Arron's Daily Life Essay - Education

In the years between 479 B.C. and 431 B.C. Athens was at its strongest. It was the center of wisdom in all of Greece. Culture was flourishing and education was being revolutionized. Athenian education was different in the way that it prepared Athens’s young citizens for what is to come. Athenian teachers trained children,(only boys) about the arts, specifically architecture, as well as arithmetic, literature, sports and many other classes. The tuition was also very low, so that even children from poor families could attend the schools. The structure of Athenian education was well organized as well as the the richness of the education and how deep the classes were. Their education also fit in well with their government which was very democratic. Overall, Athenian education was one of the strongest educations in the ancient world, it is unfortunate it didn’t last too long.

The young boys begin school at the 6 and 7. They continued until at least age 13 or 14. Usually, children from poorer families leave school at this time. However, children from wealthier families continued on. While in school, children learned reading, writing, poetry, arithmetic, literature, music, architecture and sports. At age 18, these young men went to military school to learn to fight and learn the art of war. This way, every male citizen knew how to fight in case of a military emergency. At the age of 20, military training ended , however it was possible to continue. There was also something for usually wealthier young men, it was a higher education. These classes usually began at age 16 and taught rhetoric and philosophy. Rhetoric was very important because, “The ability to speak in public was not only the hallmark of a well-educated gentleman but also a vital attribute to anyone who wished to make a mark for himself in a democratic society,” (Robert Garland). The road through education was an especially long one for the Athenian child. But in the end, it was a citizen prepared for the life ahead of them with all the skills they would need. Solon, an early reformer with his own idea of justice said it the best, “ We fan into flame their minds with music and arithmetic first, and we teach them to write and read their letters. As they progress, we recite for them sayings of wise men...and are motivated to imitate them,” (Solon).

The Athenian system of government was unlike any other system of education. They gave anyone the opportunity to have an education, but the education itself was so strong and it covered so many aspects of life so the young citizens felt like they had a choice. Perhaps it was the freedom of choice along with the power of knowledge that made Athens a center of wisdom in the ancient world.

The Republic Hunter Priniski
Victoria Leon
11-9-09

A Republic is which the head of the country is not a monarch and most of the people in the country have a say in the government. Some countries that are a Republic are: Afghanistan (also known as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Albania (Republic of Albania), and Australia (Commonwealth of Australia). The theory of an Republic stae was first introduced by Plato. It was first introduced in Republic of Greece it introduced they ideas of commonwealth and public businesses. All though the modern idea of the Republic was an idea of a republic first appeared in the work by Italian scholars of the Renaissance, most importantly Niccolò Machiavelli. He divided governments into two types, monarch and republic, he first said that the republic is ruled by the people. Strengths of a Republic is that a person that holds a blue collar jobs has as much say as a CEO of a major corporation. I mean this by the act of voting, peoples votes all over the country all equal; the President, the gas pump custodian, and senator. When a person votes they have say in their government, ll though it may not be much, it is enough for the republic to work. There are to drawbacks to a Republic, one it takes a while for a law to pass. It takes a while because it has to go through all of the branches of government. This is a drawback because if it is a law that needs to be passed quickly it may take a while, and then if the law is passed it may be to late for it to be of any use. It takes the cooperation of the population in the country for the Republic to work. Because if people don't vote then the laws won't pass, the country would probably just stay at a stand still. The Republic is pretty much a good type of government, but when you mix it with another type of government you get the greatest goverment of all time, The United States of America.

Kleptocracy Jacob and Arron

Kleptocracy is a type of government where all of the wealth and power is actually stolen by the person in power. It has very close ties to political corruption. It basically is corruption. Kleptocracy is political corruption but not all political corruption is tied to Kleptocracy, because, Kleptocracies are usually dictatorships. Not all political corruption happens in a dictatorship.

The ruler of a Kleptocracy usually treats the treasury as their own bank account that they can take from at will. The only people who benefit from this type of government would be the thieves themselves.

Kleptocracies usually consist of a number of bribes, extortions, and a lot of corruption. This type of government is basically like a big scam, it won't last forever, then the ruler takes off and enjoys the money they have, leaving the people to suffer. One of the most famous Kleptocracies would be under the leader Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa za Banga, who was the leader of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He remained in office for 31 years and openly challenged communism, he even waged war against countries who supported communism. He is known for notoriously mismanaging his countries' finances. Overall, Mobutu stole around 5 billion dollars over his rule from the treasury, he is considered one of the most corrupt leaders of all time.

Blog Credit Check

For these first two posts, the grade is simply credit/no credit.

Arron
Origins of Athens - Credit
Greece Links - Credit

Hunter
Origins of Athens - Credit
Greece Links - Credit for two out of three links

Wasnaa
Origins of Athens - Credit
Greece Links - No Credit

Let me know if you posted and I missed it.

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: GREECE

is one of the most detailed sites I have ever seen, not counting the British Museum website. It contains a huge amount of sources and works of Aristotle, Thucydides, and many more! This is another 4 star site from Best History Sites, they are absolutely correct!

The Greek Galleries

is The metropolitan Museum of Art's online gallery. This is obviously a site focused more on culture than battles. But, the website has a timeline you can follow to find out about the backstory of the work of art you have chosen as well as when it was produced.

The Greeks: Crucible of Civilization http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/htmlver/

is a strong site focused mostly on the Classical Period of Greece. This is a PBS run site so it contains some interaction such as a timeline you can click on and some 3D animation of the Parthenon and other architectural phenomenon. This is a four star site which is placed on a web site called Best of History Sites.

http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/

This website is actually quite unique it is a history site that is set up like a museum. It shows you artifacts and History pages as if you were in the museum. It is probably set up like this becase it is a real museum in the united kingdom.

http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Main_Page/

It shows the history of greece. It has great examples of the architecture that was put in the palaces and even in the city. It shows how the connections between mythology and the modern a anceint times in Greece.

Athens

Years before the democracy of Athens was even vision in Plato's mind, tribes roamed the flat hills. Soonley the fell under control of King Theses. He turned some of the tribe in to compacted city, which was known as Athens. They had a government that was ahead of their time which would help influence many major cultures and countries in the years ahead. The basic idea of commonwealth for all classes of the class system was also invented.

300 sucks!

300 the movie is the worst movie ever! It is so inaccurate! Spinal Tap is the best movie ever!

Heroism Being Demolished in Modern Society - Hunter Priniski

I part sides with Campbell, people these days are feeling of least importance as they did years before. There are three reasons for this, the first reason is how connected we are becoming with the rest of the world, or in other words television. When people watch the television they see actors or actresses that a T.V. producer would perceive as a hero. He or she may be called a hero for their looks, knowledge, or even their humor. Therefore as many people watch the people on television they get the feeling that I need to look her, or I need to act like him. So in effect many Americans, especially, feel that the person on that gets attention and are in the news are of more importance then themselves. Another reason is that there are so many people in the world. So they feel that there is much more competition in the world and the odds are against them a lot more then they were one-hundred years ago. The third reason is that there are so many different types of things in the world and people can't make up what they want to do for their life. Because to become a hero you have to be extra special or great at something, and with all the different opportunities in the world you will not be able to build up a reputation as easy as it was years ago. These are just the minor reasons for Heroism being rare in Modern Society. But there are aspects that have a sociological view as well.

Hero's adventure and the beginning of Athens

I agree with Joseph Campbell in some respect, but I also disagree. I don't think we all feel completely powerless. I know some people have less faith in humanity than others, but I still believe some people still act heroically, and we see flashes of this from time to time. For example, or maybe this isn't the best example, when Sully landed the plane on the lake in New York, he showed an act of heroism. I still have extreme respect for Joseph Campbell, though, but I don't completely agree with with him.

Now, moving on, to the Athenian origin story, At the beginning, they were all a bunch of independent tribes and then they all fell under king Theseos after their first few kings died. Theseos turned the city of Athens into the mother city and united the tribes to form one great democracy. Ahead of their time, government wise, besides the oligarchy they had still had, as shown in their constitution. He also divided the Commonwealth into three groups, the noblemen, the farmers, and the artisans.

Tesseract for ever =)

1. yes I agree. Like when I felt out of touch when I moved to America. I did not know the language, communites, ideas, the personalities of America, and the monthly bills, and everything not like Iraq. the food is deferent a, the people have different ideas and in my country we are not allowed to have a boyfriend,and no limits on the age of marridge. in school we have very hard home work to do and in USA they have very sample home work and the schedule is very easy in America but in Iraq it is very hard and takes a very long time.