About 2,500 years ago Greece was one of the most important places in the world. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their land was called Hellas. The name Greeks was given later by the Romans. The Minoans were the first Greek civilization and lived near the Island of Crete between 2,200 BC and 1,450 BC. They were known as the Minoans after their heroic king, Minos.

OLYMPIC GAMES

The Olympic Games, which began over 2,700 years ago, were held in Olympia in the south west of Greece. They were held in honour of Zeus the king of gods. Every four years around 50,000 people came from all the Greek world to watch and take part in the Games.They did lots of different sports such as: running, discus, javelin, long jump, wrestling, boxing and horse racing. Only men and unmarried women could watch and attend the olympic games.The stadium was built during the 4th century BC.

THEATRE

The three types plays were developed in ancient Greece, tragedy, comedy and satire. Actors were all men. They changed the way they looked by wearing masks and wigs. Thousands of people would sit on the hillside arena of Athens to watch plays by famous writers such as Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus.

GODS AND HEROES

The Greek gods were supposed to impersonate humans. They were believed to live above Mount Olympus and they could cause storms and decide who won wars. Hades was the god of the underworld. Aphrodite was the goddess of love. Zeus and Hera where the king and queen of the gods. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and war, and Poseidon was the god of the sea.

The Greek's most famous hero was Hercules, Zeus's son. He sailed away to find the golden fleece and performed 12 impossible tasks. Another Greek hero was Perseus who killed Medusa by slicing her head off.

WHAT THE GREEKS INVENTED

The Greeks invented democracy, which in Greek means the rule of the people, and is something we still use today. However in ancient Greece women, slaves and foreigners were not allowed to vote. They also invented the Olympic Games which we have every four years. They developed mathematics, sculpture, philosophy, science and medicine. Even our language has roots in ancient Greece.

Lavinia 6D