Paving the Way

Nothing was happening. Chaos was the only thing in the universe; until a speck of rock appeared in the nothingness. Mother Earth is being formed. This is part of one of the stories in Greek myth. In Aztec beliefs, almost everyone had dark skin. One of the few people with light skin is the Great White God. Both cultures have different beliefs and different ways, but both are incredibly interesting. Greeks Greeks had wonderful stories called myths. Myths are things that are not real, but they explained how things worked. The subject is called mythology. Dionysus is the Greek god of Wine and Pleasure. Athene is the goddess of wisdom and war. In one legend, Zeus fell in love with Princess Europa. When he brought her back, he turned into a bull and Europa rode on his back. In another legend, Minotaur was a half-human half-bull. Prince Theseus went out to kill the monster, he had a word to kill it and a ball of thread to find his way back. On his mission, Theseus killed the beast. There were many great Greek people, who were thinkers and leaders. Perikles was one of Athens' greatest leaders. After King Philip died, his son Alexander became the king of Greece. He is now called Alexander the Great because he built the biggest empire and went on a great quest. One thing Alexander did on his quest was defeat the Persians and did capture Persopolis. At Siwa, Alexander was greeted by the god Amun's son. Another thing Alexander did was capture the Port of Tyre.The last thing that Alexander did on his quest was defeat a place in India against an army fighting war on elephants. There was a place in Egypt called Alexandria, named after Alexander. People studied there. After Alexander died, people got into war to fight over who was king, and in the end, the Romans took over Greece. Greeks were often at war with each other. The Hoplites were the most important part of an army. There were many types of shields like the tower shields or shields shaped like an 8. At war, the king got a helmet with a horn on it. The Siege of Troy is a siege to get someone back from Prince Paris. A wooden horse is set outside the city, the people think it will bring them good luck, but they end up getting destroyed, because an army was hidden inside the horse and ready to fight. The Peloponnesian war lasts 27 years. The Athens lost the Peloponnesian war and after this Rome took over. Even though Greeks were usually at war, there were still many luxuries. Instead of eating in a Great Hall, people ate in a place called a Megaron. Many Greeks enjoyed hunting and used the things they hunted to make things like helmets with horns on them.

Greeks had many traditions. Only boys could go to school while girls were taught by their mothers. For clothes men wore a robe called a Himatian and women wore Chitons. Himatians and Chitons are both like robes. The only difference is in the way that they look. Another tradition was the play contest. For a play contest there would be a series of plays and judges would choose the best play. The Mycenaeans were a group of ancient Greek people. In 200 BC people arrive at Greece. From 160-120 BC the Mycenaeans are RICH! In 150 BC the city of Knossos is controlled 120 BC Troy is defeated. 120 BC Troy abandoned slowly. After the Mycenaeans ended, the Dark Ages began. There are many places in Greece to visit today that have existed for thousands of years. Acropolis is the hill that Parthenon is built on. Parthenon is the temple for Athene. Women spent most of their time in the Gynaeceum. Boys eat in a place called the Andron. Men meet their friends at the Agora. Aztecs Aztecs lived in what is now Mexico. Their main city was an island called Tenochtitlan. Aztecs are sometimes called Lamanites because the people that started them were named Laman and Lemuel. The Lamanites were always trying to kill the Nephites. In the end, they killed every single one of the Nephites at war. Aztecs fought with one another often. The best Aztec warriors were the Eagle and Jaguar knights. Aztecs thought that offering blood to the gods would please them. This is called sacrifice. A way they offered blood was by pulling a string of thorns through their tongue. EW! There was a Mosaic that the Aztecs buried right away because they thought it was too holy to look at. Scientists think that the Mosaic shows the face of the Jaguar god. The Aztecs played a holy ball game called Tlatchtli. Sometimes they would sacrifice people at the end of the game. Aztecs had three numbers to make all the others, zero, one, and five. They were using the digit zero before anyone thought of the idea! Since they didn't have paper, people made books from bark. Farmers grew corn, beans, squashes, avacados, and chili peppers. Out of all these crops, corn was the most important crop. Where people grew things were in huge, floating fields. Were they planted their food. The fields floated on lakes or other bodies of water. The end of Tenochtitlan was by fire.

The Greeks and the Aztecs have a lot in common, First, both cultures have many myths. People believed in gods, goddesses, and make-believe creatures. People used myths to explain how things worked, or because they wanted to do certain things. For these reasons, they made up myths. Second, both cultures are ancient peoples to a particular country. Azztecs are from Central America, which would include both Mexico and Panama. Greeks are from ancient Greece. Third, Aztecs made many tranditions. For example, before the Aztecs, there were the Olmecs. After they died out, the AAztecs came and did things the Olmecs did for traditions. Greek and Aztec traditions were doing things for gods and goddesses. Fourth, both cultures fought a lot. Aztecs fought with people around them. Greeks fought in a lot of important wars. The city of Athens in Greece lost the Peloponnesian war and Sparta. There were many ffamous warriors from Greece. There are also things that are different about Aztecs and Greeks. For instance, the Greeks lived before the Olmecs and the Aztecs lived after the Olmecs. Also, the Aztecs and Greeks are different because most Greeks have lighter skin because they are from Europe. Aztecs have darker skin since they are from Central America. Chaos is now something (has a different meaning in English--look it up). The Aztecs are now gone. Even when it is the end of ancient times, you can still learn about them like you just did.