March 12, 2015: Class

Today in class we talked about the Greek project we were assigned. Since me, Veronica, and Adam weren't here yesterday we were assigned "Gods and Goddesses: The Role of Mythology." We face timed Mr. Schick's daughter since it was her birthday and we sang happy birthday to her.

March 11, 2015: Sick

Today i was sick.

March 10, 2015: Greek notes

(Ancient) Greece is the Word

Three seas
The Aegean sea, The Adriatic sea, and the Ionian sea

Geography/ its significance
- Greece is a mountainous peninsula
- Mountains cover 3/4 of Greece
- Approximately 1400 islands in the Adriatic, Ionian, and Aegean seas
- This combination shaped Greece's culture
- They had many skilled sailors and shipbuilders
- Also had farmers, metalworkers, weavers, and potters
- They had poor/ limited natural resources, so they needed to trade
- It was difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain
- They developed small, independent communities/ city-states

Even more geography...
- Although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only about 20% is arable/ suitable for farming
- Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, olives: Really healthy, Export to other places
- Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
- Back then, temperatures usually ranged from mid- 40's in the winter to low 80's in the summer; although it could get hot in the summer, it was pretty nice year-round

Some early peoples - First, Mycenaeans
- Their influence began around 2000 B.C.E.
- Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 foot wall
- Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600 - 1200 B.C.E.
- Controlled trade in the region
- 1400 B.C.E: Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language

then, "Sea People" & Dorians
- Around 2000 B.C.E. the mysterious "Sea people" (not sure who they were to this day) began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
- So, the Dorians moved into this war-torn region

• They were far less advanced
• the trade-based economy collapsed
• Writing disappeared for 400 years 
• Talk about a culture in decline... except...

Enter Homer the storyteller

- Greek oral tradition: Stories passed on by the word of mouth

- Homer lived at the end of the "Greek dark ages"

- He composed stories of the Trojan war (took place in Troy) around 750-700 B.C.E. 

- The Iliad: Probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans (The Trojan War)

- The Odyssey: Odysseus attempts to return home, being thwarted by the angry god of the sea, Poseidon

- The Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter

Did Homer actually exist?

- the "Homeric question": Homer may have been a mythical creation himself 

- A blind wandering minstrel; a heroic figure 

- Iliad and Odyssey may be the culmination of many generations of storytelling

- Or... Homer actually existed and was just that awesome

March 5, 2015: Greek Arhcitecture

(got out of bed just to do this)

1. The temple of Athena Nike

- Temple on the Acropolis of Athens

- built in or around 420 B.C.E.

- In Greek, Nike means "Victory" 

- Athena was goddess in victory in war and wisdom 

- 27 feet long, 18 1/2 feet wide, and 23 feet tall

- Nike was originally going to be "winged victory" but since the statue didn't have any wings they later called it the "wingless victory"

 

2. Olympia
- Sanctuary in Greece
- Held the Olympic Games
- Sanctuary was known as Altis
- Random arrangement of different buildings

3. Corinthian Order
- Greek, Renaissance or Roman Corinthian orders
- The oldest Corinthian column was built around 450 - 420 B.C.E.
- Named after the Greek city-state, Corinth
- The height to width ratio is about 10:1
- Many variations

March 4, 2015: Class

In Western civilization today we talked mostly about how we won't have school tomorrow and probably not tomorrow. We will have a cyber assignment tomorrow most likely on Greek architecture. I will have to shovel by myself because my 19 year old brother can't get out of the basement for an hour or so and help me shovel. So I will have to shovel the drive way, the entire extended side walk, and half of the road, since the snow plow put all the snow on our drive way, all by myself. Jayla shared a story about a tribe girl who was found 1,000 years later and was still in good condition.

March 3, 2015: Ancient Greece is the Word

(Ancient) Greece is the Word

An introduction to a great civilization

The world's greatest civilizations were all located on rivers. 

Great civilizations/ Key river

Mesopotamia/ Tigris and Euphrates river

Egypt/ Nile river

India/ Indus river

China/ Huang He river

Greece's Geography

- Note the significance of Greece's location.

- Describe Greece's topography

Greece is a mountainous, peninsula on the Mediterranean sea. 

- Capital of Greece is Athena/ Athens

- Athens/ Athena lived by the idea of the city-state

Mediterranean Sea

Terra - Earth 

Mediterranean means middle of the earth 

A closer look

- What bodies of earth surround Greece?

The Adriatic sea is on the west shore and the Aegean sea is on the east shore. 

- What large island is south/southeast?

Crete is the large island south/southeast of Greece. 

- Describe where Athens and Sparta are located relating to sea, and to each other. 

Sparta is more inland and closer to the Adriatic sea, while Athens is on the coast of the Aegean sea. 

We most likely would be more advanced if there wasn't those 1,000 years of stupidity where the Romans copied everything the Greeks had done. 

Greek Mythology

- Trojan war fought in Troy

- Odyssey and Iliad are poems about the war

- The Iliad was the story of the Trojan war

- The Odyssey is the story of Odysseus trying to get home after the Trojan war

- Both were written in Rhyme and Rhythm 

- They were written by Homer 

February 27, 2015: Test on Ancient Egypt

In class today we took a test on Ancient Egypt. It only took me about 7-10 minutes because it didn't seem too hard. Some of the questions were about:

- Which direction the Nile flowed

- What supplied the Nile with water to flood

- How long ago was the Great Sphinx built

- Around what city was the Great Sphinx built

- What was the other writing form other than Hieroglyphs

- What was higher on the pyramid than the others

Then there were some questions on the pyramid challenge

- Where would you build a pyramid 

- What was it made out of 

- What would you feed the workers

I got a 100 on the test so this is my first 100 (: