honored different gods, and Athena was the most common choice. For example, Athens and Sparta, two of the most famed greek city-states, worshiped Athena. According to Greek myth, Zeus, the king of the Gods, swallowed his first wife, Metis, when she was pregnant with Athena. He did this because he feared she would give birth to a child who was stronger than him. Moments later, Athena burst from the top of Zeus’ head, fully armed for battle. The myth continues to explain how Athena became the patron god of Athens. She and Poseidon entered a contest to see who could provide the best gift to the people of Athens. The King of Athens, Cecrops, would decide the winner, and whoever won was to become the protector god over Athens. Poseidon used his trident to strike the acropolis, the sacred site that overlooks the city. A salt spring sprouted from the land to provide the people with a reliable water source. This was impressive. Next, Athena used the available water and planted something in the ground. The next day, an olive tree sprouted. Since the olive tree was fundamental to the Athenian economy, Cecrops chose Athena as the winner. In 447 BCE, Athenian leader Pericles commissioned the building of the Parthenon to honor Athena. It was completed in 438 BCE and still stands today! © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School 2304 red diamonds ruleStation 5: The Olympic Games The ancient Greeks believed that angry gods would negatively impact their life on earth. Zeus and the Olympian gods would not hesitate to bring earthquakes or floods, or cause shipwrecks or war, if they felt disrespected. Therefore, the Greeks did everything in their power to honor the gods. One way they did this was through a series of ceremonies and festivals, and the most famous of these was held in the polis of Olympia. Olympia held a festival every four years to honor Zeus, the king of the gods. Here, the great sculptor Phidias even crafted a 42-foot tall statue of Zeus to honor the mythical Greek god. Its size rivaled that of Athena in Athens. Did you know Today, the statue has been regarded as one of that participants the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. competed naked Greeks would travel from throughout the mainland to Olympia to take part in these in the earliest religious ceremonies. Olympic Games? The first of these ancient festivals took place in 776 BCE and included a variety of games to show their respect to the Greek gods. Only men competed in these contests, and initially only running events were performed. Quickly, other games were incorporated, such as boxing, shot put, long jump, and the javelin and discus throw. Wrestling was added in 708 BCE, and pankration, an empty-hand form of combat similar to modern mixed martial arts, was first introduced in 648 BCE. Since the competitors wanted to show Zeus their physical power and muscular physique, they often competed entirely naked. The ancient Olympic Games were performed every four years for nearly twelve centuries straight. The games came to an end and were outlawed in 393 CE by Roman Emperor Theodosius. He feared games were a pagan ritual that would anger the Christian god. The Olympic Games would not reemerge until 1896. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 6: The Greek Theater The Greeks were the first to invent a new form of art where participants followed a script (written by a writer) and acted out of the roles in front of an audience. This style of art, the bringing to life of written words on paper, is called drama. The Greeks performed these dramas in outdoor theaters where members of the audience sat on three sides of the stage. In early Greek theater, only three people were allowed on stage, and the writers and actors were often the same people. Greek society, with the exception of Sparta, viewed women as inferior to men. As a result, Greek dramas were created and performed solely by men. Women were forbidden from participating in these plays, and they were also prohibited from sitting in the audience. Should a script have a female character, that part would also be played by a man. Since plays were often performed outside, actors had to speak very loudly and use gestures in order for the audience to understand the script. Costumes were often very colorful and exaggerated, and masks might be worn to depict the mood of a particular scene. There were two main forms of Greek dramas... Tragedy & Comedy A serious drama that shows the downfall of an A comedy is a less serious form of drama that important character. This type of play might start often pokes fun at politics, important people, positively, but as the story progresses the main and beliefs. They usually end happily, much character’s situation must get worse and worse. the opposite of a tragedy. Oedipus Rex is an example of a tragedy. King Laius is told by a prophet that his infant son, Oedipus, will one day kill him. Terrified that Laius will order his son to Sophocles be executed first, Oedipus’ mother gives him away to a new family (to save his wrote life) on the condition they never tell him he is the son of the king. Once Oedipus Oedipus Rex! becomes a teenager, he visits the same prophet who informed him of the same prophecy: that he would one day kill his father. Scared and terrified, Oedipus runs away from home. While away from home, he encounters a sphinx that was terrorizing a city. Oedipus pleads with the sphinx to stop, and it agrees to if Oedipus can solve the following riddle: “What goes on four legs in the morning, on two legs at noon, and on three legs in the evening?” Oedipus solves the riddle and the sphinx keeps its word. Oedipus is so amazed at his feat that he is not watching where he is going, and he runs into another traveler who then proceeds to hurl insults at Oedipus. The two get into a fight and Oedipus kills the traveler. Unknowingly to Oedipus, the traveler was actually King Laius, his biological father. The prophet was right. Still not knowing the situation he is in, Oedipus becomes the new king and marries his mother. Once he receives the news of what happened, Oedipus is so ashamed that he decides to scoop out his eyeballs and walk the earth for the rest of eternity. A Sphinx is a winged monster with a woman’s head, a lion’s body, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a serpent. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 7: Math + Science Eratosthenes Estimated the Hypatia was the greatest circumference, or mathematician of her distance around time and invented the Earth. He estimated astrolabe, a device not the Earth to have only used to measures star a circumference of distances around 24,000 miles but also as — it is roughly 24,900 a tool in miles. He was navigation. amazingly close! While Ptolemy did not make many grand achievements in his own right (he incorrectly believed the Earth was the center of the universe), his work on astronomy and star and planetary positions allowed others to advance new theories! Archimedes understood the law of levers, and that to move an innate object one needs a lever and a fulcrum placed close to an object. This Aristarchus was a revolutionary allowed sailors to lift heavy objects! He also discovered a mathematician and astronomer method to calculate the volume for his time. He was the first to of an irregularly shaped object. develop a theory that the sun, While taking a bath, he not the earth, was the center of realized that the volume of water that spilled out of the universe. He also believed the tub was in direct that stars were distant suns in proportion to the mass other galaxies! of what went in! © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 8: Greek Art 2304 red diamonds rule Greek art reflected how the Greeks viewed themselves and their world. First, Greek art glorified human beings. Greek painters and sculptures showed this glorification by making humans look flawless, without imperfection. Greek statues also showed other traits the Greeks admired, such as strength, intelligence, pride, grace, and courage. Second, Greek art showcased pride in their city states. The grand design of public buildings and temples was meant to highlight the glory of the “polis”, or “city-state,” in Greece. Lastly, Greek art was used to honor the gods. Many Greek artists used their talents to depict the Greek gods in near perfect form; to the Greeks, this would win the favor to the gods and bring blessings to the polis. Many Greek sculptures were placed inside temples, thus honoring the gods they portrayed. The Greeks used many different types of materials in their sculptures, including stone, marble and limestone as these were abundant in Greece. One of the most famous sculptors in all of Greek history was Phidias. In 447 BCE, Athenian statesman Pericles hired Phidias to direct the construction of the Parthenon, a temple to honor the goddess Athena. Inside, Phidias sculpted a 38-foot tall statue of Athena. Twelve years later, Phidias was hired to create a massive 42-foot tall statue of Zeus in Olympia around 435 BCE, the site of the Olympic games held every four years. Sculptures are the most common form of Greek art that survives today. This is not to suggest that the Greeks did not paint or make pottery, but other forms of art have been more difficult to unearth so only sculptures were durable enough to survive the roughly 2,500 years of history. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 9: History The Greeks were among the first people of history to write down the events of the past. They understood the importance of using history to understand the present. They also believed that the past could be studied in order to predict the future! 2 Greek historians were... Herodotus Thucydides Herodotus is often called the Thucydides is often called the “Father of History” since he was “Father of Scientific History” since the first known person to begin he approached the subject recording historical events. He a little differently than his does this during the Greco- predecessor Herodotus. Instead of just Persian Wars that started in recording events of the past, 499 BCE. Not only did he record the Thucydides was the first to seek first- war, but he investigated history by hand testimony to learn from those who reading several accounts in order to lived it. Thucydides wrote The History of study a timeline of the war’s events. the Peloponnesian War and sought This allowed Herodotus to study cause eyewitness testimony from soldiers, and effect, a method of studying history generals, and civilians to record the that has become the benchmark today. events of the war. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School  Station 10: Socrates + Plato + Aristotle Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato were three of the most famous Greek philosophers. This means that they used reason to study the world, rather than 2304 using red mythdiamonds or religionrule to explain everything they saw. Philosophers attempt to explain what they see in the world through experimentation and observation. The study of philosophy translates to “love of wisdom” in the Greek language. Socrates Plato Aristotle Socrates was born around 470 BCE and Plato was born in 427 BCE and was a Aristotle was born in 384 BCE. He was is credited with being one of the first student of Socrates and a teacher of a student of Plato, and Aristotle was Greek philosophers and a founder of Aristotle. While Plato shared the same such an avid thinker that he would go the subject. In his time, Socrates was “love of wisdom” of his predecessor, on to create his own school, the an enigmatic thinker and teacher. His Plato started to merge the principles of Lyceum, which was constructed in method of instruction created one of mathematics with philosophy to help Athens in 334 BCE. Aristotle’s the pillars of the education system the Greeks better understand the writings have influenced the world’s today, known as the Socratic Method. world around them. Plato perhaps is views on morals, law, This exercise encourages critical most famous for creating The biology, ethics, and Logical arguments called syllogism were government. As a result, created thinking by asking individuals a series Academy, a learning institution built in by Aristotle. An of questions and allowing time for Athens, which is today credited with he is also considered the example of one is... discussion or debate. The purpose is being the first university to exist in first biologist (having written on 500 species of “All men are mortal. for students to consider the ideas of Europe. Much of Plato’s writings deal their peers, as well as their own, to with law, order, and justice, as is seen birds, mammals, and fish), “Greeks are men. reach new understandings. Plato, one in his famed book The Republic. In it, the first psychologist (having described how Therefore, all Greeks of his most famed students, recorded Plato describes his vision for a perfect are mortal.” much of Socrates’ life, including his government. Despite Athens having a some human behavior is controversial execution. Being a democracy, Plato believed a better driven by instinct), and the first philosopher, Socrates was skeptical of option existed. Since philosophers like geologist (having described how the religion. Athenian politicians charged himself always sought the best, most earth’s geography changes based on Socrates with moral corruption when rational explanations to problems, he climate). In 343 BCE, Aristotle was he began asking his students to believed a philosopher-king should hired by Philip II of Macedon to tutor question the power of the Greek gods. govern society. This ensured that his son, Alexander the Great. He In 399 BCE, he was sentenced to death rulers would not make rash encouraged Alexander to “be a leader by drinking a toxic beverage made judgements, but would instead of the Greeks,” which Alexander took from the poisonous plant hemlock. carefully calculate every decision. to heart and conquered the region in 336 BCE. © History with Mr. E Specializing in American and World History for late Elementary, Middle, and early High School