Ancient Greece

Women's Life

Greek women had virtually no political rights of any kind and were controlled by men at nearly every stage of their lives. The most important duties for a city-dwelling woman were to bear children--preferably male--and to run the household. Duties of a rural woman included some of the agricultural work: the harvesting of olives and fruit was their ...

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The Persian War in ancient Greece

There can be no doubt that the Persian Wars form an essential part of Ancient Greek history. Had certain key battles gone in favour of the opposing side, it is highly likely that subsequently, the culture and status of the country would have reflected greatly the conquering nation, Persia. The Persians already controlled much of the known world at ...

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The Ancient Olympic Games Virtual Museum

The Olympic idea was born in ancient Greece nearly 3,000 years ago. Sporting contests took place during the great festivals that the Greeks held in honour of their gods. The most important of these contests was the Olympic Games, dedicated to Zeus, the Father of the Gods. Every four years, free men from all over the Greek world gathered at the Game...

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The Ecole Initiative: The Eleusinian Mysteries

The Eleusinian Mysteries, held annually in honor of Demeter and Persephone, were the most sacred and revered of all the ritual celebrations of ancient Greece. They were instituted in the city of Eleusis, some twenty-two kilometers west of Athens, possibly as far back as the early Mycenaean period, and continued for almost two thousand years. Large ...

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The Geography of Ancient Greece

Greece is located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a peninsula, with water on three sides. There are also many Greek islands. Rhodes and Crete were two of the larger islands. Sparta and Athens were the major cities of ancient Greece. Central Greece is broken up by hills and mountains. It was hard for the ancient Greeks to travel through these areas....

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A Taste of the Ancient World: Greco-Roman eating, drinking,

and farming. An exhibit about Greco-Roman eating and drinking, farming and starving presented by undergraduates in Classical Civilization 452: Food in the Ancient World. The Kelsey Museum of Archaeology...

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History House: Stories: Philip of Macedon (and Pausanias)

Philip of Macedon was good at what he did. The father of Alexander the Great, he managed to turn the backwater province of Macedon into a swelling power and conquered all of Greece to boot. This garnered him quite a hefty reputation in the ancient world, and as a result the Persian empire was forever trying to get him down. His son Alexander, not t...

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