Ancient Greece

Today three of my best friends and I landed in Greece, the first of five places we get to travel to! Two months ago I entered a writing contest. I had to write a paper about a place I wanted to travel to. The winner got to take a trip to a surprise destination. I won first place and got to invite three people, so here we are! I am so excited to visit all the tourist destinations! However, we are missing school for this trip so as part of my World History homework, I have to write about the governments of the places I visit. My friends and I get to choose any place we want to visit in Greece, Rome, Israel, England, and France! Today we started in Greece. 

Our first stop was the Acropolis, a huge, ancient city on a hill centered in Athens. Our tour guide, Constantine, told us all about the history of it. I learned that Pericles built it. It has five main parts to it: the Areopagus, the Parthenon, the Erectheon, the Theater of Dionysus, and the Agora. The Areopagus is where democracy began. It is all in ruins, so I can only imagine what it looked like when all of it still stood. However the remains still have an elegant look to them. The Parthenon has eight columns on each end, 17 columns on each side and is large enough to make you feel the size of an ant. It is white, with detailed carvings all around the outside. It was a temple built to worship Athena and Poseidon. The Erectheon is another beautiful temple. It was statues that act as columns to hold it up and is a very graceful building. The Theater of Dionysus is giant and open. Constantine shared that it can seat 17,000 people! It is cut down into the mountain and climbs to the top. I wish I could have seen a performance there! 

These are the ruins of the Acropolis

The last part we visited was the Agora. The Agora was down the hill from the Acropolis, but still considered part of it. It was the place to go have conversations about the government, shop at the market, or trade. Greek philosophers like Plato, Sokrates, and Aristotle gathered here to share their beliefs. The Agora contained three major buildings where things took place. The first we saw was the Tholos. Constantine told us that it served as headquarters of the executive community. It was round, with six interior columns, and a diamond shaped roof. The next building the tour guide took us to the Bouleuterion. This served as a meeting place of the senate. It was rectangular, with columns on every side of it, and a triangular roof. I would have loved to see it in its days. The last building we visited in the Agora was the House of Simon the Cobbler. Before we got there, we saw some boundary stones, which helped people know where to go back in the day. They stated the requirements to be able to visit the Agora. It was cool to learn some of their rules! Constantine told us that the House of Simon the Cobbler is believed to be one of Sokrates’ informal classrooms.

This is a map of what the Agora was said to look like

The next we spent learning all about the Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle in a museum. Our new tour guide, Anastasia, first taught us all about Plato. He wrote a book called The Republic. He believed that an ideal society was one which each member understood and performed his or her proper role. He thought that education was necessary for a successful leader. He believed that philosopher-kings should rule because they were the smartest.

Next Anastasia taught us of Aristotle’s beliefs. He too wrote a book that was called Politics. He didn’t like democracy because people might fail to recognize their different strengths and weaknesses. He thought that Kings should rule, with help from philosophers. These teachings were our last thing in Greece. After that we went back to the hotel to rest up for Rome!

This is a painting of Plato(left) and Aristotle(right)

Ancient Greece Contributions:

• citizens get to vote
• exercise reason
• education is essential
• no hereditary power
• rule by consent of the governed
• three branches of government
• federalism
• written laws (constitution)
• citizens can put forth laws
• Direct democracy