Lesson video

Hello there my wonderful friends.

And welcome to this, the 9th lesson on the unit of Ancient Greece.

My name is Mr. Pedroza.

And in this lesson, we're going to have look at the following question.

So the question is, what were the great achievements of the Greeks? Let's now look at how the lesson is going to be structured today.

So we'll begin with the star words.

Then we going to have at democracy and philosophy and how the Ancient Greeks had an impact on the development of both.

Then we'll look at maths, architecture and science, drama, literature and sports, Ancient Greek inventions and then at the very end is our end of lesson quiz.

Things that you're going to need in this lesson, you need your exercise book or paper, you need a pencil or a pen, and then you're also going to need a ruler.

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

Now let's have look and see what star words we have.

We've got six star words again.

So you got influential, legacy, democracy, research, architecture and drama.

Influential means having power or influence.

Legacy is anything that is passed down from ancestors or someone who came before.

Democracy is a form of government in which power rests with the people.

Research is the careful study of something in order to find that information about it.

Architecture is the act or process of designing buildings.

And drama is a story written so that it can be acted out for an audience.

So let's have look at what were the achievements of the Ancient Greeks.

And let's begin with democracy and philosophy.

Now the Ancient Greeks are considered to be one of the most influential civilizations in human history.

From democracy to philosophy, drama and mathematics, their ideas remain influential to this day.

Spread by trade and the conquest of Alexander the Great, as well as the abduction of their ideas by the Roman Empire.

Greek cultures spread throughout much of the known world, and it's influence survives to the present day.

Let's learn about the greatest achievements by the Ancient the Greeks.

Now the Ancient Greeks are credited for developing democracy.

A system of government where power rests with the people.

Much commonly associated with the city state of Athens, democracy was a really radical idea at the time, with most city states being ruled by kings, oligarchies or tyrants.

Now, definitions for democracy in Athens were first led by Solon, a ruler whose reforms codify in the Solonian constitution, reduced the power of the aristocracy and laid the foundations for democracy.

Now let's complete this first sentence.

So, Solon's reforms laid the foundations for what? What did his reforms lay the foundation for? I'm going to give you a clue.

It's a type of government.

So that's the point.

Pause the video and complete that task.

Let's see.

Did you use my clue to find it out, to find out the answer? So, Solon's reforms laid the foundations for democracy in Athens.

Good job, my friends.

Well done.

Now, let's continue.

The next step in Athens development of democracy came in 508 BCE, were the reforms by Cleisthenes.

And Cleisthenes reforms, known as demokratia or rule by the people was comprised of three separate institutions.

So in Athenian democracy, we had the Ekklesia which was the assembly, which was in charge of writing the laws.

Then we had the Boule, which was the council, which was in charge of running government from day to day.

And then we had the Dikasteria which were the courts, which handled lawsuits and trials.

And the Athenian idea of democratic governments spread to other city states.

And over time, it's a prior to the entire world.

And today, most of the world's governments claim to be democratic.

And on this map that you can see, the countries in green claim to have a democratic form of government, where power rests with the people.

This map shows the influence of Ancient Greece in regards to politics and government.

Because it is an Athens where democracy was first founded.

But true or false, the most countries claim to have democratic forms of government.

Is that true or is that false? What do you think? So again, at this point, pause the video and complete that task.

So let's have a look.

What was the answer to the question.

Is it true or false? It is of course true.

So today, most countries around the world claim to have a democratic form of government.

In the present day, only Vatican City, Amman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Fiji and Brunei, acknowledge to not have democratic forms of government.

And that shows you the power of Ancient Greek ideas about how to run governments.

Now let's move on, onto philosophies here.

Ancient Greek philosophy opened the doors to a particular way of thinking, that provided the risk, for the Western intellectual tradition.

Socrates, who is often referred to as the father of Western philosophy, he developed a style of inquiry, which followed constant questioning as the means to obtain deeper thinking.

And this became known as that Socratic method, Socrates, Socratic method.

That's a good way to remember.

Now, Plato was a student of Socrates developed a line of thinking around dialogue and debate.

Traditions which are valued within democratic forms of government.

If you go to parliament, you will often see politicians having debates.

And Plato is also really important, because his recollections of Socrates work, forms the basis for much of what we know about his teacher's ideas.

Remember that Socrates didn't write anything, and so much of what we know about him, comes from Plato himself.

Lastly Aristotle, who was a student of Plato, was influential for having tutored Alexander the Great.

He conquered much of the known world and he spread Greek culture and ideas as a result of his conquest.

Which famous Greek philosopher developed a style of inquiry known as the Socratic method? Is it A, is it Aristotle? Is it B, Plato? Is it C, Pythagoras or is it D, Socrates? I gave you good tips, for how to remember, how to link a philosopher to the Socratic method.

What was that? So, which famous Greek philosopher developed a style of inquiry known as the Socratic method? A, B, C or D? Have a think and then have a go.

Ready, is it B is it one? The famous Ancient Greek philosopher developed the Socratic method, it was D.

It was Socrates.

Socrates, Socratic method.

Easy way to remember.

So the famous ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates developed the Socratic method.

Awesome job my friends.

Why would the Ancient Greeks so influential? Let's continue.

Greek philosophers were seekers and lovers of wisdom.

And they studied and analysed the world around them using logic and reason.

And the work of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, amongst many others was vital, as it began to move away, the quest for knowledge, away from myths and superstitions to that of inquiry based on research and carefully detailed observations.

Something that is valued in the present day.

So let's now look at what the achievements of the Ancient Greeks were, in the fields of maths, architecture and science.

Now for Greek thinkers like Plato, maths simply, wasn't a means of calculating amounts, but a way of testing reality and understanding the true nature of the world around them.

Plato exemplified this belief in mathematics by having a message above the door to his Academy that said, do you remember what the message above Plato's Academy was? Yes, you're right.

It was let no one untrained in geometry enter.

And geometry remember, is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape and size.

Now Plato was convinced that understanding geometry, both mathematically and philosophically, was the key to learning about the universe.

Pythagoras is another famous philosopher, is most known for the Pythagorean theorem which is used today to find the length of sides of right angles, right triangles.

He also believed that the world was based in mathematics.

Well, let's complete the sentence.

So the philosopher Plato, believed that the study of, hmm, was the key to better understand the universe.

So what field, I'm going to give you a clue.

What field of mathematics that you think was really important to understanding the universe.

So that's the point.

I'd like you to pause the video and complete that task.

Let's see.

So the philosopher Plato believed that the study of geometry was the key to better understanding the universe.

Awesome job my friend, well done.

Let's move on to architecture now.

So the Ancient Greeks, they have a unique style of architecture that is still copied in government buildings and major monuments throughout the world.

Now on the left, you have the Parthenon, which is in Greece in Athens, and it was dedicated to whom?.

Yes, it was dedicated to goddess Athena.

Now, here on the right, you have the US Supreme court.

And you can see that the US Supreme court, is very similar in looks to the Parthenon which was built 2,500 years ago.

Now Greek architecture is known for tall columns, intricate detail, symmetry, harmony and balance.

And the Greeks built all sorts of buildings, but the main example of Greek architecture that survives today are their large temples, such as the Parthenon in Athens, that they built to their goddess Athena.

Which former temple, link question here, which former temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, is a surviving example of ancient Greek architecture? So in your answer you can say that hmm, in Athens is an example of surviving Greek architecture.

So at this point, pause the video and complete that question.

Answer the question.

Let's have a look.

Which former of temple dedicated to the goddess Athena is a surviving example of ancient Greek architecture.

The answer's of course the Parthenon.

So the Parthenon in Athens is an example of Ancient Greek architecture.

It was built in honour of the goddess Athena.

Awesome job my friends.

I'm going to leave the answers up, so that you can check it against your own.

Now let's move on to the field of science.

The Ancient Greeks made many advancements in science and technology.

And Greek philosophers began to look at the world in different ways.

And they came up with theories on how the world work.

And for that the natural world, obeyed certain laws that could be observed and learned through study.

And the Greeks were one of the first civilizations to study medicine as a scientific way to cure illnesses and disease.

They had doctors who studied sick people, observed the sentence and then came up with some practical treatments.

And one of the most famous Greek doctors was Hippocrates.

Hippocrates taught that diseases had natural causes and that they could sometimes be cured by natural means.

The Hippocratic oath is used today to uphold medical ethics.

And they're still taken by medical students today.

The Greeks also love to study the world around them.

And this included living organisms. Aristotle studied animals in great detail.

And he wrote down his observations in a book called, The History of Animals.

He heavily influenced zoologists for years by classifying animals, according to the different characteristics.

And later on, Greek scientists continued Aristotle's work by studying and classifying plants.

So Aristotle is famous for classifying animals, later, Greek scientists, they began to classify plants.

Let's answer the question.

This question here.

What did Hippocrates teach about medicine? So Hippocrates taught that, what did he teach about medicine? Can have a think.

If you need to rewind to watch that part of the video, you can do that.

That's totally fine.

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

Let's see and find out what the answer is.

What did Hippocrates teach about medicine? Hippocrates taught that disease had natural causes and they could sometimes be cured by natural means.

Before that, people used to think, in times of being punished by their gods, that would be a cause for disease.

But Hippocrates thought actually diseases caused by natural causes and we can sometimes cure it by natural means.

So he moved away the field of medicine away from mere superstition to actually studying the human body.

So at this point, pause the video and check that your answer matches my own.

Now, let's move on to the next section.

And this next section is going to tell you about the great achievements of the Ancient Greeks, in the fields of drama, literature and sport.

Now the answer Greeks developed drama, and it's been a cultural gift to the world ever since.

It began as part of the festival to the Greek god Dionysus, but eventually became a major part of Greek culture.

There were two main types of plays that the Greeks performed.

These were tragedies and comedies, styles which are still used in the present day.

And the best playwrights of the day, became famous celebrities.

And some of the most famous ones include Sophocles, Euripides and Aristophanes.

And the first actor was set up being a man named Thespis.

What was he called, Thespis.

Good job.

And today actors are sometimes referred to as Thespians.

Thespis and Thespians.

I can see the influence of Greek culture there.

The Ancient Greeks also developed an alphabet for writing and the common language was one of the things that brought Greeks together.

The Greek alphabet is still used today, and it's been a part, it's been a source for many other alphabets around the world.

The Ancient Greeks also left us, some of the most famous works in literature, which is still read and analysed to this present day.

Examples include the Odyssey and the Iliad, which were epic poems written by Homer, who was a poet himself in the eighth century, BCE.

The Odyssey tells us about the many adventures of the Greek God, the Greek hero, Odysseus while the Iliad telling us the story of the last share of the Trojan war, which was fought between the city of Troy and the Greeks.

At the integration was also important in the development of how we recorded history, which is what we're studying now.

With more emphasis being put on research and detail.

And examples include Herodotus who is a historian who chronicled the wars against the Persian Empire.

And Herodotus is often called the father of history.

Another important figure is Thucydides, who wrote about the Peloponnesian wars between Athens and Sparta.

Now let's complete the sentence here.

This summarises the last slide, which was about the famous historians who developed the field of history.

So at this point, what I want you to do, is pause the video and complete that task.

So let's all look and see if you got it right.

The Greek historians, Herodotus often referred to as the father of history and Thucydides are known for their attention to detail and the amount of research put into their work.

Awesome job my friends.

Now let's have a look at the field of sport.

Now, the Greek started the Olympic games almost 3000 years ago.

That's a long time ago in 776 BCE.

That was when they formed the first ancient Olympics.

And they were held nearly every four years for over a thousand years until they were stopped in 393 A.

D.

And the Olympic games were held in Olympia, hence the name Olympics.

They were held there because the gods lived on mount Olympus.

And their games were held in honour of the King of the gods Zeus.

Athletes would travel to Olympia from many different Greek city states and sometimes from far away Greek colonies in order to compete.

And after there they would stop, there where the spirit of around 5,000 years when there were no Olympics, but Baron Pierre de Coubertin found the international Olympic committee in 1894.

And that led to the very first modern Olympic games in 1896.

And it was held in the city of Athens.

The games are now held every four years.

And there were another visible sign of the Ancient Greek influence on the modern world.

So, let's have a look at this one.

In this task, what I want you to do, is I want to tell me, whether these statements are true or whether they are false.

So I'm going to read the statements to you, and then you're going to decide, is that true or is that false? So A, the Ancient Olympic games were held in the city state of Sparta, true or false? B, the Ancient Olympics were held in honour of the God Zeus, again, true or false? And last one, you really covered this one.

The first modern Olympics were held in 1896 AD in the city of Athens, is that true or is that false? So at this point, pause the video and complete that task.

Let's see.

Did you think, which ones did you think were true which ones did you think were false? So, A, the Ancient Olympic games were held in the city of Sparta, guys that is false.

They were held in the city state of Olympia.

Hence the name, the Olympics, B, the Ancient Olympics were held in honour of the God Zeus, that is true.

And then the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 AD, in the city of Athens.

That is also true.

Awesome job my friends, I'm going to leave it up, so that you can check your answers against my own.

Let's move on to the last section.

And this one is all about Ancient Greek inventions.

The Ancient Greeks can also be credited with many inventions and discoveries that we still use to the present day.

And many of these have been developed and adapted by subsequent generations.

The Ancient Greeks findings in the areas of astronomy, geography and mathematics made them pioneers in the field of science and engineering.

And the military successes of Alexander the Great were also down to ingenious military tactics, which are still studied today.

The Ancient Greeks are credited for developing things, such as the watermill, the alarm clock and the cartography, which is the study and practise of making maps.

And you might think, how can that be an alarm clock? Well, Plato, the philosopher, he invented a clock which used water as a way of telling time, how ingenious? And from that we developed the alarm clock.

So in conclusion, what were the great achievements of the Ancient Greeks? Well, there are so many to list.

The Ancient Greeks are considered to be one of the most influential civilizations in history.

Because from democracy to philosophy, drama, and mathematics, their ideas remain influential to this day.

Their approach to medicine, history and science impacts the way we approach our subjects today.

Their military successes, primarily under Alexander the Great, are still studied to this day.

And just like in Ancient Greece, now we celebrate the Olympic games every four years.

Where the best athletes compete to be the best in the world.

And finally, we still use some things developed by the Ancient Greeks, including water mills, alarm clocks, maps, and even writing.

And remember that much of the English alphabet has Greek origins.

So now, if anybody asked you, why were the Ancient Greeks so great? Then you are now an expert on the subject and you can say exactly why.

And guys that is the end of our lesson.

Great work today, awesome job.

It's now time to complete your end of lesson quiz.

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

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

They're going to tag @Oaknational, and they're going to the hashtag #LearnWithOak.

If there's anything you want to share, please ask your parents or carer to do that for you.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work today.

I know there was a lot to cover, but there was so many achievements made by the Ancient Greeks that it was difficult to make it short.

But thank you so much for persevering and for showing lot's of patience.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work.

And I shall see you in our next lesson.

Goodbye my friends.