Imagine this. You’re the Greek Army general. You ride up on a white stallion and take the lead. The Egyptian army stand before you. Five hundred men in togas and armor. What about the peoples lives? How did the Greeks live?
It all starts with what they believed in. The number of Gods and Goddesses are unknown. They had twelve main Gods and Goddesses called the Olympian rulers. Zeus was the king of the Gods. He controlled the weather. He was worshiped greatly. He had a statue at Olympia. This statue was forty feet tall, making the seven wonders of the Ancient World list. Hera was the queen. She controlled the women and the life they had. Poseidon was a brother of Zeus. He controlled water and horses.
The buildings were beautiful. They had three main types of structure. Doric, was very sturdy and basic. Ionic, was a scroll design with a delicate striped pattern. Corinthian was very extreme. One of its features was the leaves sticking out of the top.
The clothes were simple. In Summer and Spring, people wore togas. These were thin pieces of silk, which would make the Greeks feel comfortable. In Winter and Autumn, people wore tunics. These were thick pieces of cotton. They never wore hats or belts. The only shoes they wore were sandals and they only wore these in the Winter and Autumn months. Otherwise they walked around bare footed.
Most Greeks were very poor. Some couldn’t afford to send their children to school. Did you know that only boys went to school? If a parent could not afford to send their son to school, the would work with their father.
They jobs were very bad. Blacksmiths made metal tools. They would shape the tools by melting them over a fire or furnace. This was one of the worst, poorest jobs in Greek times. One of the richer jobs included mathematicians. They worked in great palaces sorting population numbers.
Now that you know these facts, what do you think of the Greeks. Are you a friend or foe to them? Maybe, you’ll want to go to Greece and see the ruins, like I would one day.
By T.B
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