Poseidon: The god of the sea, rivers, flood and drought, earthquakes, and horses.

Poseidon on Prezi

Atsma, Aaron. "POSEIDON." Theoi Greek Mythology . 2008. Theoi Project Copyright, Web. 24 Feb 2010. <http://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Poseidon.html>.

Alexander the Great- notes

1. Alexander was student of Aristotle
2. Alexander's dad was named Philip
3. Philip was King of Macedonia
• Assassinated when Alexander is 19 years old
4. Alexander gets revenge on the people who killed his dad
5. Alexander wants to and does invade Persia and conquer it
6. Alexander ruled world when he was about 23
7. Alexander goes to Troy (ancient enemy of Greece) to start to conquer Persia
8. Goes to Gordian next
• Knot at Gordian (supposedly impossible to untie)
• Whoever untied knot becomes the king of the world
• Alexander attempts to untie the knot
• Takes sword and chops the knot and it unties
9. When Alexander gets to Egypt, he is hailed as a king because Egyptians hate Persia
10. Alexander and his buddies take a road trip to an oasis named Siwa
• Oracle at Siwa, when he walks in, priest greets him as son of god (Amon)
11. Goes to Persepolis which is the ancient capital of Persia
• Once was the greatest capital of the world and is now in ruins
12. Alexander fights Darius at Issus
13. Darius is betrayed and killed
14. Gave Alexander Persia in his dying words
15. Bessus is the one that killed Darius
16. Alexander needs to get Persian population behind him, He does this by going after the people that left Darius behind
17. Goes as far as Afghanistan to find them
18. Many leader have had the ability to make their armies do what is needed
19. Get to their destination before the betrayers and they kill them
20. Killed Bessus, cut out his tongue and spiked him
21. Alexander goes to Tajikistan and is defeated there.
• This is his first defeat
22. There is only Europe and a small portion of Asia and the Middle East. Because of this, Alexander thought that he had conquered the world
23. His campaign does south into India
• Meets fierce resistance in India
• Army is being attacked daily
• Constant fighting
• Suffered mortal wombs (arrow that pierces a lung)
• Hears stories of more people in India and wants to go. But men don’t want to.
• Alexander sees an omen and decides to go home
• After he goes home
• his men married Persian wives
• He married
• Dresses like a Persian king
24. Goes to southern deserts of Iran
25. Comes back up to Babylon
26. Loses friend is accident and becomes depressed
27. Binge drinking, depression, and wounds cause fever and Alexander dies at 32 years old.
28. Has all land ruled under Alexander, now he's dead so they split the empire between the generals
29. Main two divisions of Alexander's Empire are called a Hellenistic civilization...
• Seleucid Empire
• Ptolemaic Egypt
30. Alexander's descendants would rule Egypt until Cleopatra

Alexander the Great: Vengeful or Smart? Both.

2. Do you think Alexander honestly felt like he was avenging Persian wrongs? Or was that just propaganda to mask his goal of conquest?

Honestly, I do believe that Alexander was avenging the Persians for killing his father; however, Alexander also wanted propaganda to become the ruler, king, leader, etc.  By invading Persia, he "killed two birds with one stone"; avenging the Persians and getting the correct recognition in order to achieve his goal of conquest.  When Alexander got the satisfying revenge that he wanted, the people of Egypt honored him as one of their gods because the Egyptians hated the Persians.


"Shtip-Alexander." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 23 Feb 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shtip-Alexander.jpg>.

Athens- notes

1. 1 quarter of population of Greece lives in Athens.
2. Ancient city of Athens was based on the acropolis
3. At the base of acropolis is the grove of Dionysus
• Leads into theatre of Dionysus, in back of grove
4. Play wrights were forced to write an a trilogy and a comedy
5. Trigordeous (tragedies) and comedios (comedies)= subjects of plays, human interest
6. At the top of the acropolis, sat the Temple of Athena Nike
• Built after Persian war, built because Athena was goddess of Athens and they beat the Persians
7. Most important temple on the acropolis was the Parthenon
• Began being built in 480
• Was built with funds that Athenians got as a result of Persian War
• Dedicated to virgin Athena
• Women of city wrapped statue of Athena in linens, and then played games (Panathenian games)
8. Pericles, prominent and influential general
• Wanted to get all city-states in Greece as one
• What to do with war funds that came in from the Persians; wanted to build a Navy
• Opens up the arts; sets up new building on acropolis
9. Age of drama and art
10. Period of first experiment with Democracy
11. If you were a citizen you must…
• Fight for your city with no choice
12. Athens defeat Sparta in 480 B.C.
13. Battle on plains of Attica
• Warfare
14. Neither side is defeating the others
15. Urban plan of the city of Athens
• 10 miles from port to city
• Built long walls all the way from harbor to city
• Used for defense because enemy can't get to you
• Athenians are trapped in their own walls, the plague breaks out, and Pericles dies
16. Athenians put money into Navy, therefore Athenians attacked Sicily and Sparta could never catch up to them
17. Night before ships were about to take out for attack
• Someone created vandalism across the city of Athens
• Alcibiades' enemies convinced everyone that he did it
18. Alcibiades goes on boat
19. Had a trial against him while he wasn’t here
20. Gets on a boat and goes to Sparta

Biography of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Socrates was the first of the three other prominent Athenian philosophers.  He fought for Athens in the  Peloponnesian War, but then began to think about the world around him.  There was then a group of men who began listening to his logic and reasoning; however, some Athenians became enraged at his teachings, so he was sentenced to death. 

Plato was another one of the very famous Athenian philosophers who listened to Socrates.  Plato was about thirty years old when Socrates died, and Plato was the one who wrote down most of what he remembered from his speeches.  The information we know now about Socrates was transferred by Plato.

Aristotle was not from Athens like the other two renowned Athenian philosophers.  Aristotle studied that the academy of Plato, but did not become the leader of the academy when Plato died.  Aristotle then became angry, left Athens, and became the tutor of a boy named Alexander, who later became Alexander the Great.  Aristotle was more interested in science than the other two philosophers,  but he wanted to use Socrates' questions to figure out the real world.  "He created a classification system of monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies,democracies and republics which we still use today" (Carr).










"Aristoteles Louvre." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 22 Feb 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aristoteles_Louvre.jpg>.


Carr, Dr. Karen. "Aristotle." Kidipede. 15 Jan 2009. Web. 22 Feb 2010. <http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/aristotle.htm>.

Carr, Dr. Karen. "Plato." Kidipede. 15 Jan 2009. Web. 22 Feb 2010. <http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/plato.htm>.

Carr, Dr. Karen. "Socrates." Kidipede. 15 Jan 2009. Web. 22 Feb 2010. <http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/philosophy/socrates.htm>.

"Plato." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 22 Feb 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plato.png>.

Article 4- Ancient to Modern Olympics

            What event comes every four years, involves different varieties of sports, takes place in the summer and in the winter, and was first created in Ancient Greece? If you guessed the Olympics, you are correct.  The Olympics Games were claimed to be first established in Olympia in 776 B.C., but there was a problem with this philosophy.  Olympia, a secluded and private area, was the primary location where Zeus was worshiped.  Over time, Olympia turned out to be a place where Zeus was worshiped through sports and competition rather than sacrificial offerings.  How does this change all of a sudden?  A few factors have been ruled the cause of this alteration such as the rise of the Greek city state. Each city state wanted power, so they would send representatives to Olympia to come to be the best in physical competition. The Games were a widely held method of getting men in shape for military training.  “The traditional Greek view that the gods were championed a winner, so by establishing a competition aimed at producing supreme winners, they were thereby asserting the power and influence on humans of the supreme god, Zeus” (Instone).  The Ancient and Modern Olympics differ in many ways; sports, traditions, and seasons.

The ancient Olympics, like modern day, had to make qualifications to participate in the games. Only free men who spoke Greek were allowed to sign up. They had to qualify for the foot races, and then have their name written down on a list. It was likely that only young men were allowed to participate. It has been written that one man was exempt from the races because he seemed too mature. In the beginning, the games lasted only one day, but soon grew to five days. Not only was it one day, but it had only one event.
            This event was the stadion race. It was a short sprint, about 180-240 meters. Normally, it depended on the length of the stadium. In 724 BC, the diaulos was introduced during the 14th Olympic Games. This race was single lap of the stadium, about 400 meters. This is about the length of a track today. Another race was added 720 BC, four years later. This race was called the dolichos. It was about the length of 3 miles, or what today is considered a 5K race. Just like races today, it would start in the stadium, but the course would go through surrounding territory, and then finish again in the stadium.
            The modern Olympics restarted in 1896 in the city of Athens, where the ancient Olympics were held. The first time there was a Winter Olympics was in 1901 and it was held in Sweden. The reason for the winter Olympics was to showcase winter sports such as ice hockey, curling, luge, and figure skating. The summer Olympics is much more large scale since more people compete in summer sports than in winter sports. For example, in the 2008 summer Olympics, there were 10,500 competitors that represented 204 countries. In the 2006 winter Olympics, there were 2,508 competitors representing 80 countries (Wikipedia).
        The Opening and Closing Ceremonies are a major part of the Olympics. During the opening ceremony, each nation parades into the stadium in alphabetically order depending on the host country’s language. Greece is always the first country to enter in order to honor the Greeks for creating the Olympics. The host nation is always last to enter. A well-known athlete runs the torch into the stadium and lights the cauldron. This flame stays lit for the duration of the games. During the closing ceremony, all of the athletes walk into the stadium with no distinction from nation to nation. Three flags are also raised. These flags are the Greek flag, the host’s flag, and the flag of the next host city. The host city of the next Olympics will perform a theatrical piece that shows their culture (Wikipedia).

As you see, the Modern Olympics are somewhat different today than what they used to be in Ancient times.  The Olympics, today, is a prominent event that is broadcasted on television for sixteen days.  Back then, the games were only held for one day because they only had one game to play. The Ancient Olympics only included a few sports, all based on running, but in the Modern Olympics, sports have evolved from just running to a huge, entertaining variety or new activities.  The Winter Olympics taking place now in Vancouver, Canada include numerous sports that Ancient Greeks would have never thought of.  Greeks based all of their sports off strength and running.  Nowadays, the sports involve other equipment which would have seemed out of the question to use back in ancient times because most Greeks believe the Olympics were a way of finding a man’s physical strength and military ability.  In modern times, the Olympics are a means of finding the number one contender for a certain sport and for entertainment purposes.  Men and women can now compete in the Olympics; however, they do not compete against each other.  Men compete against men and women compete against women.  The Summer and Winter Olympics of today’s society are very popular and well-known; however, in the day and age of the Ancient Olympics, not everybody approved or appreciated the Olympic athletes.  The Ancient Greek play called Autolycus “describes how athletes are slaves to their stomachs, but they cannot look after themselves, and although they glisten like statues when in their prime, become like tattered old carpets in old age” (Instone).

"Ancient Greek Olympics." Ancient Greece. Web. 17 Feb 2010          <http://cd7.e2bn.net/e2bn/leas/c99/schools/cd7/website/Greece.htm>.

Instone, Dr. Stephen. "The Olympics: Ancient versus Modern." Ancient history in-depth.     05 Nov 2009. BBC, Web. 9 Feb 2010.           <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greek_olympics_01.shtml>.

"Olympic Games." Wikipedia. 20/02/2010. Web. 17 Feb 2010.             <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Games#Modern_Games>.

Wikipedia contributors. "Ancient Olympic Games." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.     Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 17 Feb. 2010.

Theatre of the Anthenians

5. Explain how the origins of theatre in Athens are tied to both religion and politics. 

The origins of theatre in Athens are tied to both religion and politics because Athens was the center of political power during the time of 550 B.C.-220 B.C.  The stage that actors performed on was originally meant to be used for religious and sacrificial purposes, and there was an altar dedicated to the gods.  The very front rows of the theatre were reserved for the priests that came to enjoy the show.  Political leaders also enjoyed the show too and special seats were reserved for them.

"Ancient Greek theater discovered near Athens ." Dear Kitty. Some blog. Web. 15 Feb 2010. <http://www.aeria.phil.uni-erlangen.de/photo_html/topographie/griechenland/athen/akropolis/dionysos/dionys2.JPG>.

Philips, K. "Ancient Greek Stage". 3/29/00. Rich East High School. 15 Feb 2010. <http://www.richeast.org/htwm/Greeks/theatre/stage.html>.