Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

greece, ancient

246

Navy

The athenians possessed a powerful

navy, consisting of a fleet of more

than 200 triremes—warships

powered by a square sail and rowed

by 170 men seated in three

ranks. The battle tactic involved

rowing furiously and ramming

the enemy’s ship. In 480 bce,

during wars against the

Persians, the athenian navy

crushed the Persian fleet at the sea

battle of Salamis.

Modern reconstruction of a Greek trireme

ThINkerS

Great thinkers from athens

dominated Greek learning and

culture during the 5th and 4th

centuries bce. Socrates (469-399 bce;

above) was one of the most famous.

he discussed the meaning and

conduct of life. he also questioned

people cleverly, often proving that

their ideas were wrong. Socrates wrote

no books himself, but one of his

followers, Plato (427-347 bce), made

him the subject of many of his books.

The chorus

commented on

the action of the

play in song

and dance. The circular space in

front of the stage was

called the orchestra.

Greek TheaTer

Drama was born in athens. It began as singing and acting as part

of a religious festival to honor the god Dionysus. The audience

watched a series of plays; at the end of the festival, prizes were

given for the best play and best actor. From these beginnings,

playwrights such as Sophocles and aristophanes started to write

tragedies and comedies. Tragedies involved dreadful suffering;

comedies featured slapstick humor and rude jokes.

1500 bce Minoan

civilization (on island

of Crete) at its height.

c. 1400 Mycenaean

civilization, centered

in great palaces on

the Greek mainland,

dominates Greece.

c. 1250 Probable date of

the Trojan Wars between

Mycenaeans and the city

of Troy.

c. 1000 establishment

of the first city-states in

mainland Greece.

776 First Olympic

Games held at Olympia,

Greece.

750s First Greek

colonies founded.

c. 505 Democracy is

established in athens.

400s Golden age of

Greek theater.

490-479 Persian Wars;

Greek states unite to

defeat Persians.

490 Greeks defeat

Persians at Marathon.

480 Greeks destroy the

Persian fleet at the Battle

of Salamis.

479 Final defeat of

Persians at Plataea.

461-429 Pericles rules in

athens; Parthenon built.

431-404 Peloponnesian

War between athens and

Sparta leads to Spartan

domination of Greece.

359 Philip becomes king

of Macedonia.

338 Philip of Macedonia

conquers Greece.

336-323 alexander the

Great, son of Philip, sets

up Greek empire in

Middle east.

Vase Painting

Painted scenes on Greek

pottery give us clear clues

about daily life in ancient

Greece. The paintings

often show a touching

scene, such as a warrior

bidding his family

farewell as he goes off

to war. They also show

the many gods that the

Greeks worshiped.

Amphora (vase) from Attica shows

Zeus, king of the gods, at the birth

of Athena, his daughter.

Find out more

alexander the great

architecture

Democracy

Greece

Olympic games

Theater

The main actors

performed on the

proskenion (stage).

All the actors were

men, even those

playing women’s

roles. They wore

painted masks to

hide their faces.

The audience bought stone

tokens, which were like tickets,

and sat in a semicircle of

tiered seats set into

the hillside.

ancient greece

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