1. Ancient Greece
By:Dr. Greshme Jaswinder Sidhu
2011

2.  The civilization of ancient Greece could be found in the time between
800BCE and146 BCE. It was a group of islands surrounded by the
Mediterranean Sea, in the area where Europe is now. Even though the
civilization ended thousands of years ago, it is still interesting to learn
about its education, food, agriculture, structure of society and many
legacies.

3. Education
Education was very important in ancient Greece. Children in
Athens were educated to fill the adult’s role in society. Boys
were allowed to go school but girls were not. Instead, girls
were taught how to dance and play music by their mothers.
Boys started school at the age of 6. They were taught how
to read and write, and they studied science, math,
geography and history. They wrote on wax boards with a
piece of wood or bone. The boys were taught by tutors, who
were usually slaves. In Sparta, boys had a different kind of
education. Boys there learned how to be soldiers. Spartan
girls learned how to be fit and strong, too. Therefore, in both
Sparta and Athens, the ancient Greeks believed it was
important to educate their children.

4. Food & Agriculture
In ancient Greece, food was an important part of life for both
rich and poor people. About one fifth of the land was used for
farming. They ate olives and grapes as they were easy to
grow on the land. They also ate cheese made from goat’s
milk and bread made from wheat. However, the soil was poor
and rocky so it was difficult to grow enough grass for many
animals to eat. They had a wet winter followed by a hot, dry
summer which also meant few crops could grow. The rich
people bought food in the market and the poor people ate
what they grew. For breakfast, everyone ate bread dipped in
wine. The most common foods the Greeks ate were fish,
bread, olives, grapes, cheese, vegetables and fruits. As you
can see, the land in ancient Greece had a big impact of the
types of foods that were eaten.

5. Structure of Society
In ancient Greece society was structured very differently from
today. In Athens, they had the system of democracy but only men
could vote and only when they were over the age of twenty. They
would gather together in an assembly to debate ideas and vote on
decisions for the civilizations. Also, men were the only ones who
could become actors and believe it or not, men did all the
shopping, too. Rich men went to parties with other wealthy and
important men. Young boys were also more important than girls in
ancient Greece. Girls married at a young age. They were ruled by
their fathers and once they got married they were ruled by their
husbands. Girls stayed home and took good care of their children
while their husbands went out in public. Therefore, it seems that
the ancient Greek men and women had different roles in society
than we have today.

6. Legacies
Ancient Greece has many legacies, two of which are the alphabet
and the Olympics. Historians are unsure exactly when the Olympics
started, but they guess it was about 800 BCE. The Olympics were
held in honor of Zeus. They included a Marathon race, throwing,
wrestling, running, and the javelin. The Olympic games were stopped
by the emperor Theodosius and started again in 1896. We still hold
modern Olympics every four years with many of the same events.
Around 489 BCE, the alphabet first began, which means it is over
2500 years old. The Greeks were the first to have the alphabet with
vowels. They used their alphabet to write legends and myths and
keep reports of meetings. Homer used the alphabet to write Iliad and
the Odyssey, which are famous poems even today. Our alphabet is
very similar to the ancient Greeks and many of our words have the
same parts. Therefore, the alphabet and the Olympics are two great
legacies that are very important to us today.

7. In conclusion, you now know about ancient Greece and it great legacies. This report
has described Greek food, agriculture and the structure of society. It is very important
to know that our language and lots of traditions that we have today came from ancient
Greece.

8. Reference List
Author Date Title
Linda Bailey 2002 Ancient Greece
Loverance and Wood 1992 Ancient Greece
Kaminl Rehanduri 1995 The Great History Search
Simon Adams 2005 Alexander
Marnishanks, Consuitant, Michaelshanks 2007 Ancient Greece
Online sources
20-10-11 www. bbc. co. uk
20-10-11 www. biss. grade4. wikispaces. net
20-10-11 www. History for kids.org