Daily Life

Makhayla Rose
Mr. Whitson
Humanities 9R
Dec. 4, 2009

Farming in Ancient Greece

In Ancient Greece, ownership of land shows levels of wealth. Therefore, faming is the most respected occupation, because farmers usually have a lot of land for their crops and livestock. In the late 400s BC, about fifty percent of the Athenian population was involved in one form of farming or another. Farming may look like an easy occupation, but in reality, there are many challenges that are hard to overcome.

Did you know that in Ancient Greece there are very few patches of flat land? About four-fifths of Greece is covered in mountains. There is only flat land in between the mountains, which makes farming even more hard. The farmers often have trouble producing enough food to go around. Even though being a farmer is a very respectable occupation, most farmers were not wealthy. A majority of farmers only owned about three acres. Only a small minority were wealthy landowners, whose estates occupied several hundred acres (Robert Garland).

Having an abundance of land does not necessarily make farming an easy job. The quality of the soil was very poor, and on top of that, the soil could not be used every year. The crops had to be rotated, because when crops are grown, they absorb all of the nutrients out of the soil. Depending on how much land the farmer owns, they will usually give the soil one to two years to replenish its self. Finding crops that could successfully grow under these tough conditions was difficult, but possible.

What once was thought to be an impossible mission, was made possible by local farmers in Ancient Greece. They found that olive trees, grape vines, and grains, such as wheat, were suitable for growing in the particular conditions that were brought upon them. They were also able to grow fruits and vegetables. In order to use the available space wisely, the farmers plant grape vines in between rows of fruits and vegetables. “As a general rule, the cultivation of olives and grapes, along with animal husbandry, was more profitable than that of wheat and vegetables.” (Joyce E. Salisbury and Gregory S. Aldrete) Farmers also raise abundant amounts of livestock. Some examples of their livestock include goats, bees, and oxen. The goats were raised for milk so that they could produce milk products such as cheese. The bees were raised for honey because honey was one of their only types of sweeteners. Last-but-not-least, the oxen were raised for plowing. Sometimes farmers are taken for granted, but without them we would more than likely starve. Farmers are extremely important and they deserve the up-most respect.

Robert Backer

Dave Whitison

Humanities 9G

12/3/09

Ancient Greece - Law

Ancient Greece knew more about legal procedure then its criminals. Athenian law was split into two different actions.In Athens imprisonment was applied to those waiting for trial or execution. These are two important facts about law in ancient Greece.

Athens two different law actions were public and private. Public actions in the Government involved the entire community. The private actions only involved certain individuals. In private meetings the injured party had to “bring the action” which means that the people that suffered the injury had to show their case in court. If homicide occurred then the victims relatives had to prosecute the murder. Execution was for crimes like murder and temple robbing.

Those who were waiting for trial or execution had imprisonment for a short time. The prisons consisted of 12 small rooms which could of been cells for the prisoners. A group called the Eleven supervised the prisoners. The Eleven also supervised the execution of criminals. Criminals that received the death penalty were buried unless they received the penalty because of a extreme case like tomb robbery.

Law was a important issue in ancient Greece. “There were several weaknesses in the legal system even though it was excellent for the standards of the day” which shows that even though there were flaws in Athens’ legal system it was still ahead of its time. Athens’ truly was ahead of its time and had one of the most advanced legal systems (Garland).

Nathan Landau daily life essay-Athletes

Nathan Landau

Dave Whitson

Humanities 9r

12-3-09

The Athletes of Athens

Athletes played an important role in the culture of Athens. They were also looked upon as respected citizens of Athens. “The physical perfection of people in Athens and all of ancient Greece was a very important goal to all people” (Garland). A person who was physically fit was considered superior to others of the same class who were not fit. The ones that could play sports were looked upon even higher. The Olympics were also a very important part of culture in Athens and ancient Greece. It was the greatest sporting event to take place in ancient times.

Athletic training was vital for boys of all social backgrounds manly because the ability to serve in war depended on physical ability. Popular sports played for training children for war in ancient Athens included among others, javelin throwing and the hoplitodromos, a foot race in armor. At the age of seven, the children of Athens were introduced to a mandatory personal trainer referred to as a paidotribês. This trainer worked with the children mainly in the school of wrestling and training, a place called a palaistra¹. There, they would work on basic athletic skills such as wrestling and conditioning. These training centers featured closed cement walls that provided shelter from sun and rain. The buildings were structured the same way as a traditional Greek house.

The older or more mature athletes worked out naked in gymnasiums. The traditional gymnasium consisted of a level open field where one could practice javelin throwing or running. It was also equipped with proper bathrooms and changing rooms. The gyms were located near the river so the athletes could refresh themselves after they worked out. The gyms of Athens were also used as a gossip spot for older and veteran athletes who sat in shaded areas by running water to talk about other athletes or local sporting events that took place in Athens. In the later days of ancient Athens, the gymnasium became a place for philosophy and study.

Every athlete of Athens strived to reach the Olympics because it was considered the peak of greatness. Competitive sports played a huge part in Athenian and Greek culture. Although there were hundreds of local sporting events a year, the Olympics were the highest honor. The Olympics were seen as “remarkable testimony to the Greek ability to rise above politics at least on a temporary basis” (Garland). Never once in a thousand year period were the Olympics ever canceled. During the Olympics if it was a time of war all soldiers would drop their weapons. The Olympics were also held in high honor by many gods including Zeus, Apollo, and Poseidon.

The first day of the games was set aside for oath taking and praying. Winning was so important to the athletes of the Olympics that they would pray for victory or death. They did not want to be shamed as losers. Some of the more extreme athletes would participate in the chariot race that is twelve laps up and down a straight track. The chariots were usually driven by four horses, each chariot had two wheels. This was considered the most dangerous and spectacular sport of the Olympic Games because chariots had to make 180 degree turns on tracks and there often were head on collisions. As a result, the death rate of people and horses was very high. All other events took place at the Olympic Stadium. Athletes who entered the Olympics in discus, long jump, javelin throwing and wrestling competed at this stadium. Many wrestlers, long jumpers and javelin throwers came out of ancient Athens because those were the sports the facilities of Athens best accommodated for practice. The afternoon Olympic Games were given to body contact sports such as wrestling, boxing, and pakron, an “all combat sport”. All these sports had no rules and it was very common for a player to suffer serious injury or death.

The victors of all Olympic sports took home a prestige olive wreath and received many benefits from their home city, such as being held a hero, lifetime fame, and money. In some cases, they would receive meals on public expense for life. There were no rewards for second and third place. The losers spent many years of shame. “They, when their mothers meet them, have no sweet laughter around them, arousing delight. But in back streets they cower, out of their enemies’ way, bitten by disaster” (Garland).

Although many athletes were looked upon in Athens as heroes, it was no easy life for an ancient athlete. It was the goal of many people to become fit and ready to honor their city in the Olympic Games. Athenian artwork depicted people in “perfect” shape as in an athlete or a hero of war. If you were a successful athlete, life could be very prestigious and rewarding. Athletes were often richer than most people. Being an athlete in Athens was a tremendous achievement.

1 A famous college basketball arena named the Palestra sits in Philadelphia, Pa.

Totalitarianism- Makhayla & David

Totalitarianism is when a party realizes ways to absolute power over the state and takes command for a specific purpose. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini coined the term totalitario in the early 1920s to describe Italy in its new form. By the beginning of World War-II totalitarian had become known as an absolute and oppressive single-party government. Some goods that can come out of it is since it is only 1 party it can stabilize a chaotic situation, but there is a lot more bad. Totalitarianism is bad in many more ways. Even though it helps stabilize the government in shaky situations it poses total control under the certain faction. The state is now being controlled by collective rule that are always focused on mostly one goal, and therefor they can use propaganda to further they’re rule and further the funding for whatever they want and eventually give the state nothing but imbalance and usually destruction.

3 links to Greek Mythology - Makhayla Rose

http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arwhead.com%2FGreeks%Pr

http://www.desy.de/gna/interpedia/greek_myth/olympian.html

http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/birth/3/FC17

Anarchy today-Nathan

This is a specialized group of Anarchist today preaching their beliefs. They stay together through forums and teach other people their ways. They are very detailed in their beliefs and have many links about every aspect of their system of Anarchy. See the URL below.

http://www.spiralnature.com/phil/anarchy/anarchy-in-todays-world-a-little-note-on-anarchism.html

ANARCHY- Nathan & Nat (kinda)

Anarchy has no formal rulership or enforced leader. There is a sense of government feels absent and the land is lacking laws and supreme power. There is no organized ruler or no group of people governing the people. Every person has complete liberty. Anarchist believe in self individualized government and believe in no central power while keeping a functional society. It is a political and economy self rule. In a nutshell, they are people that rebel against orginized tgovernment An advantage of an Anarchy government is supreme liberty and freedom. You have complete control on your rule and economical benefits. An disadvantage is the fear and risk of distorter or chaos. Although part of the point of an Anarchist society is to maintain order, there can always be a fear of chaos is there is a disagreement because there is no central elected power to keep everything in order.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchy

http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/anarchist_Archives/malatesta/anarchy.html

http://www.anarchy.no/