Good morning Year 5,
The Ancient Greeks believed in many gods, half gods, and beings with special or godlike powers. The 12 Olympian gods were believed to live on Mount Olympus. Mount Olympus is the highest mountain of Greece with 2918 meters and people go to see it to this day!
Please watch these videos to learn more about the ancient Greek gods and goddesses:
BBC Bitesize: Who were the ancient Greek gods and goddesses?
National Geographic Kids: Meet the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece!
The Greeks used their gods and myths to explain naturally occurring events amongst other things.
This week’s Big Question:
How did Greek mythology attempt to answer major life questions within ancient Greek society? Can you give examples to support your answer?
You may need to complete some research and engage in a discussion with adults at home before answering. Try to think back to our Invaders and Settlers topic and all your learning about society and civilisation.
Also, please let us know in the comments if you have read any ancient Greek Myths yet?
You can read some here:
BBC Teach: Ancient Greek Myths
We look forward to reading your responses,
Mrs Avdiu & Ms Robertson
You can find a printable version of this blog here:big question ancient greek gods and goddesses blog
Morning Yr 5!
Wow – what a big question you have this week – I’m really looking forward to reading all of your examples – good luck!
Hi everyone I hope that you’re all okay.
Greek mythology helped the Greeks with moral guidance. For instance ‘The twelve tasks of Hercules’ taught the Greeks to never give up,‘The Minotaur’ taught the Greeks not to lie. This helped the Greeks to understand and follow many important life lessons. My three favourite Greek myths are ‘Jason and the Argonauts’, ‘The twelve tasks of Hercules’, and ‘The Odyssey.
Yes, that is true. Every myth has a message and a lesson for us to learn. Do you think these lessons are still applicable today?
Hi,
The Greeks like many nations with their own religion wanted to prove that they were correct. For example storms, they believed Zues (King of the Gods)was angry and so was throwing his lightning bolts to earth. Wars, they believed Ares(God of war) was playing a trick on man, helping man to make weapons of mass destruction. The hunters may have great hunts, they would think Diana (Goddess of hunting) had aided them. If it was a great farming year they would thank Demeter.(Goddess of agriculture) Many more things were said to be the gods doing, the Greeks thanked them dearly, but I was not planning on being here for years.
Ha! Yes, it could take a long while to list them all. Thank you for sharing the ones above. So do you think that the gods made people fearful?
Hi Everyone,
All Greeks had their own Gods and Goddesses who were immortals and each concerned with particular aspects of life of death. People thought of them of being like human, with feelings such as love, hate and anger.
The Greeks used the god to explain things they could not understand such as:
– War: the Greeks had a god for the war, who was Ares. He had a violent temper and used to pick fight.
– Medicine: they had the God called Asclepius, who had been a mortal and very successful doctor.
– Love: Eros was the god of love and made people fall in love.
– Marriage: Hera was the God of marriage and protector of women.
– the Sun: Apollo was God of the sun and controlled the sun’s movements.
– Earth: Demeter was the Goddess of plants and harvest
– Seas: Poseidon was the god of the oceans and could control storms, sea monsters and earthquakes.
– The king of the Gods: Zeus was king of all the gods and Greeks used to think that when he was angry, he would shoot down lightning bolts to Earth.
Thank you for sharing those super facts!
Hello Everyone !! ???❤️
This is my information ?
-The Geek Gods were talented .
-They were all immortal.
– A half God was if a God married a human and they had a child the child with be half god.
– Zeus was the God of the Gods ( the ruler)
– Hera was the god of marriage she was Zeus wife so she was Goddess of the Gods
-Poseidon was the ruler of the sea he also make earthquakes
-Hades was the god of the underworld he was the brother of Poseidon and Zeus
– Apollo was the God of the Sun and controlled the sun’s movements
The Final Fact :
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People believed that when Zeus was angry at someone or they deserved a punishment he would throw lightning bolts at them ⚡️⚡️
~Elena ??⭐️????
thank you Elena! Do you think that was how the ancient Greeks made sense of thunder?
Hello Mrs Avdiu, here’s how Greek mythology attempted to answer major life questions within ancient Greek society.
In the myth called Pandora’s box, Pandora, a beautiful woman is created by the gods, given a box and told not to open it. The gods give her to Epimetheus, one of the Titans, and one day when Epimetheus is away, Pandora opens the box and releases all the bad things into the world like hate, jealousy and greed. This myth explains why there is evil in the world but also it tells us that there is hope.
In another myth called Orpheus and Euridice, when Euridice dies Orpheus goes into the realm of the dead to bring back Euridice but he is told by Hades, Lord of the dead, not to look back or Euridice would have to stay in the realm of the dead forever. When they are almost out of the realm of the dead Orpheus looks back to check if Euridice is coming and she vanishes to become a spirit of the dead.
This myth tells us to trust and believe in each other.
By the way I have read and know lots of Greek myths already.
thank you Zavan! I know you love myths. Which one is your favourite?
Hi everyone,
I have been reading lots of Greek Myths at home including: Perseus, The Twelve Labours of Heracles, Icarius, King Midas and Odysseus.
The Ancient Greeks praised their gods deeply and built temples and shrines dedicated to them. They took life lessons from the myths and learned about them through theatre and religious ceremonies.
I hope you have a great day everyone! ??
I am very pleased you have been reading lots of myths! Which one is your favourite?
My favourite Greek myth is Odysseus as I enjoy all the travels he has after the Trojan War when he tricked the Trojans with the gift of the wooden horse.
See you tomorrow!
Hello Mrs Avdiu, I do not have a favourite Greek myth but I have always liked Perseus and Medusa.
Greek mythology explained to the Ancient Greeks some of their major questions.
For example, in Persephone’s myth, it explains why there are different seasons. Demeter, the goddess of fertility, agriculture and harvest, was so sad because of the loss of her daughter, that during the six months Persephone was captive in the Underworld, she stopped helping humans with her powers. In consequence, nothing grew and this made winter.
In “the first fall of Troy”, prince Paris gave the golden apple to Aphrodite, goddess of love, instead of giving it to Athena, goddess of war. Because of this choice, Athena turned against Troy and helped the Greeks invade the city. This is why Troy was captured by the Greeks.
The myth of Prometheus explains how humans were created and how they got fire. Zeus, the king of all gods, told Prometheus, a Titan, to create humans out of mud.
Greek myths teach us the way of life and how to face diverse situations, through characters that show a lot of qualities such as courage, love, cleverness, understanding but also weaknesses such as the longing of revenge, jealousy or the fear of loosing power.
I loved reading the Greek myths as they thrill me and teach us morals like in the Fables.
Thank you so much for your detailed response. Do you have a favourite myth?
Thank you Mrs Avdiu!
I loved the 12 Labours of Herackles because Herackles shows many of the qualities I listed and the story is fascinating: he is doing superhuman things. There is a lot of suspense as we do not know until the end of the labours if he will succeed. Also, each labour is as difficult as the next one and his destiny depends on his success.
Hi everyone.
Greek mythology can answer questions because people didn’t know, so they just said the Gods did it and then they started believing in them.
Then they thought if they rewarded the Gods they would reward them and also they thought to build palaces for the Gods. They also thought if you were bad they would torture your soul when they die.
Yes, Sara, Ancient Greek mythology was indeed clearly used as a means of explaining and even justifying aspects of Ancient Greek life. Do you think they tried to make people fearful of the gods?
Hello everyone!
Greek mythology attempted to answer major life questions through stories to teach Greeks how to deal with challenging situations. Stories such as Hercules and The Odyssey teach us never to give up and always keep fighting to achieve your goals and at the end you will succeed like Odysseus who at the end finally got back home to Penelope. Another story I enjoyed was the Trojan war as the moral teaches us to think outside the box and outsmart our opponent just like the warriors who sneaked into the gates of troy by hiding in a wooden horse.
Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed response to the Big Question and for sharing your favourite myth. I also love that story very much!
Hello everyone,
I hope you had a good day so far! ??
There are 12 important Gods and Goddess and 400 minor so in total there are 412.
Religion was important to the ancient Greeks because they believed that it would make their lives better while they were living. They also believed the gods would take care of them when they died. The Ancient Greeks believed in many different gods and goddesses.
Here are few Gods I wish to present:
Hera:
Hera was the queen of the gods and the protector of women. Her husband Zeus ruled the earth and sky. She was the mother of the war god Ares and the forge god Hephaestus. Her daughter, Ilithyia, was the goddess of childbirth. Hera was beautiful and graceful. But she was also stern and bossy. And she could be very vain about her good looks. Hera was furious when she lost a beauty contest with Athena and Aphrodite. Another time, a mortal queen claimed to be more beautiful than Hera.
Artemis and her twin
Artemis was the god Apollo’s twin sister. She was goddess of the moon and of the hunt. She didn’t like cities very much, preferring to roam forests and mountainsides. She hunted with a silver bow and silver arrows. Like all good hunters, Artemis liked to protect wildlife. She took special care to watch over small animals. Artemis was a strong-willed goddess. She knew what she wanted from an early age.
The beautiful Hestia was the oldest of the gods of Olympus. It would be a mistake to think she wasn’t important. In some ways, she was the most important of all the gods. From the earliest times, the other gods of Olympus all had duties. Hermes carried messages, Ares was in charge of war, Artemis watched over all hunters, and Zeus ruled over everybody. Other gods had other jobs. But for a time, no one seemed to know what Hestia was supposed to do. Zeus was the king of the gods. He and his brothers Hades and Poseidon were in charge of the whole universe. Hades ruled the Underworld, the world of the dead. Poseidon ruled the seas. Zeus, the greatest of the three, ruled the earth and the sky. He controlled the weather, causing wind and rain. He also caused thunder and lightning. He threw his thunderbolt like a spear.
Zeus, Poseidon and Hades:
Zeus was a good reminder that the gods were not perfect. For one thing, he was not all-powerful. His daughters, the three Fates, decided the futures of both gods and mortals. Zeus couldn’t overrule their decisions. Zeus-facts and although Zeus was often wise, he could also be foolish. He could be selfish and even cruel. He was not a good husband to Hera, the queen of the gods. And he was not a good father to many of his children. Not surprisingly, the other gods sometimes rebelled against his rule.
It was pulled by strange beasts that were half-horse and half-snake. Fish and dolphins always swam along beside the sea god’s chariot. Poseidon-facts-Poseidon carried a three-pointed spear called a trident. He used this to start earthquakes or bring water out of the ground. Like the sea he ruled, Poseidon could be either calm or stormy. As you might guess, the god of earthquakes had a short temper. He didn’t get along with other gods. He didn’t always get along with mortals, either.
He was married to Persephone, the queen of the dead. Neither gods nor mortals liked Hades very much. This wasn’t really fair. Hades wasn’t mean or cruel. It just wasn’t his job to be kind or merciful. His duty was to make sure the dead stayed in the Underworld forever. Orpheus went to the Few mortals ever went to the Underworld and made it back alive. One of these was the great singer Orpheus. When his wife, Eurydice, died, Orpheus went
Thank you for all your research Violette. In future please could you try to put this in your own words?
Hi everyone!
Greek mythology attempted to answer major life questions by always having a moral of the myth which teaches us valuable lessons about life. For example, The Odyssey teaches us to never give up and how important a home is. How fire came to Earth, tells us why we have the sun and how we were made. My favourite myth is the Trojan war.
At my house, I have a book of a hundred Greek Myths and I have read all of them!
I hope you are all having a great day!
Thank you Theo. It definitely tried to teach the people at the time how things were the way they were – these are called Creation Myths.
A hundred Greek Myths is a great book and we have loads of those in our book corner 🙂 I ordered them last year after I saw a pupil with it and thought it was brilliant. I am glad you have read it. Please could you recommend it to your classmates in our Reading blog?
Hello everyone in Greek mythology mostly myths and legends answered major life question for example the myth king Midas’s touch of gold taught them not to be greedy I hope everyone has a great day ☺️