Ancient Greece By- Joey Gerlach

Geography- Agriculture Mainland Greece is a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea. Greece has more than 1,400 islands. Most Greeks lived along the coast where the soil was good for farming. There were many mountains and valleys in Greece, which affected the crops Greeks grew and limited the amount they grew. Some crops Greeks grew were beans, lentils, onions, carrots, and the delicious grape, which was turned into wine. Also, with much water surrounding Greece, fish was a surplus.

Geography- City-States The two major Greek city-states were Sparta and Athens, which is now Greek’s capitol.

Government- Sparta Sparta was ruled by two kings. The kings led the army when war was occurring. In addition to the kings, five ephors who were elected from rich families were a part of the government. Sparta also had a law-making council. The council was made of the two kings and 28 elders. To qualify for the position, the elders had to be sixty years of age or older. The only way to become a citizen of the city was to be a descendent of the original invaders who settled Sparta. This caused the number of citizens usually not to exceed six or seven thousand. There were more non-citizens than citizens, but they were kept in check by Sparta’s strong military that the government created.

Government- Athens Athens’ government was a democracy, which meant the people ruled. Voting was in an assembly, which was made of 6,000 male citizens. Also, there were 500 members of a council, who carried out the votes of the assembly. One negative aspect of this was that women didn’t have a vote, and weren’t represented at all.

Religion- Mythology The Greeks had polytheistic religious beliefs, which means the belief and worship of many gods. In Greek mythology, the gods often represented different forms of nature. Their religion wasn’t formal, with the exception of festivals held to honor the gods. The most powerful Greek gods were known as the Olympians. The Greeks believed the Olympians lived on the highest mountain in Greece, Mount Olympus. The king of the gods was believed to be Zeus, and his wife an children were also gods.

Religion- The Underworld The Greeks also believed in an afterlife in the underworld, and Cerberus the three-headed dog guarded the entrance to the underworld. The Greeks believed everyone should be able to go to the underworld, but had to pay a fee to get in, so they placed a gold coin in their mouth to pay Cerberus.

Olympics- History The Olympic games are said to be first started around 776 B.C., but probably began even sooner. They were held every four years for five days as a religious festival for the king of gods, Zeus.

Olympics- Respect The ancient Greeks loved competitions, and especially sporting competitions. The Olympics weren’t the only games in ancient Greece, but they were the most popular. The Greeks did take the games quite seriously. Nearly every ancient Greek city-state sent teams to participate in the Olympics. If there were to or more Greek city-states at war with each other when the game date arrived, the war was postponed for the games to begin.

Olympics- Events Some games played were running, wrestling, discus, javelin, and long jump.

Hair Styles- General In ancient Greece, hair was curled, arranged in interesting, carefully designed styles, and was held in place with scented lotions and waxes. Both men an women loved using mirrors to look at their hair.

Hair Styles- Women Women’s hair was often worn long and with braids on the top of their head, or was worn in ponytails. Also, headbands made of ribbon or metal were very popular. In Greece, blond hair wasn’t usually found.

Hair Styles- Men Men’s hair was cut short, and with the exception of soldiers, beards were popular. Also, barber shops first became popular in ancient Greece, where men exchanged political and sports news, and more gossip.

The End A Joey Gerlach Powerpoint.