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Watch the video to learn about both the ancient and modern Olympics - remember to test your understanding with the quiz at the end.

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What happens every two years, involves bronze, silver, and gold medals, and is loads of fun? Why, the Olympics, of course! Learn about this international pursuit of excellence.

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Read more about festivals here.

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What Happened At Festivals? - Ancient Greece

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There were many different festivals. At the Panathenaea festival they celebrated Athena, a major god. That festival was held at the end of July. They also had the Antesterie festival, which was more for kids. The kids could buy toys and watch mimes. The Greeks also had festivals that we still use today.

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The Thesmophoria was a festival held in Greek cities in honour of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. It could only be attended by women married to citizens - no men, slaves or unmarried women could go.

The women set up shelters and carried out various activities over the three days of the festival. We don't know a whole lot about it, but you can find out some of the strangest details in the Horrible Histories video below!

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p18 VIDEO Horrible Histories Greek Woman Festival

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This piece of pottery illustrates a procession held in honour of Athena. Follow the animated story to learn what happened during a procession and an animal sacrifice.

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Ancient Greece - Gods and Goddesses - The British Museum

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Some people might worship the gods daily, while others might only visit a temple or make an offering at specific times (for example, before the harvest began or when expecting a child).

Big events always involved some kind of worship of the gods. We have already learnt that performances at the theatre were for the god Dionysos. Similarly, the ancient Olympics were held in honour of Zeus.

Many gods were also celebrated during specific festivals. Take the challenge below and try to match the gods with their festivals.

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Ancient Greece - Festivals - The British Museum

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You can also watch a cartoon about Apollo and his oracle here.

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Stay up to date with the top Australian arts and culture news, industry information, and concert details

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Click on the pottery to learn more about the Oracle at Delphi.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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The god Apollo was associated with the city of Delphi. The most important person there was the priestess who was the Oracle of Delphi. Read below to find out what an oracle was.

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Ancient Greek Myth for Kids: Apollo's Oracle at Delphi - Ancient Greek Myth for Kids

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Apollo had the power to magically make someone truly see the future, just as he could. But Apollo didn't want to take the fun out of things. So Apollo set some ground rules for his oracle. He would use his magic to allow her to truly see the future.

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This website has a good introduction to Greek religion. It explains Greek beliefs and how they honoured the gods.

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Stay up to date with the top Australian arts and culture news, industry information, and concert details

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Icarus created the labyrinth which features in the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Play two games about him here.

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Stay up to date with the top Australian arts and culture news, industry information, and concert details

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Click on the boxes on the left to watch cartoons of four Greek myths.

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Stay up to date with the top Australian arts and culture news, industry information, and concert details

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Greeks worshipped their gods at temples. Usually each temple was only dedicated to one god.

Certain gods were associated with certain places. For example, Athena was very much a goddess of Athens (kind of obvious, right?). On the website below you can build your own temple for Athena.

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Ancient Greece - Acropolis - Build a Temple - The British Museum

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L. How did the Greeks worship the gods? Learn more about Greek religious practices here.

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Watch the story of Theseus and the Minotaur from a series based on the heroes of Greek mythology.

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Read about six Greek mythological creatures and their stories here.

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Find amazing facts about animals, science, history and geography, along with fun competitions, games and more. Visit National Geographic Kids today!

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Read a comic about the gods of Mount Olympus.

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There are many Greek myths. These are stories about the gods, mortals (aka humans - people who will die one day) and mythical creatures. Follow the links on this website to read some of them.

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The ancient Greeks believed their gods often got involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, causing all kinds of trouble. According to the storytellers, the ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings. Although the storytellers were quite inventive, and each told a myth in their own way, each god's personality and powers remained the same from story to story. That's because the ancient Greeks knew their gods well.

Here are some ancient Greek myths for kids, retold by the storyteller Lin Donn
The Truth About Myths
A series of animated Greek Myths by Geethanjali Studios, based on our Greek Myths, and used with our permission

Ancient Greek Gods by name and powers

QUIZ: Ancient Greek Gods and Goddesses (Interactive with answers)

This list of original short myths tell the stories of the daily life of the ancient Greek people and of the many gods and goddesses and magical beings who helped and hindered their lives, star the Mighty Herc (known by many names including Heracles and Hercules) and the Hercules Detective Agency. See if you can solve a case as well as Herc did.

From the Case Files of the Hercules Detective Agency:

Greek Myths by other storytellers and animators

Greek Myths from Starfall

Myth of the Golden Fleece (animated, video)

Myth of Jason and the Argonauts (animated, Ted-Ed video)
Greek Myth Games (interactive)
Vase Paintings Come to Life - Poison for Good, Poison for Evil, stories

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Myths about the Ancient Greek Gods for Kids

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The ancient Greeks believed their gods often got involved in the lives of mortals, sometimes to help, sometimes to hinder, and sometimes quite accidentally, causing all kinds of trouble. According to the storytellers, the ancient Greek gods were not always the most thoughtful of magical beings.

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Another creature from Greek mythology is the winged horse Pegasus. Click on the ancient coin to learn more about him.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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After checking out the link above, challenge yourself to identify the gods and goddesses from their symbols.

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Ancient Greece - Gods and Goddesses - Iconography - The British Museum

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This is a great website which allows you to explore symbols, stories, objects, places and festivals associated with different gods and goddesses.

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Ancient Greece - Gods and Goddesses - The British Museum

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Listen to a rap about the gods here!

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What was fate? Or for the Greeks - who was fate? Understand what was meant by Greek gods having to bow down to fate here.

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Fates - Myth Encyclopedia - mythology, Greek, god, names, ancient, war, norse, Roman, life

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Hesiod called the Fates Clotho ("the spinner"), Lachesis ("the allotter"), and Atropos ("the unavoidable"). In time, the name Clotho, with its reference to spinning thread, became the basis for images of the three Fates as controlling the thread of each person's life.

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Test yourself! Match the gods and goddesses to their main responsibilities.

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Greek Gods - The Main Olympians Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Greek Gods - The Main Olympians. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Who were the ancient Greek gods and heroes?

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Who were the ancient Greek gods and heroes?

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Find out more about Greek religious beliefs here.

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The Greeks believed that gods and goddesses watched over them.

These gods were a bit like humans, but they lived forever and were much more powerful. They felt human emotions, like love, anger and jealousy, and they did not always behave themselves.

The Greeks thought the gods lived high above Mount Olympus, in a palace in the clouds. From here, they kept an eye on life below. From time to time, they would interfere in what was going on. They could send storms if they were angry and decide who was victorious in wars. Sometimes they even played tricks on humans too.

Each god and goddess had power over a different aspect of life or the world. Click to find out a bit more about them.

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The Greeks built temples to their gods and goddesses. Some temples were small, while others were very grand and beautiful with amazing decorations.

Every city in Greece had a 'patron' god or goddess. People believed patron gods protected them from harm.

When people needed help from the gods, they went to the temple to pray. They might go if they were feeling sick, going on a journey or worried about the harvest on the farm.

To please the gods, people brought gifts of money, flowers, food and drink. They offered these gifts as sacrifices. Animals, like cattle, were sometimes killed as sacrifices. Then people feasted on the roasted meat.

The Greeks loved to share stories about brave heroes and their great adventures.

Everyone's favourite hero was Heracles (the Romans called him Hercules). Heracles was Zeus's son. He was so strong he could kill a lion with his bare hands.

He also sailed with Jason and the Argonauts to find the Golden Fleece and he performed 12 'impossible' tasks.

Heracles was very brave, but he was killed when he was tricked into putting on a poisoned robe. However, Zeus liked Heracles so much that he took him to Mount Olympus and made him immortal.

The Greeks believed that the dead went to the 'Underworld'. This was an underground kingdom ruled by the god Hades.

To reach the Underworld, dead souls had to cross the River Styx. A grumpy ferryman called Charon would take them across, but only if they paid him. So Greeks would place a coin in the mouth of a dead person at funerals, to make sure they could pay the fare.

After crossing the River Styx, three judges decided where the dead person should spend eternity. If they'd been really good, they were sent to live happily forever in the Elysian Fields.

If they had been ok, they were sent to the Asphodel Meadows. But if they had been really bad, they ended up in Tartarus. This was a really horrible pit where their soul was tortured for all eternity.

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Who were the ancient Greek gods and heroes?

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Who were the ancient Greek gods? Learn about the ancient Greek beliefs - their gods, heroes, myths and legends in this BBC Bitesize KS2 History guide.

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Most of the information here will focus on the main Olympian gods. However, if you're curious, here are all the groups in Greek religion. All but the last can be referred to as immortals, because they would never die.

The primordial deities were the first things to come into existence. The nothingness in the beginning was called Chaos, and out of it came the essential parts of the universe, like the earth (Gaia), the sky (Uranus), day (Hemera) and night (Nyx). Concepts like revenge (Nemesis) and blame (Momus) also appeared.

The second generation were the Titans. They were the children of Gaia and Uranus. They included Cronus (their leader), Oceanus (the sea) and Mnemosyne (memory). They defeated the primordial deities and won control of the universe.

The Gigantes were the third generation. They were also the children of Gaia and Uranus, created during a fight with their son Cronus.

The Olympians were another generation who had a war with the Gigantes, leaving them in control of the universe.

There were many, many other minor deities ("small gods"). They were related to the sky, the sea, the underworld, the countryside, farming or health.

There were many personified concepts. That means taking an idea and turning it into a human form. For example, the concept of peace could be shown as a young woman carrying plants and a torch. She was worshipped as a goddess called Εἰρήνη (Eirene), which just means 'peace' in Greek.

Some mortals in mythology were deified after they died, especially if they were important heroes. That meant they were made into gods.

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Family tree of the Greek gods - Wikipedia

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There are two major conflicting stories for Aphrodite's origins: ^ Hesiod () claims that she was "born" from the foam of the sea after Cronus castrated Uranus, thus making her Uranus' daughter; but Homer (, book V) has Aphrodite as daughter of Zeus and Dione.

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If you know a bit about Greek religion, you may know that the Greeks worshipped hundreds of deities. So how come only the fourteen above are considered "main" gods? The answer is that those fourteen are the Olympians. No, they didn't compete in the Olympic Games - they got this name because the Greeks believed they lived on a mountain called Mount Olympus.

The Greeks actually had a long, complex mythology about how all the gods were created and related. Whereas religions today usually focus on one god who is seen as all-powerful and all-loving, the Greek gods and goddesses were not. Some were thought to be in charge of others, some only had certain powers and all of them had to bow down to fate. In some ways the gods were just like humans, and in Greek myths they often interacted with the people on Earth and even had children with them (who were 'demi-gods', or half-gods).

Use the family tree below to answer these questions:

Who came first, Gaia or Chaos?

Which two Olympian goddesses were the children of Chronus and Rhea?

Who was the father of Hermes, Dionysus and Athena?

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What did the Ancient Greeks eat? Find out about Greek food here.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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What was a chiton? find out about Ancient Greek clothing here.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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What was life like for Ancient Greek women? Find out here. (Of course, Sparta was special!)

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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This website also has a good introduction to Greek homes, families, clothes and food.

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BBC Primary History - Ancient Greeks - Home Life

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How was a Greek house designed? What were they made from? What was an andron? Read about ancient Greek homes here.

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Indroduction to home life in Ancient Greece

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How were the rooms arranged in a typical Ancient Greek house? Follow the link below to explore one. Then take the challenge and try to put the different members of a family in appropriate rooms.

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Ancient Greece - Daily Life - Typical House - The British Museum

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Above we learnt about Greek pottery and its uses in ancient times. But today, the pictures on these pots can be helpful for us as we try to understand daily life in Ancient Greece. Find out more below.

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Ancient Greece - Daily Life - The British Museum

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What about these?

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Learn more about Socrates, Plato and Aristotle here.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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What was it like to live in an Ancient Greek family?

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What was it like to live in an Ancient Greek family?

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This page has an introduction to Ancient Greek life - homes, fashion and food. In Part 3 you can click on the members of a Greek family to learn more about their lives.

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Ancient Greece had a warm, dry climate, as Greece does today. Most people lived by farming, fishing and trade. Others were soldiers, scholars, scientists and artists.

Greek cities had beautiful temples with stone columns and statues, and open-air theatres where people sat to watch plays.

Most people lived in villages or in the countryside. Many Greeks were poor and life was hard, because farmland, water and timber for building were scarce. That's why many Greeks sailed off to find new lands to settle.

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What was it like to live in an ancient Greek family?

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Ancient Greece had a warm, dry climate, as Greece does today. Most people lived by farming, fishing and trade. Others were soldiers, scholars, scientists and artists. Greek cities had beautiful temples with stone columns and statues, and open-air theatres where people sat to watch plays. Most people lived in villages or in the countryside.

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J. When we say 'Greek culture' we tend to mean the important inventions and buildings that are famous today. But what about everyday life in Ancient Greece?

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Just like the Egyptians, the Greeks were polytheistic. They believed in many gods, not just one, and they believed those gods were responsible for different areas. Below are the main fourteen gods.

Note 1: You will usually read that there were twelve main gods. This is because people often counted only either Hestia or Dionysus. Also, Hades was excluded because he lived in the Underworld and not on Mount Olympus.

Note 2: The god of the underworld was originally called Hades. Later on, Hades became the name of the underworld itself, and the god was known as Pluto.

Note 3: Spellings vary according to how names are translated from Greek into English. For example, Ἥφαιστος is most accurately written Hephaistos, but more often spelt Hephaestus.

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K. We've time for just one more topic, and it's a popular one - the Greek gods! In this section we'll take a closer at Greek religious beliefs.

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If you're interested in the Bronze Age, there's lots to find out on this website.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Have you heard about a place called Troy, believed to be in modern day Turkey? According to myth and legend, the early ancient Greeks fought a war with the Trojans. This was is the subject of The Iliad.

Click around the website below to learn more about the war, Homer and his epic poems.

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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No, not Homer Simpson. Homer is the most famous Greek author who ever lived - maybe. The Iliad and The Odyssey are two epic poems which are the most famous works of Greek literature. They were passed down orally from generation to generation - that means people would tell the stories to their children, and they would tell them to their children, etc. So although "Homer" is referred to as the author of these poems, he may not have even been the first person to write them down.

Even for the Ancient Greeks, the poems were very old stories. They involved Greek heroes, gods and monsters.

BrainPOP has a good video explaining Homer and his epic poems. Remember there's a quiz at the end! (If you want to use the BrainPOP app, just search for 'Greece' or 'Homer'.)

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A lot of ancient Greek written works have survived to this day. Types of literature which we can read include stories, poems, epics, plays, histories, philosophical works and speeches.

The website below is a good introduction. It also explains what an epic is if you don't know.

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This alphabet was a wonderful invention, because it allowed them to use just around thirty letters or so to make many different sounds, and it was also much easier to use than pictorial scripts, such as cuneiform. The Greeks adopted this alphabet and added vowels, which made it even more versatile and easy to use.

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Secondly, many words in English come from Greek. When English needed new words related to science, it often used Greek words to make them. This is because scientists respected the knowledge and learning of the Ancient Greeks.

One example is the word 'telephone'. It comes from the Greek words τῆλε (tele) meaning 'far' and φωνή (phone) meaning 'voice'. We use a telephone to hear the voices of people who are far away.

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The Ancient Greek language has had a huge influence on English. Firstly, the alphabet English uses comes to us from the Greeks via the Romans.

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Now that you've learnt about the three Greek orders, can you name the styles of the three columns below?

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This website is a good introduction to Ancient Greek architecture. Learn about the three "orders" (styles of columns) of Greek architecture and different types of buildings.

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Greek Architecture

Architecture is the art of designing and creating buildings. Greek architecture is a very specific and influential type of design, which was based off of the post-and-lintel system. The post-and-lintel system is made up of columns, which are large upright posts, with a roof, or architrave, over the top. This type of architecture began with the Greeks, but has persisted throughout the ages to live on today.

Ancient Greek Columns Facts

The Doric style is the most plain and simple.

The Ionic style is more slender and more ornate than the earlier Doric style column.

The Corinthian style is quite fancy and decorated with acanthus leaves and flowers.

Even though it may seem simple, the Greeks created a wonderful and lasting legacy of architecture. The columns and architraves were carved with leaves and flowers, scenes of battles, and mythological creatures. The columns were decorated with lines and bases, and capitals, which topped off the columns and connected them to the architraves.

These are some important terms to learn about Greek architecture:

Greek buildings were all built in a very methodical order. This means that there were many rules that they followed in order to make sure the buildings were all similar. These rules also helped to make sure that the buildings were safe and strong. Many Greek buildings were built so well that hundreds of them still exist today, even though they are thousands of years old!

The rules that Greeks used to build their buildings were precise, and said how wide the columns could be, how tall the columns could be, and how many columns a building needed. Eventually these rules became known as orders, and different types of orders developed, with different styles of architecture.

The three main Greek architectural orders are :

* Doric: The Doric order is the oldest and most simple order. The columns have no base and the columns have a very simple capital. In other words, Doric buildings were the least decorated. Archaeologists believe that Doric architectural buildings, which were built in stone, evolved from wooden buildings that were very similar.

* Ionic: The Ionic order is more decorative than the Doric. The columns are taller and thinner, and the capitals at the top of the columns are decorated with scrolls and other patterns. The bases of the columns are also decorated.

* Corinthian: The Corinthian order is a lot like the Ionic order, but the capitals are even more elaborately decorated, usually with leaves and floral patterns

Types of buildings: Besides just houses and marketplaces, Greek cities had many different types of specialized buildings. Many of these buildings can be found in most ancient Greek cities.

Temples: Temples are the most common type of public buildings in ancient Greece. The purpose of a temple was to store a religious statue. Some temples were very large, but others could be very small, depending on the size of the statue and how many people wanted to visit it. Perhaps one of the most famous of Greek temples is The Parthenon.

Stoas: Stoas were a lot like temples, but were extra long, and sometimes they were even two or three stories high. These buildings were big because they were used as large gathering places for the public, such as market places, public offices, and places where people could stroll and meet other people.

Theatres: Theatre performances and plays were a big part of Greek life, so theatres were an important part of Greek cities. Usually, they were built into a hillside, where the public could sit along the hills and watch the action. In large cities, some theatres could sit tens of thousands of people!

Assembly Hall: An assembly hall was similar to a theatre, but was much smaller. This building was used to have important town meetings.

Gymnasia: Gymnasiums are still a common part of most schools, and these buildings began with the Greeks. Parts of ancient Greek gymnasia were wrestling grounds, which were open to the outside, and running tracks. Other parts of the gymnasia were lecture halls and other smaller rooms where Greek athletes and warriors could train.

Greek architecture has had a long and important legacy in western history. Even now, people continue to copy Greek buildings, and many people go visit the ancient remains of the thousands of ancient Greek buildings still standing today.

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Ancient Greek Architecture and Columns Facts for Kids

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Architecture is the art of designing and creating buildings. Greek architecture is a very specific and influential type of design, which was based off of the post-and-lintel system. The post-and-lintel system is made up of columns, which are large upright posts, with a roof, or architrave, over the top.

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This detailed Powerpoint has lots more information about Greek pottery. Learn who made it, how it was made, the names of different types of pots and how the designs changed over time.

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Think you've got it? Try designing your own Greek pot here.

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The Ancient Greeks made a lot of pottery (plates, dishes, containers, etc. made from clay). Some were simple pieces used in the home, for example to hold olive oil. Some were very beautiful and would have been used for decoration or for gifts.

Read more about Greek pots here.

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Ancient Greek Urns & Vases for Kids and Teachers - Ancient Greece for Kids

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Greek potters were constantly changing the shape of their famous vases and pots. In ancient Greece, it was not enough to create something that was beautiful. It also had to be comfortable. If the vase, pot, or pitcher had a handle, that handle had to be easy to hold and fit comfortably into the grip of your hand.

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What did the Greeks know about science and medicine?

Here you can learn about the terrible plague [disease] that killed many people in Athens between 430-426BC. What did people think caused such a plague? Read some opinions here. When you've finished the activity, you can look at some ancient artefacts.

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Ancient Greece - A killer plague - The British Museum

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One famous philosopher was the Athenian Plato, who lived around 400BC. His teacher was Socrates and one of his students was Aristotle - two other very famous philosophers.

Nearly all of Plato's writings have survived for 2400 years, so we can know all about what he thought. Follow the story below to understand some of his teachings.

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Ancient Greece - Knowledge and Learning - The British Museum

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Click on the names under the sculptures to find out about some of Ancient Greece's most famous artists, scientists and thinkers. Have you read any of Aesop's stories? What can we learn from Perikles? Have you studied Pythagoras' theorem in Maths?

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Ancient Greece - Knowledge and Learning - The British Museum

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Odysseus was one of the Greek leaders who took his soldiers to fight in the Trojan War.

After the war finished, the Greeks went home. For most of them, it only took a few weeks to sail home.

However, Odysseus was still sailing around many years later. The gods were angry and would not let him return home easily. On the way he had to deal with many different monsters.

His adventures are told in The Odyssey (in modern English, we still use the word 'odyssey' to refer to a long journey or adventure full of challenges). Follow a short version of the story below.

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Ancient Greece - Geography - The British Museum

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Greek theatre was both a form of entertainment and a form of worship of the god Dionysos.

Here you can explore the Theatre of Dionysos in Athens. Click on the picture to learn more about it.

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Ancient Greece - Festivals - The British Museum

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How did the ancient Greeks change the world?

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How did the ancient Greeks change the world?

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On this website, reflect on the influence the Ancient Greeks have had on our own cultures.

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Even after 3,000 years, we're still using ancient Greek ideas in maths, science and art. Our alphabet is based on the Greek one. Check a dictionary and you'll find hundreds of words that come from the Greek language.

How did Greek ideas spread so far? It's down to Alexander, the young king of Macedon. He led his army to take over Greece, Persia, Egypt and even part of India. He ruled so much of the world they called him 'Alexander the Great'.

Wherever he went, Alexander took Greek ideas. When he died in 323BC, the Romans took over. They admired the Greeks' way of life and carried Greek ideas to even more countries - including ours!

In ancient Athens, citizens would gather together on a dusty hill called the Pynx. Here they would decide the city's laws and who should sit on its ruling council. This was 'democracy' or 'rule by the people'.

All 30,000 citizens were men. Women and slaves didn't get a say. A citizen could speak for the time it took water to run from one jar into another. When this water clock ran out, it was someone else's turn.

A jury of 500 citizens decided if someone was guilty of law-breaking. Punishments included death. Citizens could also vote to get rid of people they disliked. Each man wrote a name on a broken bit of pottery called an 'ostracon'. Anyone named more than 600 times got kicked out of the city.

Today, we also live in a democracy. Unlike in ancient Greece, women get to vote, too. Juries of 12 people decide if someone is guilty of a crime - we don't use ostracons anymore!

The Greeks loved sport as much as we do. They enjoyed the discus, javelin, long jump, boxing and horse racing. Athletes prayed to Nike, the goddess of victory - she's still a big name in sport today!

Greek men and boys trained in a gymnasium. We also go to the gym, although today women and girls are welcome too. The Greeks loved to watch races in a big, open-air 'stadion', very like a modern sports stadium.

Every four years the Greeks held a special sporting festival at Olympia - the Olympic Games. These inspired the modern Olympics which began in 1896. Some of the events were very similar. Like the Greeks, we also hold the Olympics every four years.

Legend tells of Pheidippides, who fought at the battle of Marathon in 490BC. When the Greeks won, he ran 26 miles (42 km) to Athens with the news - and then fell down dead. Modern marathon races cover the same distance as his epic run.

Ancient Greek thinkers made big discoveries. Pythagoras found ways to measure and describe shapes that we still use in maths today.

Aristotle studied plants, animals and rocks. He devised experiments to find out about the world we live in. Modern scientists do the same kind of thing.

Herodotus wrote a history of the Greeks. He based this on eyewitness reports, something today's historians also try to do. Socrates and Plato were philosophers. They asked, "What is a good life?" and "How do we think?" Philosophers in our time also try to answer these questions.

Ancient Greek stories are still told today. We love films about superheroes and monsters. Our TV soaps are full of stories about long-lost children returning to find their parents - just as ancient Greek plays were.

Click on each of the famous Greeks below to find out about their lives. Who would you choose as your greatest Greek?

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How did the ancient Greeks change the world?

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Even after 3,000 years, we're still using ancient Greek ideas in maths, science and art. Our alphabet is based on the Greek one. Check a dictionary and you'll find hundreds of words that come from the Greek language. How did Greek ideas spread so far? It's down to Alexander, the young king of Macedon.

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Sailing around the Mediterranean Sea for years, meeting gods and fighting monsters? Clearly The Odyssey is a work of fiction, right?

But could there be - lost in the mists of time, thousands of years ago - any real events behind the stories in The Odyssey? Watch the video below to find out.

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The science behind the myth: Homer's "Odyssey" - Matt Kaplan

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a famous museum in New York, USA. In this video you can see some of the columns on display there and learn more about the three "orders" (styles) used.

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How Do You Recognize Ancient Greek Architecture? | #MetKids

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Diogenes was another famous philosopher. Watch the video below to find out what he believed.

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Horrible Histories Groovy Greeks:  Diogenes life in a barrel

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We've now learnt a lot about Greek culture - the theatre, pottery, architecture, medicine, philosophy, writing and literature. Think about the effect all of these things have had on life today.

Did you know the Greeks were also great inventors? Listen to this song to find out about some of their inventions. Which do you use today?

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p1 VIDEO Horrible Histories - I'm A Greek (Greek inventions)

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The intelligent thinkers of Ancient Greece continue to influence us today. One group of thinkers were the philosophers.

Philosophy is the study of important human matters, like the nature of life, truth and knowledge. The word comes from the Greek philosophia (φιλοσοφία) and it means 'love of wisdom'.

Can you pick out the names of four famous philosophers in the song below? Here are some clues:

A _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

S _ _ _ _ _ _ _

P _ _ _ _

D _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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p1 VIDEO Horrible Histories - Greek Thinkers Song

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What do we know about ancient Greek culture?

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What do we know about ancient Greek culture?

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This website is a good introduction to Greek culture. Find out about Greek theatre, architecture [buildings] and pottery.

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The Greeks had style! Their trademark red and black pottery was very fashionable, and it was bought and sold all over the Mediterranean and even parts of Asia.

They were great builders too. The Greeks built grand temples to their gods and superb sculptures of brave heroes. They pretty much invented the theatre as well. Thousands of people packed the hillside arena of ancient Athens to watch plays by famous writers like Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus.

The Greeks also celebrated the arts with big festivals. There was always music, dancing and feasting in honour of their gods.

The Greeks believed that the secret to making a great building was maths. They carefully designed and measured their buildings, making sure they got all their angles, shapes and sizes right.

Their temples were held up with stone columns and sometimes decorated with stone carvings of famous battles from Greek myths.

The Greeks were really good at making statues too. Master sculptors carved lifelike marble statues and decorated them with brightly-coloured paints.

To make them even more spectacular, they added some gold, bronze and ivory jewellery - this would glint and sparkle in the sunlight.

The Greeks were famous for their clay pots. Potters in the city states of Corinth and Athens made beautiful pottery. They used a watery clay mixture to make patterns on the clay before it was hard. Then the pot was baked in an oven called a kiln. The areas painted with the clay mixture turned black and the unpainted areas turned a reddish-brown.

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What do we know about ancient Greek culture?

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The Greeks had style! Their trademark red and black pottery was very fashionable, and it was bought and sold all over the Mediterranean and even parts of Asia. They were great builders too. The Greeks built grand temples to their gods and superb sculptures of brave heroes.

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I. Why do you think Ancient Greece was chosen as one of the P5 units? It's probably because it has had such a huge influence on the western world today. Let's learn about Greek culture and how we can still see it in our lives today.

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The Olympics weren't the only games in Ancient Greece. Watch this video about the Isthmian Games.

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Horrible Histories Horrible Points Of View Stuarts

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Listen to an Olympic song here.

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FLAME LYRICS LARRY In 776BC Olympics were begun Greece was the only country so naturally we won Cheats built bronzes of god Zeus, were we honest winners? The answers no, we had more statues than you've had hot dinners!

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Watch this video to understand more about the games.

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How would you have done at the Olympics Games? Have a go at steering a chariot here. You will need to use Puffin Browser to view the site.

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Ride the chariot - The Children's University of Manchester

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What happened on each day of the ancient Olympics? Follow the story here to find out.

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The festival at Olympia in honour of Zeus was a major athletic event in the Greek world. From all across Greece athletes came to Olympia to compete in a range of events over five days. To achieve victory at the Olympic Games brought the highest honours to an athlete.

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If you prefer to read rather than watch videos, this is an informative website. You can click on the different events to learn more about them, and take a tour of the ancient ruins of Olympia.

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Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred.

If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment!

However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years.

This was called the and was held in honour of Hera, Zeus's wife. Winners were awarded of sacred olive branches, the same as men. But in ancient Greece, only Spartan women were really interested in sport.

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Only men, boys and unmarried girls were allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Married women were barred. If they were caught sneaking in, they could be thrown off the side of a mountain as punishment! However, women could still own horses in the chariot races at the Olympics and unmarried women had their own festival at Olympia every four years.

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Alternatively, watch this animated ebook to learn about the Olympics.

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This TED video is also a good introduction to the Olympics.

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Thousands of years in the making, the Olympics began as part of a religious festival honoring the Greek god Zeus in the rural Greek town of Olympia. But how did it become the greatest show of sporting excellence on earth? Armand D'Angour explains the evolution of the Olympics.

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Click through this site for a short introduction to the ancient Olympics. Learn about the events and the prizes. You will need to use Puffin Browser to view the site.

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The Ancient Olympics - The Children's University of Manchester

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H. But it wasn't all combat and warfare. Sometimes the Greeks were capable of coming together peacefully. The most famous gathering of the Greeks was the Olympic Games.

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Practice your catapult skills here!

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Catapult - The Children's University of Manchester

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You can read more about the animation here.

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about ancient warfare | storyboard | trailer | music| vase details | follow-up activities | follow-up viewing | further reading

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We can understand more about Greek soldiers and warfare by looking at their art - especially the pictures of soldiers that they painted on pottery.

This animation brings those paintings to life. See if you can spot:

The 'seer' (an old man thought to be able to interpret signs from the gods) examining a liver from a sacrificed animal. This was to see if the gods supported a battle. (around 1:00)

Soldiers marching in a phalanx formation. (around 3:00)

The winning side celebrating their victory. (around 5:00)

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HOPLITES! Greeks at War - Full animation

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Did you know that the modern marathon race has its origin in warfare? Watch this Horrible Histories video to find out about the first marathon.

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There are three activities on this website.

If you click on story, you can learn more about a battle between the Greeks and the Persians.

If you click on explore, you can look at the battlefield [place where a battle took place] from another battle between Greece and Persia.

If you click on challenge, you can try to ram [hit] enemy ships with a trireme.

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School sessions and resources for ages 7–11 (KS2).

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The Greeks had ships called triremes (τριήρης). Triremes got their name from their three rows of oars.

Triremes were very important in the Persian Wars. For Athens, which was next to the sea, their triremes were very important for establishing control over the seas around Greece.

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The men in the phalanx were all hoplites (in Greek, hoplite is written ὁπλίτης). This name possibly came from the kinds of shields they carried.

Hoplites were free citizens who could afford to buy all the armour that they needed. Historians estimate than around a third to a half of adult men in a city-state were hoplites. They were mostly armed with spears and shields.

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The Ancient Greeks were famous for fighting in a formation called a phalanx (in Greek this is written φάλαγξ). Looking at the picture below, what do you think a phalanx was, and why was it used?

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Using a hoplite phalanx in war was one reason the Greeks managed to defeat the Persians. On this site you can learn about how a phalanx was formed, and click on the different weapons used by hoplites. You can also read about some famous battles.

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In ancient times, Greece wasn't a single country like it is today. It was made up of lots of smaller states. These states were always squabbling and often went to war. Sparta and Athens fought a long war, called the Peloponnesian War, from 431 to 404BC.

Only the threat of invasion by a foreign enemy made the Greeks forget their quarrels and fight on the same side. Their biggest enemy were the Persians, who came from an area around modern day Iran.

The Persian kings tried to conquer Greece a few times between 490 to 449BC, but the Greeks managed to fight them off. In the end, it was the Greeks who conquered Persia, when Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire in the 330s.

The backbone of the Greek army was the 'hoplite'. He was a foot soldier, who fought with a long spear and used a large round shield for protection.

In battle, hoplites fought as a team. They lined up in ranks and locked their shields together with just their spears pointing over the top. This formation was known as a 'phalanx'.

Enemy soldiers saw only a wall of spears and shields moving towards them. It was tough to break through once a phalanx started marching forward.

The Greeks had archers and cavalry too, but it was the phalanx that won many famous battles.

Click on the hoplite to find out about his weapons and armour

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A hoplite had to pay for his armour himself, unless his father was killed in battle. Then he was given his father's equipment.

Fighting wars was what the Spartans did best. Greeks said that in battle one Spartan was worth several other men.

The Spartans believed that strict discipline and a tough upbringing was the secret to making the best soldiers. Boys left their families at seven to begin their 23-year-long training to become a soldier. Only those who went through this gruelling training system were considered true Spartan citizens.

It was a hard life. A boy was only allowed one tunic and had to walk everywhere barefoot, even in cold weather. They weren't given much food either, so often had to steal.

Girls were expected to be physically fit too. They weren't allowed to be soldiers, but they did compete against the boys at sport. Spartan women also had more freedom than other Greek women. A wife ran the family farm and gave orders to the slaves (known as 'helots').

Spartan mothers told their sons before they left for battle, "Come back with your shield, or on it." Dead Spartans were carried home on their shields - only a coward would drop his shield and run away.

Click on each of the scenes to find out about some famous ancient Greek battles

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Learn about the ancient Greeks at way, including how the army fought, famous battles and the Spartan soldier state in this KS2 History guide from BBC Bitesize.

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G. So far we've learnt a lot about conflict between Greek city-states. You can learn more about Greek war in this section.

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Here are some of the differences between Athens and Sparta, divided into different categories.

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So what do you think? Do you value intelligence over physical strength, or is being a strong military force more important than intellectual study?

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What would you add to the Venn diagram below?

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Who would win in a fight? Who would win in a debate? Use this section to consider the differences between Spartans and Athenians.

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F. You have now had the chance to learn a lot about the lives, values and cultures of two city-states. Now we're going to compare Athens and Sparta. What was similar about them? What was different?

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Click through the links on this website to understand more about how Athens and Sparta interacted with each other.

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Watch a video about Spartan life here. You can learn more about the upbringing of a boy called Leonidas and the harsh lives the Spartans led.

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Read more about Spartan families here.

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The Spartans Childhood - Ancient Greece - HistoryWiz

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Watch another Horrible Histories video here!

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p5 Horrible Histories Spartan School Musical

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How would Athenians and Spartans have coped living together? Find out in this Horrible Histories video.

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p5 VIDEO Horrible Histories - Wife Swap Spartans and Athenians

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Would you have been a good student? Watch this Horrible Histories video to find out.

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p6 VIDEO Horrible Histories - Spartan Teacher Conference

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Reading, thieving and other Spartan skills - take the challenge to see if you could have survived a Spartan education and become a citizen!

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Ancient Greece - Sparta - The British Museum

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Click on the ancient objects and drawers to find out about Spartan life.

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School sessions and resources for ages 7-11 (KS2).

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Were the Spartans always a warlike people? Read this story to find out.

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Ancient Greece - Sparta Story - The British Museum