Ancient Greece
Home > History > Ancient Greece
Here are lists of people, places, and dates to review as you are learning about Ancient Greece. This page also has a printable crossword puzzle for Greek gods and goddesses, a matching game for Greek heroes, and a link to Quizlet flashcards for the Greek alphabet. I've also included a list of children's books and other links for learning more about Ancient Greece.
People to Remember
King Minos - Legendary ruler of ancient Crete
Pythagoras (c. 570 – c.490 B.C.) Philosopher and mathematician from the island of Samos
Aeschylus (525 – 456 B.C.) Greek playwright who wrote "The Persians"
Sophocles (496 – 406 B.C.) Greek playwright who wrote "Odipus rex"
Pericles (493 – 429 B.C.) Athenian politician and reformer who oversaw the building of the Parthenon
Herodotus (c.484 BC – c. 425 BC ) A great historian known as the "Father of History" who lived during the Golden Age of Greece
Euripedes (480 – 407 B.C.) Greek playwright, banished for his politically controversial play, "The Trojan Women"
Socrates (469 – 399 B.C.) Philosopher
Plato (429 – 347 B.C.) Philosopher, author of The Republic
Aristotle (384 – 322 B.C.) Philosopher, author of Politics
Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BC) King of Macedonia who conquered Greece, Persia, and Egypt
Euclid (c.325 – c.270 B.C.) Mathematician, author of the Elements
Archimedes (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor
Places and Terms to Know
Athens - The capital of Greece
Acropolis - A hilltop fortress
Parthenon - A temple in Athens that was dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena
Agora - An open market place in ancient Greece
Sparta - powerful city-state in ancient Greece that often at war with Athens
Lacedaemon - Alternative name for Sparta
Ephor -A member of the Spartan ruling council
Helot - A Spartan slave
Laconia - The plain in which Sparta was located
Amphitheater - A Greek outdoor theater
Capital - The top of a column
City-State - An independent state made up of a city and its surrounding territory
Delian League - An alliance of Greek city-states against Persia, led by Athens
Hellenistic Age - The period after the conquests and death of Alexander the Great
Battle of Marathon - Battle in 490 BC between the citizens of Athens and the Persians which stopped the Persians from conquering Greece
Dates to Remember for Greek History
490 B.C. - The Battle of Marathon
480 B.C. - The Battle of Thermopylae
431 – 404 B.C. - The Pelopennesian War
Quotes to Remember
"Our love of what is beautiful does not lead to extravagance; our love of the things of the mind does not make us soft." - Pericles, funeral oration, 430 B.C., reported by Thucydides in Histories
"Greetings, we win." - Philippides, 490 B.C., dying words after running to Athens after the victory at Marathon
"If I enter Lacedaemon, I shall raze it." - Philip II, sent to Sparta
"If" - The Spartan ephors (ruling council), in response to Philip II's threat
"Man is by nature a political animal." - Aristotle, in Politics
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities." Aristotle, in Poetics
"There are many wonderful things, and nothing is more wonderful than man." - Sophocles, in "Antigone"
"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates, quoted by Plato in Apology
"Man is the measure" - Protagoras (.490 – c.420 B.C.)
Literature Written in Ancient Greece
Politics by Aristotle
Rhetoric by Aristotle
Poetics by Aristotle
The Republic by Plato
Other E-learning Links for Learning about Ancient Greece
The Last Days of Socrates was produced by the Philosophy Dept. of Clarke College, and contains the annotated texts of Plato's Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and the death scene from the Phaedo.
Mrdonn.org has lessons and links for Ancient Greece
Crossword puzzles for gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece
Quizlet flashcards for Greek gods and goddesses
Quizlet flashcards for the Greek Alphabet
Matching game for Greek heroes - This is a PDF of a matching game that you can print on cardstock.
Activity Village has coloring pages for Ancient Greece.
Children's Books about Ancient Greece
Picture Books:
- Z is for Zeus: A Greek Mythology Alphabet
by Helen L. Wilbur, illustrated by Victor Juhasz
- Ancient Greece (Interfact (Software Twocan))
by World Book Encyclopedia
- See Inside an Ancient Greek Town
by Jonathan Rutland
- Everyday Life in Ancient Greece
by Anne Pearson
- Ancient Greece
by Peter Connolly
- Visiting the Past: The Acropolis
by Jane Shuter
- The Parthenon: The Height of Greek Civilization
by Elizabeth Mann - Ancient Greeks at a Glance
by John Malam
- Ancient Greece
by John D. Clare
- Technology in the Time of Ancient Greece
by Judith Crosher
- Ancient Greece
by Cynthia Klingel and Robert B. Noyed
- Trojan Horse (DK Readers: Level 4)
by David Clement-Davies
- The Trojan Horse: How the Greeks Won the War (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)
by Emily Little
- The Great Alexander the Great
by Joe Lasker
Activity Books:
- Ancient Greece!: 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience This Wondrous Age (Kaleidoscope Kids)
by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell
- Classical Kids: An Activity Guide to Life in Ancient Greece and Rome (A Kid's Guide series)
by Laurie Carlson
Chapter Books:
- D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
by Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
- Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
