The ABC's of Ancient Greece By Sophia S
A is for Acropolis
Athenians called it "The Sacred Rock, The High City". It's a rocky hill dedicated to Athena.
B is for Bellerophon
A Greek hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus. He tried to ride Pegasus to heaven but Zeus stung Pegasus with a gadfly so Pegasus threw Bellerophon off his back and down to Earth.
C is for Chaos
A dark, silent abyss from which everything came from. It generated the solid mass of Earth that Heaven arose from.
D is for Doric
One of the three architectural systems called orders. It is sturdy with a plain top.
E is for Eros
He is the god of love. He's Aphrodite's son so he is her constant attendant.
F is for Festivals
A central part of worshipping gods that includes a procession and sacrifice. They had competitions in music, poetry, drama, and athletics.
G is for Gaea
The mother and wife of Uranus and governs over the universe. She's a parent of the first creatures: the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires.
H is for Hades
The lord of the underworld and ruler over the dead. He's also the god of wealth because there are a lot of precious metals underground.
I is for Ionian Revolt
The start of the First Persian War. It lasted almost two decades from 499BC to 488BC.
J is for Jason
A Greek hero who went on a quest to get the Golden Fleece. He needed the Golden Fleece to help his father get his kingdom back from King Pelias.
K is for Kronos
The ruler of the universe until the gods overthrew him. He's one of the twelve titans and the youngest son of Uranus and Gaea.
L is for Labours of Heracles
He was a very popular Greek hero and was famous for his stregth and courage. He was given twelve langurs including slaying the Lernean Hydra and capturing the Cerynelan Hind.
M is for Minotaur
A creature with a bull's head and a man's body. It was locked in the center of the Labyrinth.
N is for Nike
The winged goddess of victory in battle and in peaceful competition. She is a child of Styx and is Zeus' charioteer.
O is for Olympics
The Greeks invented them and held them in honor of the gods. Women were not allowed to watch these five day competitions.
P is for Parthenon
It was built in the Acropolis to replace a temple by Persians. A statue inside was the Athena Parthenos which is what the name Pathenon came from. It was also built to show the wealth and exuberance of Athenian power.
Q is for Quest
Males who were sometimes demigods went on quests. An example is Persueus who went on a quest to get Medusa's head.
R is for Rhea
The sister and queen of Kronos and the parent to six of the Olympians. She didn't like Kronos eating their kids so she made Kronos swallow a stone instead of Zeus and then later helped Zeus make Kronos throw up all the gods Kronos had eaten.
S is for Socrates
A Greek philosopher who layer the fundamentals of modern Western philosophy. Historians who try to gather information about him face the Socratic Probrlem: There is no proof that he actually wrote anything or that he even existed at all.
T is for Trojan War
The Greeks built a wooden horse and thinking it was good luck, the Trojans brought inside their city. The Greek soldiers inside the horse let other soldiers into the city to destroy Troy.
U is for Uranus
The personification of the sky and god of the heavens. His children are the Titans, Cyclopes, and Hecatoncheires.
V is for Voting
Women weren't allowed to participate in voting. These citizen conducted cases in court happened whenever there was an issue.
W is for Writing
The Greek alphabet is the forerunner of our English alphabet. The Greeks always wrote right to left instead of left to right.
X is for Xenophon
He was the son of Gryllus and a pupil of Socrates. He participated in the military expedition against Artaxerxes and recorded details about it in a book called the Anabasis.
Z is for zeus
The god of the sky and is considered the father of the gods and of mortals. He displaced his father Kronos and assumed leadership of the gods of Mount Olympus.
Bibliography
"Ancient Greece - The British Museum." Ancient Greece - The British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2015.
"The Forum." Ancient Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2015.
Pearson, Anne. Ancient Greece. New York: Knopf, 1992. Print.
Sands, Stella. "Ancient Greece." Ancient Greece n.d.: n. pag. Print.
Created with images by Shadowgate - "Heraklion" • K_Dafalias - "Acropolis" • NASA Goddard Photo and Video - "Best-Ever Snapshot of a Black Hole's Jets" • ahisgett - "Eros" • annachok - "2007 Greek Festival, Monterey" • WikiImages - "earth globe atmosphere" • Maxwell Hamilton - "The Vestibule of Hades" • Jim Linwood - "Frozen Statue Of Hercules - Kew Gardens." • celebdu - "Charging Minotaur" • vintagedept - "Sofia - Tiny Golden Charm" • nathanborror - "Parthenon of the South" • edenpictures - "Perseus With Medusa's Head" • derekskey - "Socrates Statue at the Louvre" • pfarrdiakon - "trojan horse trojan troy" • Cuyahoga jco - "01-09-2015 Sky" • Stifts- och landsbiblioteket i Skara - "Xenophon" • Sharon Mollerus - "Bronze Statue of Zeus or Poseidon, Cape Artemision, northern Euboea, Severe Style, early Classical, ca. 460 BC"