Jones

Jones Gaia: Mother Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology) Although Gaia was mother earth and the first Greek goddess she did not have a large influence on Greek Mythology. Although she is sometimes called a goddess she is most often seen as a power. It is said that everything comes from Gaia, but still there is not much recognition of her. She was the mother of a majority of the Greek gods and goddesses; however they went on in the world with little or no influence from their mother. Uranus, or the universe, was her son, but also her husband and partner in populating world. In Greek Mythology every year a king was to be killed to make room for the new king. Uranus saw this and tried to prevent Gaia from having more children, by feeding her the children already born and blocking the children’s exit from their mother. Gaia ordered her son Cronos to unblock the exit, and the world was repopulated. When Gaia’s plan was fulfilled her children continued to prosper without help from her. Edited Gaia was the mother of Greek mythology; however she did not get much recognition, and was somewhat neglected by her children. Gaia was the mother of the majority of Greek gods and goddesses, but they pursued their lives with little influence of their mother. Gaia’s son, and husband Uranus crossed his mother in the pursuit of royalty. In order to remain the king Uranus fed his brothers and sisters to his mother. Gaia ordered another son of hers Cronos to find a way out. Unfortunately Gaia’s line of neglectful children did not stop there. When Cronos was out of his mother’s stomach he too was overwhelmed by greed, and a need for power. When Cronos’ wife Rhea had a child he swallowed the baby. This occurred a number of times until Rhea went to Gaia and they agreed to save Rheas son Zeus, who saved the other gods and goddesses. In return Gaia made Zeus king. The cycle continued when Zeus swallowed his wife forgoing the confusion of feeding her their children. At this Gaia discontinued helping her children, learning from her mistakes, and seeing that they only took advantage of her. The life of Rich and Poor Children in Ancient Greece http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/coming_of_age/school.html http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webunits/greecerome/Greeceroles1.html http://www.localhistories.org/GREECE.HTML In Ancient Greece there was a great division between the way rich children and poor children grew up. In rich families some girls were taught to read and write. Greek girls typically stayed at home rather than going to school. At home the both rich and poor girls stayed with their mothers learning how to run the house and at the age of 15 were ready to marry. Young girls of wealthy families had husbands their fathers selected for them. Girls of poor families were expected to fend for themselves and find a husband in the fields. As the girls grew older and became women the rich women were typically the managers of the house hold, handling the finances and food. Poor women however, helped their husbands with farm work and made the clothes for the family. Though boys were given more privileges than girls the division between wealthy and poor was still evident. Rich boys took on numerous jobs, and hobbies. They were involved in sports, music, philosophy, and things of that sort. Those that came from poor families took on their fathers work. As boys moved into manhood the typical dress was a chiton, or a plain piece of cloth with holes for the arms and head. A man’s standing could easily be told by ho elaborate his chiton was. Chitons of rich men had many decorations, while those of poor men were often plain. It is plain to see that the rich and the poor lived very different lives in Ancient Greece. Alexander the great [|http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexlander/alexander_t08.html] At the time Alexander the Great wrote this letter he had conquered King Darius III. Through this conquering Alexander had captured Darius’s wife, mother and children. Darius longed for the return of his family so he composed a letter and sent his representative to deliver it to Alexander. Alexander replied to Darius in his own letter, questioning why Darius had set a representative to deliver his letter rather than speaking to him in person. Darius had wronged Alexander many times, as he stated in the letter. Alexander belief that a ruler should not only be brave across the sea but be brave in person as well shaped his response to Darius. Darius had supported the people who killed Alexander’s father. He had written letters to the Greeks, to provoke them to go to war against Alexander. Darius representatives had turned Alexander’s friends against him, and his ancestors had invaded Macedonia when the Macedonians had done nothing wrong. All these actions showed that Darius’s was powerful when there was no direct threat. “Approach me therefore as the lord of Asia,” said Alexander. He questioned how Darius could have committed so many brave, bold actions, but not be brave enough to ask for his family back in person. Alexander then goes on to challenge Darius to visit him in person “Whatever you can persuade me to give you shall be yours,” he says. This persuasive letter presents a worthy challenge to King Darius. http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/olympics/a/aa021798.htm The Olympic Games were created in honor of Zeus. All participants gathered in Olympia named after Mt. Olympus the home of the gods. Originally the Olympics were not diverse in activities. It is said that the only event in the first 13 Olympics was the [|stadion]. By the 18th Olympiad a [|pentathlon] was held. The pentathlon consisted of; [|discus throwing], javelin, long jump, running and wrestling. The Olympics were also not diverse in participants. Only free Greek men, usually of the same religion could participate, women were forbidden from the Olympics. Like today the Olympiad was held every four years but the similarities stop there. The Olympics in ancient Greece stayed in ancient Greece, they do today. There was also no torch, and the clothing and equipment was far from what it is today. However the ancient Greek Olympics provided unity and healthy competition for the few that were accepted. 3 Questions! Why did Sparta not want to expand? Why did Pythagoras believe that numbers were the truth? Why was art so good for trading?