Everything You Need To Know About - Ancient Greece - 1st Edition 2022

118 Pages·2022·112 MB·English

W
E
EVERYTHING
N
ANCIENT
YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
GREECE
FROM DEMOCRACY TO DOWNFALL
+PLUS
THE BIRTH OF
DEMOCRACY,
PHILOSOPHY,
RELIGION
AND MORE!

ln
a
o
t
i
it
g
i
d
i
DE IN THE SPARTA DOWN TO
THEATRE TO ATHENS AX XFXINXEX XAXRXT
N From dramas to comedies, there Take a tour through the city-states that Uncover the unrivalled craftsmanship
FIRST EDITIO was plenty of entertainment made up Ancient Greece behind pots, sculptures and more

welc ome
S
itting on top of the tallest hill in Athens,
dominating the skyline, is a complex of
buildings. Thousands of years old, today
they serve as a reminder of a civilisation
that once ruled the Mediterranean.
Back then, they were part and parcel of the
architecture of the Ancient Greek world.
In Everything You Need to Know About Ancient
Greece, uncover how life was lived in Athens, Sparta
and beyond, and what it was really like to worship
the Olympians. Explore the myths and legends, from
the founding of Athens to Odysseus’ run-in with a
cyclops, and run with ancient athletes at the first-
ever Olympic Games.
The Ancient Greeks have influenced the modern
world more than you think – turn the page to find
out what we owe to our predecessors.

EVERYTHING
ANYOU NCEED TIO KNEOW ABNOUT T
GREECE
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Everything You Need to Know About… Ancient Greece
First Edition (AHB4480)
© 2022 Future Publishing Limited
Content in this bookazine previously appeared in
All About History Book of Ancient Greece
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Part of the
bookazine series
Ancient Greece
CONTENTS
08 THE BEGINNINGS OF
ANCIENT GREECE
16 THE GREEK CITY-STATES
22 EVERYDAY LIFE IN
ANCIENT GREECE
32 THE ARTS IN
ANCIENT GREECE
36 ANCIENT GREEK
THEATRES
38 THE ART OF
ARCHITECTURE
42 HOW DEMOCRACY
WAS BORN
48 THE MAKERS OF
THE WEST
54 THE PHILOSOPHY
OF ANCIENT GREECE
58 ANCIENT GREEK
PHILOSOPHERS
60 THE GREEKS AND
THEIR RELIGION
64 THE TWELVE
OLYMPIANS
66 GREEK TEMPLES
68 THE ANCIENT OLYMPICS
74 GREEK MYTHS &
MONSTERS
80 SECRETS OF THE ORACLE
86 THE WAY OF
THE WARRIOR
90 GREEK WARSHIPS
92 WRITTEN IN BLOOD
98 ANCIENT GREECE
IN ECLIPSE 64
104 10 WAYS ANCIENT GREECE 98
CHANGED THE WORLD
6
Contents
48 74
54
22
32
7
Ancient Greece
The yo-
yo is thought
to have originated
in Ancient Greece; a
vase painting shows a
boy playing with two
terracotta disks held
together with
twine
An Ancient Greek red-figure vase
depicts the underworld, with Hades and
Persephone holding court in the centre
8
The Beginnings of Ancient Greece
t h e
b e g i n n i n g s
o f a n c i e nt
gr ee ce
From the dark beginnings of human
civilisation, Greece has been a fascinating
country on the forefront of human
development in the West
A
ncient Greece, with its multitude of different Greece’s geography can certainly be seen as
cultures and peoples, has long been seen an inspiration for these beliefs, with tall, majestic
as the cradle of Western civilisation. Having mountains making up 80% of the landmass, but
reached the heights of almost all aspects of it is also home to rugged coastlines and rolling
human learning, Greece was at the heart of fertile plains. While offering unrivalled views, the
the ancient world, and formed the basis for much mountains made overland travel difficult, so the
of Western society’s science, politics, philosophy, Greeks took to the sea for transportation and trade.
drama and more. While connected by water, local communities
When exploring Ancient Greece, it is worth often found themselves isolated by the topography,
noting that the people, as well as modern-day leading to the formation of independent city-states
Greeks, had a different name for their land: Hellas. and communities. These would be built up around
The name comes from the mythical progenitor of a central citadel, which – being situated on high
the Greek race, a man named Hellen (not Helen of ground – would offer a better vantage point to spot
Troy), but it is not known when he is supposed to incoming raiders or invaders. These eventually
have been born, or even if he existed. became known as acropolises, with the most
The mixing of myth and legend, especially in famous example found in Athens.
the early years, was not uncommon in the Greek Archaeological finds point to human settlement
world. Today we have a great many explanations in Greece dating back to the Neolithic era. The
for all manner of natural phenomena, and our early settlers and ancestors of the Greek people
understanding of science and medicine is far more migrated through Russia and down into the
advanced than those who inhabited the ancient northern part of the country in around 4000 BCE.
world. For them, the divine was a way to explain The population then spread across the land to
the unknown, and so early Greek history is directly found part of the Aegean civilisation, who were
linked to their religious and mythical beliefs. fishermen and traders based out of the islands of
9
Ancient Greece
Athens is one of
the oldest cities in
the world, with more
than 3,400 years
of continuous
habitation
An 18th-century depiction
of ancient Athens with the
Acropolis and agora visible
the Aegean Sea. They flourished from 3200 to 1100 After the fall of the Mycenaeans came a period
BCE, and provide evidence for continued human known as the Greek Dark Ages, which gained the
habitation of the area. name because from around 1100 to 800 BCE we
Around the same time, 2700 to 1500 BCE, the have very little in the way of historical documents
Minoan civilisation came to be active on the island to tell us what happened. It was during this time
of Crete. Experts believe the island was flooded that the fabled Trojan War was chronicled by
after a natural disaster, and this has often pointed Homer. While the city has been discovered, the
to the beginnings of the Atlantis myth. exact details of the actual war remain fuzzy, and
Later, the Mycenaean civilisation, which are so interwoven with mythology that the two
borrowed much from the Minoans, took shape. have become almost impossible to untangle.
The Mycenaeans were the first to speak Greek, and From 800 BCE onwards is when we begin to
they ruled from 1650 to 1200 BCE. Later Greeks find more familiar names that we associate with
would hold them in high regard, awed by the Ancient Greece, with the first being the oracle at
massive stone citadels they constructed. So vast Delphi. Serving as a prominent feature in Greek
were the stones that they were named ‘Cyclopean society for more than a thousand years, the oracle
walls’, after the one-eyed mythical monster, as it would give divine guidance to the rulers of the
was thought only giants could have moved such various city-states on matters of war and politics.   
weight. The mixing of the Minoan and Mycenaean Only a few years later, in 776 BCE, the first
deities would provide the Greeks with a foundation Olympic Games was held. Although a far cry
on which they constructed their own pantheon. from the modern version, and despite only
The creation myth of the Olympian gods’ war and having one event, the games started a
victory over the Titans began in this period. competitive tradition that would last
Trojan War myth
A war fought between the Achaeans and the
Trojans, the Trojan War is one of the most
influential and well-known pieces of Greek
mythology that exists. It is featured in many
works of literature, most famously in Homer’s
Iliad, a tale of war, love and betrayal.
The Ancient Greeks believed the war had
historical merit, but understood that Homer’s
account was filled with exaggeration and myth
to improve the story. Modern historians and
archaeologists have tried to find links in sources
of other cultures, like the Egyptians or Hittites,
and the consensus seems to be that the conflict
took place, but the details – like the cause and
outcome – are unfortunately lost to time.
The city of Troy was uncovered on the
A group of artefacts, known as
western tip of Anatolia in the 19th century, and
Priam’s Treasure, was found at
while it is almost certainly the Homeric Troy, no the supposed site of Troy Ancient Greece contained a
strong warrior culture and
one can say for certain. drive to exceed above all others
10