Ancient Greece for Kids | Learn all Ancient Greek history with this fun overview

Hey kids! I'm sure by now most of you have heard of a civilization known as Ancient Greece. The Ancient Greeks were people that lived about 3500 years ago in what is now Southeastern Europe. They had a spectacular rise and then their civilization declined, leading to the Roman Empire. Only in their prime for about 700 years, the Greek civilization had a huge influence on a lot of the stuff in our daily lives and in the lives of people around the world. But before we get into that, let's first talk about what we mean by ancient. By comparison, those of us who live in America have a civilization that's been around for only about a thousand years, and the United States of America itself has only been a country for less than 250 years, so 3500 years is a long time ago. Although it was at its peak more than three millennia ago, the Ancient Greek civilization still lives with us today. Some of the architecture that you see around you, as seen on a lot of our famous government buildings, came from the Greeks. Those columns you're looking at? Those were invented in Ancient Greece. The three main types of Greek columns are Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian, Corinthian being the fanciest. How'd you like to have the job of carving the top of a Corinthian column by hand? The theater you're used to seeing in which you sit down and actors come up on stage and perform for you? Yup, that came from the Greeks too. They basically invented the play. There's also philosophy, the Olympic Games, lots of great literature, certain types of painting, sculpture, and other art forms. We can thank the Greeks for all of it. A lot of the words that we use in our English language came from the Ancient Greeks as well. There are actually more than 150,000 words that we use that came from Greece. Cool words like hyper, meta, phobia, acrobat, fraternity, even the word cemetery, all from the Greeks. The Ancient Greeks were definitely a super successful society, largely in part to the type of government they chose to have, the way they lived their lives, the strong military skills they possessed, and the geography of the region where they lived. But let's take a step back. How did the Ancient Greeks rise, fall, and what were their lives like? Let's begin with where Ancient Greece was. The Ancient Greek civilization lay on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, where the current country of Greece is, and extended east across the Aegean Sea, where there's now a country called Turkey. The Greeks sometimes got around by traveling across the Aegean Sea to the islands and city states that dotted the region. They also set up shop in some parts of what is currently Italy, France, Spain, and even northern Africa. Some of the most famous Ancient Greek city states were Athens, which is still the capital of Greece, as well as Thebes and Sparta. Some of these city states fought with each other in wars, with names like the Peloponnesian War, which is almost impossible to spell. So when did the Greek civilization start? Historians consider 800 BC to be the beginning of the Greek civilization, which came after the fall of their predecessors, the Mycenaeans. The first period of the Greek civilization is commonly called the Archaic Period, archaic being another word for old. And guess what? The word archaic itself is a word that came from the Greeks. During the Archaic Period, lots of stuff happened. The Greeks held the first Olympics in 776 BC, and they ran every four years after that. Believe it or not, some of the first Olympic athletes actually competed naked! Also during this period, the famous author Homer wrote his Iliad and Odyssey epics, which are still read widely today. During the Archaic Period, mathematics really kicked into high gear when Pythagoras came along. He was famous for studying triangles and figuring out how the hypotenuse of a triangle relates to its angles. If you haven't learned any of that yet in school, then it's all Greek to you! This time period was also when the concept of citizens voting for their leaders, known as democracy, was first introduced by Cleisthenes. He also created the first constitution. One person, one vote. Still one of the best ideas the Greeks ever had. During the Archaic Period, the ancient Greeks also first demonstrated their skill at war when Sparta and Messinia faced off from 743 to 724 BC. The next period in ancient Greek history was when they really hit their stride. This was known as the Classical Period, which lasted from about 480 BC to 323 BC. If there was a report card for the ancient Greeks during the Classical Period, it might read, Theatre. Sophocles wrote the first of his plays, and this became a popular form of entertainment. The Greeks proved that they had perfected their military might when they fought the Persians and won. The Greeks built their most famous building in Athens, the Parthenon. Socrates spread his teachings and Aristotle tutored the future king, Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great became king and led the Greeks to conquer Egypt and set up the capital of Alexandria. Nice to have a city named after you, don't you think? The final period of the ancient Greek civilization was from 323 BC to 146 BC. This was known as the Greek Hellenistic Period. During this time frame, Alexander the Great died and the Roman Empire started to rise. Also during this time period, the great mathematician Euclid published Elements, which became one of the most important mathematical treatises ever. So what was daily life like for them during their 700 years of glory? Let's start with how they set up their homes and communities. Greek homes were joined by a courtyard, where kids could play. Courtyards also had the water well for the family and a religious altar for praying. And you've heard of a man cave? A lot of the ancient Greek homes had their own version of that, which they called an andron, where only the men would hang out. And much like the squares and parks that we have in our towns and cities, ancient Greek cities had centralized plazas, where citizens could assemble and exchange goods and ideas. These squares were called agoras. Things were a little different for kids in ancient Greece than they are for American kids today. A lot of the decisions on how to raise children fell to the father. He could decide how well the child was treated, and whether or not to give the child a formal or informal education. Only boys were educated formally, and at age 7, they would start learning math, reading, writing, and often military skills. At 13, they were considered adults. Can you imagine being considered an adult at only 13? When it came to food, the Greeks ate what they grew on their farms. Just like in Greece today, the main staple was olives, which they both ate and used as a skin treatment for women. The Greeks ate very healthy diets, which is maybe why they thrived for so long. No fast food for the Greeks. They ate a lot of bread, which they dipped into olive oil and watered down wine, and consumed mainly fish, vegetables, cheese, and fruits. Clothing was also pretty simple for the Greeks. Men and women mainly wore colored or white tunics, which reached below the knees. Some men would also wear chitons, which was a lighter material and draped over one or both shoulders. When it came to babies, they were mostly naked, as they didn't see the need to clothe them. They saved a lot of money on onesies. Of course, one of the most memorable parts of ancient Greek life, the part that really captures our imagination, were their gods, which they believed resided on the top of Mount Olympus, a 9,500 foot peak that sticks up into the sky above Greece. Hey, if you're going to be a god, Mount Olympus is the place to be. All in all, the ancient Greek civilization has a legacy that lives on in the world. They gave us so much that still defines us today. The Olympics, democratic government, healthy foods, mathematics, and even our alphabet. Not to mention some cool gods and goddesses that arguably led to the superheroes of the future. Thanks for following Clarendon Learning. Be sure to subscribe. For more free resources, check us out at clarendonlearning.org.