Emma+V.'s+Reports+and+Essay

Essay The Parthenon was the temple to the Greek goddess Athena. The Parthenon was started in 447 B.C. and was finished in 438 B.C. The Parthenon actually replaced an older temple of Athena. Historians call the older temple of Athena the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon. Unfortunately the Pre-Parthenon was demolished in the Persian invasion in 480 B.C. In the Parthenon there was a 40 foot high statue of Athena made of gold, silver, and ivory. She is holding a mini figure of Nike, the goddess of victory, and a shield with Medusa’s head mounted on it. Also Athena is wearing a helmet. Athena was born out of Zeus’s head and was said to be in full armor when she came out of it. Athena was goddess of war and wisdom. Before it was called Athens, it was just a beautiful area. Zeus was going to give the land to one of the gods or goddesses, and Poseidon and Athena both really wanted it. Whoever got the land, it would be named after that god or goddess. Zeus couldn’t decide between his brother, Poseidon, or his daughter, Athena, so he said they could both give a gift to the people who were going to live there. The people would decide by which gift they liked better. Poseidon gave them a horse and said, “This horse will be perfect for war.” Next was Athena, and she gave them an olive tree, and she said, “This olive tree represents peace.” The people decided they liked Athena’s gift better, so the city was named Athens.

In Athens, potters made beautiful pottery, but they were lowest class. Today the pottery is worth a lot of money. On the pottery they actually wrote things insulting others such as, “I bet __ could not make something as beautiful as I did.” They also put their names on the pottery. Also they painted on the pottery, with scenes of war or famous happenings. Athens military was basically anyone who could hold or pick up a bronze shield or a sword.

Before Athens had a democracy, there was an Oligarchy and a Tyranny. The Oligarchy was ruled by a small group of people, the aristocrats. Peisistratus overcame the oligarchy. He then was the ruler of Athens. He was the only one who could make rules, so anyone who had an idea for government would have to have his permission first. After the Oligarchy and the Tyranny, there was a democracy. The democracy was ruled by the people. They would have discussions of ideas they had for laws. The people would decide if it was a good idea or not. Clisthenes came up with an idea for how the people could decide. If they liked the idea for a law, they would put a white pebble into a jar, and if they didn’t like the idea for a law, they would put in a black pebble. Clisthenes is sometimes called the father of democracy. This was because under Clisthenes’s power, Athens had the first democracy in the world.

In Athens the girls were educated if they were lucky by private tutors, otherwise they got no education. Most girls were taught household work. Although Athens is known for freedom and democracy, women had few rights. The Athenian boys went to a school to be educated and learned how to run jump and fight. This training was not long or harsh.

Athens is located on the north-east part of Greece and Sparta, another city-state, is located on the south-east part of Greece. Sparta and Athens did not like each other at all. Sparta was the city-state of war. The leader was Lycurgus. Spartans thought of themselves as Greeks and spoke Greek too, only they were all for war. They had their boy child(ren) at age seven leave to go to school to be educated. The young boys were often beaten by older boys to teach them discipline and strength. Also the parents whipped them in public, and if the child cried or had shown pain, they would get even more whippings. At ages twelve to eighteen, they were being trained by exercising. They swam, jumped, ran, and threw javelins. The boys weren’t given much food. They were encouraged to steal food, but if they were caught stealing it they were whipped. From ages eighteen to twenty, they learned how to fight in the military, so they were military trained. From ages twenty to thirty the men joined the Spartan army. At age thirty the men could go back home but, they had to be in the Spartan army until the age of sixty.

Since the men were always gone, the Spartan women had more freedom than other women in Greece. Some women even owned land. The women did not spin cloth or weave; they thought these were slave’s jobs. They thought this because they felt those tasks were too lowly for a soldiers’ mother or wife. By: Emma V. 823 words



Athens Greatest Philosophers:

Some of the greatest philosophers in the ancient Athens are Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These people were also great scientists. Socrates was the teacher of Plato, and Plato the teacher of Aristotle. Socrates was asked many questions and he often answered in questions. Because Socrates knew so much about science, he started to find out things about natural happenings on the earth, such as, rain, thunder, or lightening. Some people got angry because he was questioning the gods and goddesses authority. They got so angry he was sentenced to death. Plato was grieving when he heard that Socrates had died. Plato was not only a Greek philosopher, but a mathematician too. Plato also had dialogues. Some of Plato's dialogues included, philosophy, logic, ethics, rhetoric, and mathematics. Aristotle was a teacher of Alexander the Great. Aristotle’s writings included things such as, theater, music, and logic. By: Emma V.