Thales, Archimedes, and Ptolemy

Thales is a philosopher who came from a wealthy family. He believed the earth was flat and had originated from water. He believed that the earth was just water and the son soaked up some of the water and land appeared. He also believed that sea creatures adapted to land and that is how we got land animals Same thing with people.

Archimedes was a mathematician who solved every math problem he was given. He also invented many inventions such as the catapult, the pully, the lever, and the water screw. One day, he set out to find out how much sand was in the universe. He set out to try to do this because he liked large numbers.

Ptolemy was a scientist who believed the earth was a sphere, not flat. He was right with this theory, but he was wrong about the earth's position. He believed that the earth was at the center of the Solar System and that the sun revolved around it; however, as we know today, the earth is not at the center of the Solar System and it revolves around the sun.

Some of these people have wrong theories about the earth, though some of their theories are correct. Would you believe their theories if you were alive when they were alive?

Hercules

Hercules was probably the most famous Greek myth and was a son of Zeus, a god of Mount Olympia. He was gifted with extraordinary strength and was the strongest man who ever lived. Hera, his mortal mom, did not like him having this gift, but the other gods did, in fact, protect him. His temper often got the best of him, so he went to the Oracle of Delphi and the oracle told him to visit King Eurystheus and work for him for ten years. He went to the king and did twelve impossible labors. The twelve labors were to slay the Nemean Lion, slay the nine-headed Hydra, capture the Golden Hind of Artemis, capture the Perymanthian Boar, clean the augean stables in a single day, slay the Stymphalian Birds, capture the Cretan Bull, steal the Maures of Diomedes, obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, obtain the cattle of the monster Gergon, steal the apples of Hespenides, and capture and bring back Ceuberus. Isn't that a lot?

Because of successfully completing these twelve impossible tasks, his mortal side died off and transformed into a god of Olympus. Because of becoming a god of Olympus he received a gift. This gift was a special winged house. He named it Pegasus and also became well known because of Pegasus. This is an epic Greek myth. Do you think it is?

Life in Sparta

Sparta was a really cruel culture and very unique in history. The Sparta government was really important but getting weak. The government thought it was because of family loyalty, so many extreme measures were taken to promote this. First, married couples could not be seen together, so they had to meet in secret. Then, instead of eating with their families, the boys had to eat every meal, every day in the military mess hall; even the king! Next, at the age of seven, all boys were sent to the military barracks to be trained to be soldiers to help in the military. The boys that were sent to the military lived a very hard life, even from a young age. They were not fed well, so to get healthy they had to steal food. If they stole food and got away with it, they could eat it, but if they were caught, they were beaten. I would not want to be a Spartan because I would not want to follow all those rules. Would you?

The Ancient Greek Olympics

The Greek Olympics started in 776 B.C. It happened at the foot of Mount Olympia. The Greeks thought the Greek gods lived on Mount Olympia, so they wanted to honor the Greek gods by doing the Olympics at the foot of Mount Olympia. It included foot racing, chariot racing, horse racing, javelin throwing, discus throwing, wrestling, boxing, and pentathlon.

Javelin and Discus throwing test the competitors for war. A javelin is a huge spear and a discus is a big round rock. Chariot racing is when the owner of a horse and chariot race against others, and horse racing is when the owner of a horse hires someone to ride his horse and win the competition for him.

The winners of the Olympics get a laurel wreath and a hero's welcome when they return home.

The Olympics ended in 395 A. D. because Emperor Theodosius proclaimed that the Olympics must end. Mount Olympia was struck by an earthquake and the track got really messed up, so the Olympics had to stop.

The Olympics lasted 1,171 years and happened every four years. Now that's a long time! I would have loved to be in the Ancient Greek Olympics; wouldn't you?