An Educational Online Guide to Ancient Greece

An Educational Online Guide to Ancient Greece

The history of Ancient Greece can be broken into three major periods. The Archaic Period (800 to 500 B.C.), the Classical Period (500 to 323 BC), and the Hellenistic Period (321 to 146 BC). In the Archaic period, the Greek city-states of Athens, Thebes, Megara, and Sparta formed. During this period Homer writes the Iliad and the Odyssey, and the first Olympic Games are held. During the Classical period, Greek democracy reached its high point and sculpture reached its pinnacle with the Parthenon and its statues. The Greeks were victorious in the 490-479 wars with Persia and Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle began to teach against the Sophists. Sparta defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War. Alexander the Great of Macedon conquered Greece and went on to export Greek culture eastward as he expanded his empire. Alexander died in 323 BC and left no heir. His empire began to crumble. Greek city states continued their frequent struggle for dominance during the Hellenistic Age. The Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome drew in Greek city-states. The Romans began their conquest of Greece, finally destroying Corinth in 146 BC.

Ancient Greek Geography 

Ancient Greece was located in southeast Europe and comprised modern day Greece and Macedonia. The empire can be divided into three main areas. The western part of the Greek mainland was rugged and not suitable for agriculture, but supported the raising of goats, sheep, olives, and grapes. The eastern part of Greece, including the Attican peninsula, had some arable land and many natural harbors. The Peloponnese peninsula had some arable land surrounding a rugged mountainous interior.

The difficulty of traveling across the mountains and the lack of navigable rivers encouraged ancient Greeks to settle near the sea and to depend on the sea for commerce and sustenance. Greece is surrounded by six seas: the Mediterranean, Aegean, Ionian, Crete, Marmara, and Black. The abundance of seacoast and natural harbors encouraged the construction of port cities and sea trade. The ancient Greeks colonized the surrounding islands and founded colonies around the Mediterranean and Black seas. It is Greece's seaside location that helped to export the culture throughout the world at that time. As a center port of trade, Greece was a world power in terms of commernce and exporting goods.

Greece’s difficult terrain promoted the development of independent city-states rather than large empires. The exception to this was Macedon, to the north, which was a kingdom. Alexander the Great began the creation of his empire from the kingdom of Macedon. Alexander’s empire extended from Macedon through the Anatolian peninsula and Egypt, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Persia.

  • Ancient Greece: Maps of Ancient Greece. Includes political and physical maps of Greece.

  • Maps of Ancient Greece: Includes maps of the beginnings of Ancient Greece, Greek colonies, the Athenian Empire, and Greece during the Peloponnesian War.

  • Ancient Greek Geography: An overview of Ancient Greek history with an emphasis on geography. Includes maps of Ancient Greece at numerous important historical points.

  • Alexander the Great’s Empire: Site includes information on Alexander’s ascension to the throne of Macedonia, his army and conquests, and how he built his empire. Includes maps of his campaigns and a map of his empire.

Ancient Greek Culture

Ancient Greek culture and society were different for men and women, and for the wealthy and the poor. Society was divided between free people, who had legal rights, and slaves. Wealthy free men enjoyed watching tragedies and comedies at the theater, participating in athletic competitions, and engaging in political discussions. In their leisure time men would attend symposia, evenings of conversation, wine, games, and entertainment. Men would also hunt, horseback ride, and play games such as dice, marbles, or a form of checkers that is similar to modern backgammon. Common men spent most of their time working in agriculture, harvesting crops or raising sheep or goats.

Women’s social status was determined by their father or husband. Women, with the exception of some priestesses, did not take an active role in public or political life. Women stayed at home with their children and performed domestic activities, such as sewing, spinning, and weaving. Most of the menial household duties were performed by slaves and overseen by the lady of the house. Poor women left their homes more than aristocratic women, because they did not have slaves to perform tasks for them, such as going to the central marketplace. Poor women went shopping at the market, did their washing in the streams, and worked with their husbands in the fields. Aristocratic male children were tutored at home and later sent out to school. Female children did not receive formal education, although some were likely taught to read and write at home.

Ancient Greek clothing was not fitted to the body, but instead was draped over the wearer and pinned in place. In the Archaic period, men and women wore the Doric chiton, which was rectangle of woolen cloth that men and women wrapped around them and pinned at both shoulders with open pins or brooches and gathered at the waist by a girdle. The arms were left bare and excess material flowed down the back, like a cape. In the Classical period, men and women wore the Ionic chiton, which was a very wide rectangle of linen or silk. Eight to ten pins were necessary to fasten this garment along the right side. Men and women both wore the chiton. Men shortened their version to knee-length in the fifth century BC, and soldiers used a belt to shorten theirs to mid-thigh in order to move more freely. The chiton was of purple, indigo, green, yellow, or other bright colors and often featured embroidery. The chiton was topped by either a himation or a chlamys, shorter rectangles of woolen cloth worn as capes or shawls. Men and women took great care with their physical appearance. Women wore their hair long and often curled and piled on the head in careful arrangements. Men kept their hair short and wore beards. Both sexes wore perfume and jewelry.

Religion was an important part of life in Ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks were polytheists, meaning they worshipped many gods and goddesses. To honor and celebrate their gods, half of the days each year were given to religious festivals and celebrations. Religious processions included men and women, nobles and commoners and occasionally slaves. Women and girls were especially active in religious ceremonies, often performing important ritual actions such as washing the statue of the honored goddess, or bearing ritual offerings to the temple. Religious festivals included drinking, dancing, and singing. Boys and men competed as choruses in choral singing contests. Festivals also included competitive sports events and horse races.


Ancient Greek Government

Ancient Greece was divided into many independent city-states. These city-states would band together in leagues to fight against common enemies or would fight amongst themselves. Each city-state had its own form of government. The three main types of government in Ancient Greece were monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy.

Sparta was a monarchy supported by an oligarchy. Sparta had two kings and a council of 28 nobles, all retired soldiers. An assembly of Spartan citizens, all male Spartiates, or full citizens, selected the council members and could vote on the council’s proposals. The council itself was controlled by men, the ephorate, who had veto power over all council decisions. The Spartan government controlled life in Sparta, including the education system, foreign policy, the army, and even decided which infants would be exposed to die because they were considered too weak. Spartans were trained to serve the state, which resulted in a very stable and long-lived government. Spartans were proud of their military tradition and the strength of their city-state. Spartan men were trained to be soldiers from age seven and even after they were married continued to live with other men in military barracks. At age 30, Spartan men were allowed to move from the barracks to a private home with their families, although they continued to serve as soldiers. Spartan women were expected to serve the state by producing strong children and so received physical training and education. Spartan women could also own property and were expected to protect their family’s property while their husbands were away at war. The Spartan emphasis on war and simplicity of life did not prompt them to great achievements in art or literature because their focus remained on military training.

Athens became a direct democracy in the fifth century BC. Direct democracy means rule by the citizens instead of rule by representation or by an elite class or a monarch. Athenian citizens, all male, had political and legal equality, were able to own land and slaves, and could make speeches and vote in the public assemblies. Athens had about 30,000 citizens able to vote, although usually only 5,000 to 6,000 would attend a given assembly. The citizens voted on laws proposed by a group of 500 citizens chosen by lot each year to serve as lawmakers. Athenian citizens were expected to obtain an education, either through private tutors or later through public gymnasia. Athens emphasized the importance of education for making productive citizens who could achieve greatness in sports, arts, literature, and drama.

Athenian democracy provided many of the ideas that formed the cornerstone of modern democracies and republics. The idea of rule by the citizens became the ideal for the architects of many political systems. Direct citizen rule in a large country was not feasible, so countries like the United States of America adopted representative forms of democracy. The Assembly, where laws were proposed, debated, and voted on, was another contribution of Athens to later democracies.


  • Athens and Sparta: Information on the government and culture of Athens and Sparta. Includes separate sections for the role of women in each city-state.

  • Odyssey Online: Features information on Greek democracy, geography, gods and goddesses, architecture, and military conquests.

  • Ancient Greece: Resource for primary or middle school students on Ancient Greece. Includes sub-sections on Athens and Sparta and their political systems.

  • Ancient Greek Chronology: Timeline of ancient Greek history. Includes wars, government information, and literary and cultural achievements.


Ancient Greek Art 

In the Classical period, sculpture, drama, and architecture reached their peak. The Greeks admired painting, pottery, and sculpture and displayed them in temples and public buildings. Greek sculptors began to capture the beauty of the human form in motion and depicted their subjects in natural poses. Popular subjects included gods and goddesses and athletes. Greek artists painted beautiful vases to be displayed, used in the home, or placed in graves. Athenian artists painted in the black or red figure styles. In these styles, the human subjects were colored black on a red background or red on a black background.

Architecture also thrived during the Classical period. The two most famous styles of Greek architecture were the Doric and Ionic styles. The Parthenon, or the temple of Athena, was built in the Doric style. This architectural style was plain and its columns did not feature ornamentation. The Erechtheum, a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, was built in the Ionic style. This style featured elegant columns with scrolled designs at the top.

The Greek art that continues to entertain audiences today is drama. The ancient Greeks staged tragedies and comedies. Greek playwrights staged tragedies during festivals in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine. Greek tragedies portray a tragic hero who falls because of a flaw in his character such as hubris, a mistake, or the will of the gods. The hero may suffer misfortune, but not necessarily death. Often the hero achieves an insight into human nature, destiny, or the thoughts of the gods. The comedy treated less lofty subject matter and was often humorous or risqué. Comic playwrights would also stage their plays to honor Dionysus.

  • Ancient Greek Art: Includes links to museum pieces and images of Greek art, including bronzes, statues, and pottery.

  • Ancient Greek Drama: Includes a timeline, information on how Greek plays were staged, and what theaters looked like. Also includes a link to structural analysis of popular Greek plays. Links to Greek and English texts online are only accessible to users with a university affiliation.

  • Greek Drama and Culture: Features a glossary of drama-related terms and study guides to plays. The link to the instructor’s mythology site includes a glossary of mythological figures, an overview of Greek gods, and study guides to works by Homer, Sophocles, and Euripides. Some links to background resources and secondary readings are only accessible to users with a university affiliation.

  • Greek Art: Features images of ancient Greek art, pottery, and sculpture, and includes discussion of Greek contributions to the arts.

Ancient Greek Sport

Ancient Greeks prized athletic achievement and played many sports. Sports were tied to military training and served to increase soldier’s physical prowess. Men competed at sprinting and distance running, wrestling, and boxing. Men entered athletic competitions naked, so women were not allowed to watch.

The Olympic Games began as part of a festival in honor of Zeus held every four years in Olympia. Events at the Olympic Games included sprinting, wrestling, long jump, boxing, javelin and discus throwing, and the pentathlon (running, javelin and discus throwing, long jump, and wrestling). Horse racing, chariot racing, and a race in which the competitors wore armor were also included. People from many city-states converged at the Olympics to compete with each other for the honor of being the best at physical competitions. Spectators watched the events and celebrated with the athletes after the games with a feast. The ancient Olympics had their own star athletes, such as Milo of Croton in the sixth century BC. Milo won the wrestling competition six times at the Olympics and seven at the Pythian Games.

The Greeks’ contribution to future sports is most apparent in the Olympic Games. After 1,500 years without an Olympics, the modern Olympics revived the tradition and in 1896 the first modern Olympics was held in Athens, with many events held in the ancient Panathenaic Stadium. The modern Olympics includes many of the same sports as the ancient Olympics—sprinting and distance races, wrestling, long jump, and discus throwing—and many new sports, such as rowing, badminton, and sailing. Another innovation of the modern Olympics is the inclusion of women’s sports.

  • The Ancient Olympics: Site features information and images about the ancient Olympics and Olympic events.

  • Greek Sports: Information on Greek sports and games played by children. Includes information on children and the Olympics.

  • Physical Education: Information on the role of the gymnasium and physical education in Greek life.

Ancient Greek art, architecture, sculpture, drama, sport, and ideals of government have exerted a strong pull on the imagination of writers, artists, and politicians for centuries. Greek culture is considered a foundation of Western civilization and culture and knowledge of Greek history and myth is necessary to understand many political movements and great works of art. Universities, courthouses, and public buildings around the United States pay homage to Greek architecture using Doric and Ionic columns. Sculptors continue to be inspired by the beauty of Greek athletes captured mid-step in marble. Readers of all ages read about the gods of Mt. Olympus and authors incorporate Greek myths into their modern poetry and prose. Citizens of many countries continue to benefit from the Athenian experiment in democracy.