Lesson video

Hello.

Hey there my friends, and welcome to the third lesson on this unit on Ancient Greece.

My name is Mr. Pedroza and this lesson, we're going to tackle the following question.

So question is, what was the Golden Age of Greece? So far we learnt a little bit about the beginnings of Ancient Greece, in this lesson, we're going to have a look at some of the achievements that the Ancient Greeks achieved during the Golden Age.

So let's have a look at the lesson structure.

So we'll begin with the Star Words and then we'll have a look at the very first Olympic Games.

Then we'll have look at a Athenian Democracy and have a look at the Persian Invasions, and then we'll have a look at the Ancient Greek cultural achievements.

And then at the very end is our end of lesson quiz.

Things that you're going to need in this lesson.

You're going to need your exercise book, or paper.

You're going to need a pencil or a pen, and then you going to need your ruler.

So if you haven't got those things, go and get them now.

Okay, let's begin with the Star Words.

This is the key vocabulary for the lesson, so we've got, invasion, truce, democracy, you've got statesman, trireme and architecture.

And invasion is an act or instance of invading by an enemy or hostile army.

And we've got a truce, and a truce is to stop or end the war, that is agreed upon by all groups.

The next one we got democracy and democracy is a form of government in which power rests with the people.

Next, we've got a statesman and a statesman is a man who shows skill and wisdom in government.

Next one, we've got trireme and a trireme is an Ancient Greek or Roman galley.

It was used as a warship and it tended to have three tiers of oars on each side.

Last one is architecture and architecture is the act or the process of designing and building.

So let's have a look at the timeline and this timeline we're going to use to lead up to the Ancient Greeks Golden Age.

So, in this lesson, we're going to be studying the Ancient Greece's Golden Age.

And the Ancient Greece's Golden Age began roughly in 490 BCE, but let's have a look at what happened before then.

So in around 2,200 BCE, we had the beginnings of the Minoan civilization, which emerged on the island of Crete.

And they were considered to be the first great Greek civilization.

After the Minoans came to Mycenaean civilization who's centre of power was the city of Mycenae on the mainland.

After the climb of the Myceneans there was a period of time known as the Dark Age, and the reason why it was known as the Dark Age was because nobody knows about what happened and all written language and art disappeared.

And that was between 1,100 BCE and 800 BCE.

So that period of the time when we don't really know what happened is known as the Dark Age.

So let's complete the sentence next, so, After the decline of the Mycenaean civilization, Ancient Greece entered the period of time known as the what? What is that period of time known as? So at this point, pause the video, and then complete that sentence.

Okay.

Let's see if you got that one right.

So after the decline of the Mycenaean civilization, Ancient Greece entered the period of time known as the Dark Age.

Great start my friends.

Now, let's continue, so Ancient Greece, it emerged from its Dark Age in around 800 BCE and the Greeks, they started trading more with the outside world.

And they held the very first Olympic Games in 776 BCE in the city of Olympia.

In the sixth century, democracy began to be developed in Athens.

And Ancient Greece's Golden Age came following the remarkable and unlikely triumphs over the Persian Empire, which unsuccessfully tried to subjugate the region over the course of two invasions.

So there were two invasions by the Persian Empire.

And the first invasion was led by King Darius with the second one led by his son around 10 years later.

Right, let's answer this question.

So after the end of the Dark Age, Ancient Greece held its very first Olympic Games.

When and where were they held? So you got to tell me when they were held and where they were held.

So in what city, were the Olympic Games held? And you can use this sentence starter to have a go.

So you can say the first Olympic Games were held in.

Remember you got to tell me when it was and then where it happened.

So at this point pause the video and complete that task.

Okay.

Let's see if you got that one right.

So you needed the date, you needed the year and you needed a place.

So after the end of the Dark Age, Ancient Greece held its first Olympic Games, when and where were they held? So the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BCE in the city of Olympia.

Awesome job.

Okay, I'm going to leave it up so that you can take it against your own.

Awesome job.

Remember to keep checking your work.

If you make a mistake, that's totally fine.

I'm going to give you a chance to correct it.

So let's move on to the very first Olympic Games.

Now the Ancient Greeks, they love sports and they held the first recorded Olympic Games in the city-state of Olympia.

And every four years around 50,000 people came from all over the Greek world to watch and take part.

And the ancient games were also a religious festival held in honour of Zeus, who was the King of the Gods.

And a truce was called between any warring state, any warring city-states during the Olympics so that everyone could take part.

So if any city-states were at war with each other, a truce would be called and for that time, for the time being during the Olympics, they would not be at war and that allowed them to send athletes to the games.

So let's have a look at this question.

The Olympic Games were held in honour of which God? Was it in honour of Athena? Was it in honour of Hades? Was it in honour of Poseidon, the King of the sea, the God of the sea? Or was it held in honour of Zeus the King of the Gods.

So the Olympic Games were held in honour of which God? Is it A, B, C, or D? Have a think, and have a go.

Pause the video and complete that task.

Okay.

Let's have a look and see if you got the answer right.

The Olympic Games were held in honour of Zeus.

Awesome job, my friends.

Well done.

And remember they were held in the city of Olympia around every four years, just like the modern Olympics.

So let's go, let's continue.

So we know about the Dark Age, it ended around 800 BCE.

Then we had the very first Olympics in 776 BCE.

So let's continue on to democracy in Athens.

Leading up to Ancient Greece's Golden Age, Athens began to develop a new model of government known as democracy.

And derived from the Greek word, demos, meaning people and Kratos, meaning power, this form of government gave power to the people.

And the very first democratic government was headed by a man named Pericles.

And Pericles was a statesman, he was an orator and he was a general.

Under Athenian democracy, citizens could vote on important issues and a lottery would decide who would sit each year on a council.

And a council of people deliberated the laws.

However, not all people had a say, women, slaves and foreigners, people who were not born in Athens, were not considered citizens, and they could not vote.

Who could not vote in Athenian democracy? I literally just told you, so if you were paying attention you're going to get this one right.

So have a look at the answer.

You can say in Athenian democracy only citizens could vote.

This meant that who could not vote in a Athenian democracy? Have a think, pause the video and complete that task.

Okay.

Let's see, who couldn't vote in Athenian democracy? The answer was, in Athenian democracy, only citizens could vote.

This meant that women, slaves and foreigners were not allowed to vote.

So again at this point, I'm going to leave it up so that you can compare it against your own answer.

Awesome job my friends.

Let's continue.

Now.

Let's have a look at the next part and it's the Persian invasions.

So the Persian Empire led by King Darius the First invaded the Greek mainland in around 492 BCE.

And at the time the Persian Empire was the largest and most powerful empire in the entire world, controlling land all the way from Egypt and all the way to India.

So this is the Persian Empire and you can see how big it was.

It was a really powerful empire.

Now the Greeks that were under the control, were known as the Ionians and they revolted against the Persian rule.

And they asked for help from the Greek city-states, including Athens.

And Athens and other city-states, they sent ships and weapons, but the revolt was quickly subdued.

The Persians defeated the Ionians.

Now to punish the Greeks for assisting the Ionians Darius decided to invade the mainland.

This is the mainland here.

Was that a good choice? Well, Darius gathered a huge army, which vastly outnumbered the Greeks.

But the Persians underestimated the fighting capability of the Greeks and at the Battle of Marathon, the army of Athens defeated the Greeks.

The army of Athens defeated the Persians, my apologies.

And after the battle, the Athenian army ran the 25 miles back to Athens in order to prevent the Persians from attacking the city.

And this is said to be the origin of the marathon running race, and a marathon is around 26 miles long.

So let's have a look at this one.

So for each sentence here, what you got to do is you've got to write the missing words, and the missing words could be Athens, it could be Darius, or it could be Ionians.

So have a think, where are all those words going to go? Once you think you've got it, write them down and then read them back to see if it makes sense.

So at this point, pause the video and complete this task.

Okay, let's check.

Are you ready? So, A, the Persian Empire led by King Darius invaded the Greek mainland in 492 BCE.

B, the Ionians revolted against Persian rule and asked the Greek city-states, including Athens for help.

Awesome job my friends.

I'm going to leave it up so that you can check the answer.

Okay, let's move on.

Now.

That was the first invasion by the Persians.

They came back for more.

So 10 years later in 480 BCE, the son of Darius I, King Xerxes decided to get his revenge on the Greeks.

And he amassed another huge army of over 200,000 soldiers.

And around 1000 warships and the Persians defeated the King Leonidas and the Spartans at the battle of Thermopylae before marching onto Athens.

Now, when they got to Athens, the Persians they found, the city deserted, everybody had left and they had burnt it to the ground.

They then met the Athenian fleet off the coast by the island of Salamis And the Athenians defeated the Persians again by ramming their triremes, their ships, into the much larger Persian ships, sinking many of them.

The Athenians they sounded defeat of the Persians causing Xerxes to retreat back to Persia.

And there was never a threat from them again.

These are the triremes that the Greeks rammed into the Persian ships.

So let's look at this task.

So in this task we've got to write whether these statements are true or they are false.

So I'm going to read them to you and you need to decide whether they're true or false.

So A, in 480 BCE King Darius I returned to invade the Greek mainland.

Is that true? Or is that false? B, King Leonidas and the Spartans defeated the Persians at the battle of Thermopylae.

And C, at the Battle of Salamis, the Athenians defeated the Persian fleet by ramming their triremes into the much larger Persian ships.

So are those statements true or false? Have a go and complete that task.

So pause the video.

Okay, let's see which of those statements are true or false.

Okay, So in 480 BCE, King Darius I returned to invade the Greek mainland, that is false.

Remember that it was Xerxes, King Darius' son, who invaded Greece in 480 BCE.

B, King Leonidas and the Spartans defeated the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae, that is false.

The Spartans, led by King Leonidas, they were defeated by the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae.

And C, at the Battle of Salamis, the Athenians defeated the Persian fleet by ramming the triremes into the larger Persian ships.

That is true.

Despite boasting a much larger fleet, the Persians, they were defeated at the Battle of Salamis, forcing Xerxes to retreat all the way back to Persia.

Okay, at this point I'm going to leave the answers up so that you can check your own.

Okay, let's continue.

Let's move on from the Persian invasions now.

So let's move on to Greece's culture achievements.

Now following the defeat of the Persians Ancient Greece underwent a time of remarkable cultural growth.

Important advances were made in maths, in science and art.

And we still use some of the ideas developed by the Ancient Greeks during this time.

And one of the greatest inventions of the Ancient Greeks was drama.

It evolved out of religious ritual and it probably proved to be really popular.

And it was a really enduring creation because we still use drama to this day.

Greeks would flock to the theatres carved into hillsides, to watch the latest plays, comedies, tragedies, and satires.

And satires are plays that challenge the way we think.

Only men could perform in these plays.

And they played both women and men.

Today's TV and films have their origins in Greek culture, in Greek theatre, with plays written by dramatists such as Aeschylus, Aristophanes and Euripides are still performed to this day.

Now the ancient Greeks, they also made great advances in architecture, and they used math in their architecture, carefully measuring angles, shapes, and sizes to create really grand stone buildings.

Many of which have survived to the present day, just like the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

Now, the Greeks, they built great temples to honour their many gods.

Marble sculptures of brave heroes decorated everything with brightly coloured paints.

Now, the Parthenon, which as I told you was dedicated to the Goddess Athena was built during the Golden Age.

At the peak of Athens' power.

Construction of the Parthenon began in 447 BCE finishing in 432 BCE.

And the Parthenon is regarded as an endurance symbol of Ancient Greece, and a reminder of their power, of their great achievements during the Greek Golden Age.

So let's have a look at this sentence.

You've got to complete the sentence and you've got three words that you got to put in.

So the three words are Athens, Parthenon and Athena So where do you think those words might go? Have a think, write them down, complete that task, Okay, let's have a look, are you ready? Where do those words go? So we got the Parthenon dedicated to the Goddess Athena, was built in the city-state of Athens.

So you've got Parthenon, you've got Athena and then you've got Athens Awesome job my friends.

I'm going to put it up so that you can check your own answer.

Okay let's continue.

Now, during the Ancient Greece's Golden Age, the Greeks developed and refined their alphabet.

So this is an example of the Greek alphabet.

Now the English alphabet is based on the Greek alphabet and much of the English language is rooted in this ancient language.

Lastly, the Golden Age gave us the philosopher, Socrates, who steered philosophy in the direction of morals, logic, and ethics.

And his lines of inquiry are influential to the present day.

So when did Ancient Greece's Golden Age end? Well, the end of Greece's Golden Age came, began after the conclusion of the Peloponnesian wars between Athens and Sparta, which happened between 431 BCE to 404 BCE.

Sparta emerged victorious from this war.

And they became the most powerful city-state in the whole of Greece.

Athens was also ravaged by plague between 430 and 427 BCE.

And as chronicled by the Athenian historian and general Thucydides, this event killed around a third of the city's population.

Greece's Golden Age ended in around 323 BCE after the death of Alexander the Great who was the King of Macedon.

Having conquered much of the known world a new era known as the Hellenistic period began.

And guys that is the end of the lesson.

So great work today, it's now time to complete your end of lesson quiz.

And if you'd like to please ask your parent or carer to show your work.

They can do it on Instagram, they can do it on Facebook, they can do it on Twitter.

They've got to tag @OakNational with the hashtag, #LearnwithOak.

So if there's any work that you'd like to be shared, you can ask your parent or carer to do it for you.

Awesome job guys.

Well done.

I'm really proud of all of your efforts today and I hope I shall see you in our next lesson.

Goodbye.