From crazy pets to the incredible philosophers...stay
tuned to Number 1 to find out what ancient
Greece is still known for to this day!
Number 10: Warring Hellenes
Most people don't know that the Ancient Greeks
preferred to be known as 'Hellenes,' and they
lived in 'Hellas.'
These 'Hellenes' were never actually one people,
or country, as you and I would know it today.
Ancient Greece was actually divided up into
small 'city-states,' each ruled by a king-like
figure.
Some of the better-known city-states are Athens,
Sparta, Corinth and Olympia.
Each city-state had its own government structure,
laws and army.
And, wouldn't you just know it?
They didn't always get on very well with each
other.
It wasn't until as recent as the 300s BC that
Alexander the Great ruled the whole of Greece
under one flag.
I know, the 300s BC doesn't seem that recent...but
this is Ancient history we're talking about,
so it's relative.
Athens and Sparta, for example, were once
at war for nearly 30 years!
The Peloponnesian War lasted from 431 to 404BC,
and there was only one group that the Spartans
hated more than the Athenians, and you know
who that was, right?
The Persians.
Number 9: This is Sparta!
The Spartans were all about war and self-inflicted
hardship.
At seven years old boys would leave their
families to get an education: an education
in pain and battle.
It was only when they turned 30 that the boys,
those who'd made it through to the end, could
become soldiers and be considered true citizens
of Sparta.
The boys were only given one tunic and weren't
allowed shoes.
They slept most nights in the open, and were
deliberately not given enough food so they
would learn how to forage and steal.
They were encouraged to fight each other and
did physical and battle training every day.
It wasn't just the boys, though, as the girls
were tough as nails too.
They were given athletic training and taught
how to throw discus and javelins.
The women of Sparta couldn't be soldiers,
but they did compete against the boys at sport.
And, apparently they won a lot of the time
too.
So after years of getting their food stolen,
walking barefoot and fighting wild animals...what
was a Spartan soldier's reward?
The glory of battle and a loving mother who
would see you off by saying: "Come back with
your shield, or on it."
Meaning that she'd rather you died and were
carried back by your fellow warriors than
drop your shield and run away like a coward.
Actually, that kind of reminds me of my mom...
Number 8: The Olympic Games.
But it wasn't all war and struggle in ancient
Greece, honestly.
In 776 BC, the first Olympic Games took place
as part of a religious festival to honor almighty
Zeus, king of the Gods.
The Games were held, like the modern ones,
every four years in the summer.
They were popular, as well, with between 20,000
and 40,000 people attending at the height
of the games.
The games were so popular that all of the
city-states - even Sparta! - stopped fighting
for a whole month before the games so that
the athletes could have time to train and,
you know, not get killed.
Whatever brings the people together, I guess!
The Olympic Games were male-only, and included
foot races, horse races, chariot races, boxing,
wrestling, the long jump, disc throwing and
spear throwing as events.
As a prize, the winner was given a wreath
of olive leaves plucked from a sacred tree
next to the temple dedicated to Zeus.
Sounds, kind of lame, right?
Although...they would also get a statue made
of them, and KUDOS from their home town, lots
and lots of kudos.
Number 7: What's in a Word?
Speaking of kudos, that's actually a word
we got from the Ancient Greeks.
A lot of our English language words originated
in Greek and many are from their gods and
legends.
For example, Atlas was a giant who was punished
by having to carry the world on his shoulders,
and now it's our name for a book of maps of
the world.
Chronos was the god of time and chronology
means to put events in order of time.
Okeanos, who was the god of the mystical river
Oceanus, which provided the Earth with all
of its fresh water.
Clotho was the youngest of the Three Fates
who spun the thread of life, think about that
next time you go clothes shopping.
Strangely, the word 'tragedy' comes from the
Greek word for the song of the male goat.
Did anyone else know that Billy Goats sang?
That's news to me!
Maybe it sounds terrible though, worse than
that time your Aunt had a bit too much egg
nog at Christmas and decided to have a one-person
karaoke party, why else would it become the
word for tragedy?
Speaking of tragedy, the Greeks used to perform
a ritual where a circle of people would dance
around a goat before sacrificing him..probably
when his singing was the worst!
Number 6: Food.
It's interesting that they thought a goat
was a good sacrifice, as meat wasn't big in
Ancient Greek cuisine.
Most Greeks were pescatarian,
and thought of meat-eaters as barbaric.
And the Greeks were very civilized, minus
all the goat-sacrificing and not letting their
warrior-children wear shoes.
Most Greeks ate a diet that mainly consisted
of, well, vegetables.
Some of their favorites were asparagus, chickpeas,
fennel, cucumbers, and celery.
Mostly everyday food you or me could go and
get from the grocery store.
But then they also ate boiled dandelions,
iris bulbs and stinging nettles.
But, there was one food that the Ancient Greeks
prized above all others, and that was the
olive.
According to myth, the goddess Athena gifted
the first olive trees to Athens from where
it spread across the land.
A staple ingredient in many recipes, the olive
was also crushed and the oil used for drizzling
and dipping.
It was, however, more than a mere food, the
oil from the olive was used in lamps and also
as a beauty product.
Women rubbed it into their skin too keep it
soft and youthful.
Being surrounded by sea, and the Greeks being
excellent sailors, fish was another core food,
with all kinds being available at markets.
Number 5: Man's Best Friend.
Dogs were the most common pet in Greece.
The Ancient Greeks admired dogs for their
good company and their loyalty.
Some even did paintings and sculptures of
their dogs, and many dogs were buried with
their favorite treats.
But they didn't feed them, in Greece dogs
were expected to catch their own food.
Yep, it was going to be a long few thousand
years before someone invented and tinned Pedigree
Chum.
One of the Greeks' favorite breeds was the
Celtic Vertragus, the ancestor of the modern
greyhound.
One amazing dog even saved his master, Alexander
the Great, from a charging elephant!
Number 4: More Unusual Pets.
One more Greek word: phobia.
As in, an irrational and exaggerated fear
of something.
You know what phobia I have?
Snakes.
But snakes were popular pets in Ancient Greece,
there are even stories of people who loved
their pets snakes so much they let them sleep
in their children's bed.
I gotta wonder if they loved their snake or
actually hated their children.
Some snakes would even follow their owners
around like dogs.
And speaking of phobias, check out our video
on the strangest phobias in the world!
As well as dogs and snakes, a lot of Greeks
liked keeping monkeys as pets, with at least
one owner teaching her monkey to play musical
instruments.
Another very common pet were birds.
Big ones like, though, like herons, peacocks
and geese were regularly kept inside people's
houses.
One Greek woman is said to have kept twenty
geese in her house, in her house!
I don't know, but in my opinion that's a bit
quackers.
Get it?
Sorry...couldn't help myself.
Number 3: Philosophy.
Despite some of their stranger customs, the
Ancient Greeks are widely recognized as being
the forefathers of modern thought, making
important discoveries in math and science.
It kind of took them a while to get going
though.
One of their first thinkers, who lived around
600 BC, was called Thales of Miletus.
He was a philosopher, mathematician and astronomer,
and his big idea?
Everything is made of water.
Seriously, everything.
Even rocks, gold, marble, and water- well
OK, he was right some of the time.
But despite some suspect ideas, Thales is
recognized as the first philosopher, or, at
least, the first individual to have engaged
in scientific philosophy.
He just wasn't as quick, as others were, to
explain the world by pointing to the gods
or by shrugging his shoulders and saying that
things were as they were because that's the
way things were!
Through his observations, Thales was able
to measure the height of pyramids using the
length of their shadows, to calculate the
number of days in the year and to predict
both the weather and solar eclipses!
People must have thought he had superpowers,
but reportedly, he was always quick to draw
attention away from himself and towards what
others could learn if they studied what was
right in front of them as he had.
It was this curiosity and this eagerness to
explain that would catch on and inspire others
whose names are much better known today such
as Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato.
Number 2: Archimedes.
Another Ancient Greek was Archimedes, one
of the greatest mathematicians of all time.
In the 3rd Century BC, Archimedes invented
the sciences of mechanics and hydrostatics.
He also discovered the laws of levers and
pulleys, which allow us to move heavy objects
using smaller exertion of force.
He invented one of the most fundamental concepts
of physics...the center of gravity.
And, finally, he calculated pi to the most
precise value known without modern day calculators.
Before we get to number 1, don't forget to
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below!
Number 1: Dance Craze.
Greeks loved to dance.
They believed it was invented by the gods,
and the ability to dance well was a special
gift that the gods gave only to certain people.
The Greeks built monuments to their best dancers,
gave them crowns, and even allowed well-known
dancers to marry into the upper class, something
which was almost never otherwise allowed.
Talk about social mobility.
So the next time you think of Greece, think
pet geese, think of rocks made of water, and
think of those poor Spartan children!
Tells us your favorite part of Greek history
in the comments below, and take care!
