Athens,+Greece

Athens, Greece By: Madison Leppert 9/27/07 Mrs. Landrum Social Studies

__Summary__

Athens, Greece was one of the powers of the world at the time of 510 B.C. This city was the place of the Parthenon and the city name comes from the goddess Athena. The city was one of the firsts to have a democratic government. They at one point they had to give their city to one man called Solon. He then tried to make a new government. They were overthrown by Hippias and then the Hippias went to exile Persia. The Athens was rivals with Sparta, and fought constantly. The only reason they fought is because the Spartans did not help the Athenians before they were overthrown.

__Outline__

Athens I. Government A. One of the first to have a democratic government 1. Was taken over by Solon II. The Reign of Solon A. How he forced himself to be ruler of government B. How he changed the government 1. The 4 classes 2. The council of 400 III. The Parthenon A. The architecture 1. How art made its way into it 2. A description of the building 3. What it was made of IV. The legend of Athens A. The origin 1. How the city got its name 2. How old the city is 3. What the people did to live their V. Agriculture of Athens A. What they did for food 1. Farming 2. Vineyards 3. If they were plentiful VI. Sparta-one of the Athens civilization’s rivals A. How they fought with Athens 1. How many wars they fought against each other 2. When they ever ambush one another 3. Any victories for Athens 10 Fun Facts about Athens 1. Did you know that Athens gave us three great philosophers named Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle? 2. Did you know that Athens is exactly 39 square miles long in all? 3. Did you know that Athens is the capital of Greece? 4. Did you know that Athens was the host of the 2004 Olympics? 5. Did you know that Athens has been a city for more than 3,500 years? 6. Did you know that Piraeus is the a town 10 kilometers southwest of Athens? 7. Did you know that Athens is a symbol of freedom, art, and culture? 8. Did you know that Athens was the one who had the age of Pericles? 9. Did you know that Athens was overthrown by the Hippias? 10. Did you know that Athens was supposedly fought over by two Greek god’s?

5 websites that I found information on 1. http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/GREECE/ATHENS.HTM 2.http://www.ancientgreece.com/html/geography_frame.htm 3.http://www3.oag.com/Cities/CityHome?city=382&cat=0 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Athens 5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens

Book Resources: 1. World Cultures and Geography by: McDougal Littel

Athens, Greece

Athens, Greece is a very important place for history. It was the essential place for the Parthenon. It also has a weird legend behind it. It was definitely not that great with agriculture and they were one of the first to have a democracy as a government. Everyone else knows that Sparta was the main enemy of Athens. With government comes a bad leader. This bad leader was Solon. Last but not least is the temple of Zeus. This was near the Parthenon. So let’s learn a bit more about these fabulous Athenians lives. Athens was a great place with government. It was one of the first’s to actually establish one. Then the government helped the city out by establishing laws and rights. This government also helped expand the entire city itself, to make a humongous city. Then as you all know there is always a crummy leader, and his name was Solon. Solon was one of the next rulers of the government. Solon did some really bad things to the government. He first split it up into four groups. The first group was for the wealthy people and they got to participate in the Areopagus. This was for laws and rights. This was for the two wealthiest classes. The next group was for middle class people. They got to serve on the council of 400. They were only allowed to bring 100 representatives from each tribe. The last class was for the poor people. They got participate in the assembly. The assembly voted on affairs of the council of 400. This was what Solon did to mess up the Athenian Government. Now let’s learn about some ancient architecture. The architecture of the Parthenon is amazing! Of course it is amazing because it was a piece of delicate art. The building itself was built on the acropolis or the highest point of the city. Each major city had an acropolis and still people have some today. This place is a temple and was made with a colonnade of columns (8x17) to be exact. The temple was made to honor Athena. This would have been the third because the others are remains. The Parthenon actually was beautiful because it was painted with colors that told the story of the god’s and goddesses. The Parthenon shares the Acropolis with Erechtheum which holds the olive tree that the goddess, Athena, gave them. Now let’s move on to Athens’s agriculture. Athens was not a good place for farming. It was a very hilly, rocky and mountainous. When they found fertile land, they actually fought over it because people wanted to be rich and famous. There is one vineyard that is widely known in Athens. It is in Attica where people can see a couple of miles worth of grape rows. Besides that, everyone fished for their food. This was there main source if meat because they were a big sea port. Now let’s move on to Sparta. Sparta was one of the main rivals of the Athens. They were allies until the Spartans didn’t aid the Athenians when they were overthrown in 550 B.C. They were always fighting and one time the Spartans set the whole entire city on fire! Now talk about rivalry. Then the Spartans were helped by the Athenians during the Persian War. Now you know a little more about Ancient Greece.