Month: May 2014

Dear 7B,

History is full of strange contradictions. For example, imagine setting up a state and calling it a democracy – and then getting slaves to do all the work. Did I miss something? 

The ancient Athenians are often praised for their contributions to the modern world, and yet in the midst of that seemingly free-thinking, creative society there were thousands of slaves. In the southern states of the USA there were also thousands of slaves until 1865. In 1863, slavery was officially abolished, but it wasn’t until 1865 that many slaves were freed.  Thomas Jefferson had written in the beautiful words of the American Declaration of Independence, published in 1776, that “all men are created equal”, yet even he believed that the slaves were racially inferior. You can see what I mean about contradictions.

When I ask my students to describe slavery, they always say, “hard work, no pay, hardly any rights…” Then they do a double-take. “Hey!” they cry. “That sounds like our life.”

But that’s an exaggeration. Your teachers don’t own you. Even your parents don’t. We adults must follow the rule of law in how we treat you.

A slave, in contrast, has no rights. A slave is the legal property of another and is forced to obey the owner. The owner can oppress the slave, punish him and sometimes even kill him without any punishment.

Slavery is the topic you will be exploring today. Try to work hard. Like a slave.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/ancient_greeks/athens/

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/explore/exp_set.html

Answer in sentences:

1. What exactly is a slave?

2. What percentage of the people of Athens were slaves?

3. How did one become a slave? (There are several possibilities.)

4. What jobs were done by slaves? 

5. What do you think would be the most difficult aspect of being a slave? 

Finally, try the “House Challenge” at this site, provided by the British Museum. You are not allowed to play this game until you have done the work above!

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/dailylife/challenge/cha_set.html

Kind regards from

Your friendly slave-driver,

Ms Green

To see the crossword below on the full screen, click on the enlarging symbol on the top right of the quiz window.

If you were a Spartan soldier, you were trained from the age of seven to prefer death to defeat.

The 300 Spartans who held the pass at Thermopylae against the huge Persian army must surely  have known that they were going to die. According to a Persian scout, they combed their hair in preparation for the battle.

For days they stood against Xerxes’ army of 250,000 men and held the narrow pass against them. Realising that they must ultimately be defeated, the Spartan King Leonidas sent the Athenian army home. The heroic stand of the Spartan 300, however, allowed the Athenian army to return to Athens and evacuate the city before the Persians arrived.

The Athenians, as the beneficiaries of the Spartans’ courage, managed to regroup and defeat the Persians at sea.

The grateful Athenians commissioned Simonides to write an epitaph for the Spartans who had sacrificed their lives. He wrote: “Go tell the Spartans, passing stranger, that we lie here obedient to their laws.” In other words, these three hundred men had preferred death to defeat and a courageous last stand to a retreat; they had died honourably. In doing so, they had done their part in protecting Greek civilisation from the seemingly all-conquering Persian Empire.

Sources on the life of the Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae:

Spartans: http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/sparta/home_set.html

Thermoplyae: http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/weaponswar/p/blpwtherm.htm

Themophlyae: http://www.factbehindfiction.com/index_files/300TheBattleatThermopylae.htm

CLICK HERE FOR QUIZ ON FULL SCREEN

As you already know, many people from ancient Greece were remarkably influential, impressively inventive and downright clever.

For instance, there was Euclid, who figured out the rules of geometry and whose textbooks were used in schools until the 19th century.

There was also Homer, who is credited with writing down the legends of Odysseus and the Trojan War and whose stories have intrigued and inspired people ever since.

One of the people who always fascinates me was the poet Sappho, whose work only survives in fragments – yet those fragments are so surpassingly beautiful, so intense and so memorable, that modern people still read her work with wonder.

I could go on, but I want you to discover an ancient Greek thinker for yourselves. Here is your task:

Choose ONE of the great Greek thinkers listed below. Try to read two or three websites and one or two books about that person. The books could include an encyclopedia in the library or a dictionary or encyclopedia of biography.  Once you have found your information, design an attractive and eye-catching page about your famous Greek. Your page should include:

♦a summary of the person’s achievements

♦what you find interesting or admirable about him/her

♦quotations attributed to the person

♦diagrams representing inventions or mathematical principles, etc.

♦an attractive heading

♦a mini bibliography

♦symbols representing the person’s ideas or achievements 

Recommended Websites

 

Homer: http://greece.mrdonn.org/odyssey.html

Homer again: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/homer.shtml

Archimedes: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/archimedes.htm

Archimedes again: http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/People/Archimedes/

One more Archimedes site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/archimedes.shtml

Euclid: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/euclid.htm

Aristotle: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/aristotle.htm

Socrates: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm

Eratosthenes: http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/science/math/eratosthenes.htm

Sappho: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/318

Pythagoras: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pythagoras.shtml