
Adventures in Ancient Greece for Kids
Come meet the ancient Greeks. Read wonderful myths. Learn how the brave Greek hero Theseus escaped the maze! Meet Apollo's oracle, where things are rarely as they seem. Join Hercules and his friends as they solve problems in daily life. Argue with Socrates, the great teacher. Explore Aesop's fables, a collection of very short stories that are still popular today. Cheer at the Olympics and standup for your city-state. Play some interactive games! For a quick look at this amazing ancient culture, scroll down. Or see the menu below to find just what you need.
Welcome to Ancient Greece!
A Quick Look:
Over two thousand five hundred (2,500+) years ago, ancient Greece was made up of many hundreds of Greek city-states, grouped together at the southern end of a very large peninsula that jutted out from Europe into the Mediterranean Sea. Smaller peninsulas stuck out from the main Greek peninsula, forming a great deal of natural coastline and many natural harbors. It's no wonder the Greeks were great sailors and fishermen!
Ancient Greece was not a country. It was not an empire. It was a collection of many independent city-states (little itty bitty ones to great big sprawling villages and towns.) At one point, there were over 2,500 ancient Greek city-states on one peninsula. (Easy to remember - 2,500 years ago, there were approximately 2,500 ancient Greek city-states!) Over time, the little itty bitty ones were absorbed or combined into larger city-states for safety.
Ancient Greek Government: There was no central government, no central army, and no king or queen of ancient Greece that ruled all the city-states. Rather, each city-state had its own form of government with the power to rule only that city-state, and each city-state had its own way of doing things. Some city-states, like ancient Corinth, were ruled by kings. Some, like the warrior city-state of Sparta, were ruled by councils. Ancient Athens, the jewel of the ancient Greek city-states, even experimented for a while with an early form of democracy.
Common Culture: As varied as they were in the way they governed themselves, when it came to culture and beliefs, the ancient Greek people had a great deal in common. The ancient Greeks spoke the same language. They worshiped the same gods. They told the same myths. They believed in beauty and honor. The ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state. But because of their common culture, they also recognized themselves as Greeks.
Greek Gods: A huge mountain range ran down the middle of the Greek peninsula (and still does.) In ancient times, the Greeks believed if you could manage to climb to the top of the tallest mountain, Mount Olympus, and somehow see through the fog and snow and magic, you would find the magnificent homes of their 12 most powerful gods. When things had to be decided in the mythical world, this council of 12 gods, called the 12 Olympians, met together on Mount Olympus to discuss things, which was a very Greek thing to do - talk it over first, and then either (1) sign a legally binding document with agreed upon terms, or (2) go to war, or (3) get even!
The Greeks told wonderful myths about their gods. The ancient Greeks believed their gods often got involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, causing all kinds of trouble. According to the storytellers, the ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings. Although the storytellers were quite inventive, and each told a myth in their own way, each god's personality and powers remained the same from story to story. That's because the ancient Greeks knew their gods well.
Poseidon, lord of the sea, could raise his hand and a new island would appear! Apollo brought up the sun every day, and his twin sister Artemis brought up the moon. Most of the gods avoided the god Ares. Nobody liked him much, not even his father, the mighty Zeus, but Ares was the god of war, so you had to keep him on your side if you could. Speaking of the mighty Zeus, king of all the gods, Zeus probably caused more trouble than any of them, even more than Aphrodite, the goddess of love. The Greeks did not limit their myths to stories about the 12 Olympians. They told stories about all their many mythical creatures. Counting the powerful Olympians and their kids, the ancient Greeks recognized about 2,000 mythical creatures, which gave them a lot of room to be creative storytellers.
Some of their mythical beings looked like people, but some looked like monsters, because, well .. they were! Some monsters were pets, like the three-headed dog so loved by Hades, god of the underworld. But some monsters, according the ancient Greeks, were quite dangerous. Fortunately, they found ways to beat these monsters as needed, nearly always with trickery and cleverness, two skills greatly admired by the ancient Greeks.
The Ancient Greek Olympics: The ancient Greek city-states did, on occasion, team up against a common foe. They also went to war with each other, unless the ancient Olympic Games were in progress. The Greeks invented the Olympics, and took the event quite seriously. Nearly all the ancient Greek city-states sent teams to participate. If two or more Greek city-states happen to be at war with each other when the game date arrived, war was halted for the duration of the games. The Greek Olympics were not the only games in ancient Greece - the Greeks loved competition of all sorts - but the Olympics were the most important. Every city-state wanted to brag that their athletics (as well as their statues, their theatre, their fabrics) were the best!
Gifts from the Greeks: The ancient Greeks loved competitions and they loved to brag. To be fair, they had a great deal to brag about. The ancient Greeks gave us many gifts - the Olympics, democracy, the theatre, comedy, tragedy, the wheelbarrow, the alphabet, advances in medicine and science, architectural wonders like the three very different ancient Greek columns, incredible myths, and tales of legends, heroes, and fables to name a few. Theirs was a culture envied and copied by other ancient civilizations.
To learn more about the clever, creative, ancient Greeks, see the menu above.
With great excitement, we are pleased to announce
We're Published!
Mr. Donn and
Maxie's Ancient History PowerPoints Series
Written by Lin & Don Donn,
illustrated by Phillip Martin, Published by Good Year Books
Mr. Donn and
Maxie's Always Something You Can Use Series (lesson plans for
teachers)
Written by Lin & Don Donn, Published by Good Year Books