Archaic period (c.800-500BC)

During this time, city-states started to form and people began to write things down again. Many people consider this period to end when Athens' last tyrant was overthrown and democracy started (more on that later!).

Classical period (c.500-323BC)

This period is famous for its beautiful buildings, like the Parthenon (also more on that later!). Different city-states were more powerful at different times - first Athens, then Sparta, then Macedon (where Alexander the Great came from). Alexander the Great invaded countries in the east and got all the way to India!

Hellenistic period (323–146BC)

Greece became more powerful. It spread its culture to countries in the east.

Roman Greece (146BC-AD330)

Remember how the Greeks took over Egypt? In time, Greece itself was taken over by the Roman Empire.

Late Antiquity (AD330-529)

This is the last part of Greece's history to be considered "ancient". During this period, the country became Christian. (We won't study this period here. We will focus on the earlier periods.)

People were no longer just poor farmers struggling to survive. They were able to travel outside Greece and create colonies around the Mediterranean, as shown in the map below.

This period saw lots of developments in art (buildings/architecture, sculpture, writing/literature, theatre), philosophy, politics and science. These developments have had a big influence on Europe, even 2000 years later.

In the video below you can learn more about the Parthenon in Athens. This is not just one of the most famous Greek buildings, but one of the most famous in the entire world.

Πηνελοπη

Αλεξανδρος

Ματθαιος

Ιασων

Αγαθη

However, in the Classical period the powerful Persian Empire invaded Greece. The city states had to work together to fight them. At first, they formed a group called the Delian league which was run by Athens. 

However, other city-states did not like Athens' behaviour. This caused a war between Athens (and the cities which supported Athens) and Sparta (and the cities which supported Sparta). Sparta eventually became the most powerful city in Greece.

(In the map below, the orange areas supported Athens and the Green areas supported Sparta.)

Also, Macedon(ia) in the north was becoming more and more powerful. Macedon's most famous leader was Alexander the Great (in fact, he is one of the most famous ancient people ever!). He not only took control of Greece, but invaded the Persian Empire in the east. He is considered one of the most successful military commanders in history.

Greeks liked to build their cities near the sea. Firstly, this allowed them to fish for food. Secondly, it enabled them to trade easily with people who lived in other places. Cities would build a smaller settlement called a port down by the harbour where the boats were kept.

The Greek word for a city was polis (plural poleis). In Greek this is written: πόλις. Today, historians use the word polis to refer to the ancient Greek city-states. Each polis had its own government, culture and ways of life.

• an acropolis - this was the highest part of the city (akros means 'highest' in Greek) and it usually had temples built on it
  
• an agora - this was a large open area in the middle of the city, used both as a marketplace and a place for people to gather
• many temples - buildings (often large and surrounded by columns) where people went to worship gods
  
• a stadium - a holy place where sporting events dedicated to Zeus were held
• a theatre - a large semi-circle of steps on a hillside, where people went to watch plays and performances
• gymnasia - places where young men trained to compete in athletic events
• lots of houses - places for people to live
  
• many shops and workshops - places for people to buy and make things
  
• walls with several gates - they surrounded the whole city and were built as protection in case of attack
• farmland and crops - the land around the city was used to grow food for the people of the polis
• a port - this was the settlement by the sea where ships set off from

How many of them can you label on the picture below?

Sadly, some ships would not survive the journey because of storms. However, this has turned out to be a good thing for us. Archaeologists can examine ancient shipwrecks to see what kinds of goods were being transported.

In the game below you can go diving to collect ancient objects from a Greek shipwreck.

Athens remains important today. It is the capital city of Greece. Which ancient ruins can you spot in the modern photo below?

In 480BC the temples on the Athenian acropolis were destroyed by the Persians. However, by around 450BC the city was independent and wealthy again. It rebuilt the temples. Explore them here.

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

This video explains some other systems of government. Which do you think is the best option?

Sparta was most famous for its military power. All of its citizens went through military training and learnt combat skills. You can learn more about their lives and values below.

Spartan history is full of wars and battles. Because of its warlike nature, Sparta led the Greeks when the city-states joined together to fight the Persians (499-449BC). However, the Greeks were not good at staying united. Sparta later became an enemy of Athens, causing the Peloponnesian War (431-404BC). In 371BC Sparta was defeated by the city of Thebes (not the one in Egypt, a Greek one!), and its big role in Greece came to an end. However, it remained independent until the Roman Empire took over in 146BC.

Read about the war here. At the end, click on the link which says 'The Peloponnesian War' questions to test yourself.

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.

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.

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.

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)

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 _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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?

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Read more about Greek pots here.

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.

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

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'.)

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

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.

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?
  

• 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.

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.

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.

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!