Week 4b: Daily, February 21st

What compels someone to lead others? 

To me, there are several things that can make people want to lead and guide others. Sometimes, it just runs in the family for people to be in charge. Like Alexander the Great, people are sometimes just born into royalty and leadership. There are some people who are natural leaders. Some consider them bossy, but they really cannot help wanting to help out the people around them by trying to take care of them. When someone is a leader, they need to be dedicated to bringing people together and being able to listen to them. It’s one thing if you have a leader who is able to win all the wars but if they cannot keep control in their country, they cannot be a great leader. Great leaders bring their country together, listen to their people, and become a fellow citizen. Alexander the Great was one of these men. He was able to be the leader who could win just about all the battle she went into.  Even though he wasn’t as close with his country, he still kept in touch with being just like them. He was a fair leader who protected his country with everything he had. Great leaders really must love their country. If there is no love in what you are doing, then why are you doing it? There would be no point in doing that. Alexander had a great love for Greece and wanted to protect them and make them the best there ever was.

Weekly 4: February 18th

Movie Script

Question: Is History Created by 'the People' or by Individuals? Write a script for a movie about the events that took place in Athens during the Peloponnesian Wars. You should create a character that will live through some of the major events and you will tell the story through that character's eyes. Your character should be a common Athenian unknown to history. Scripts should be between three and five pages (longer is ok) and must include at least two major events. Be creative, but stick to the historical reality of what took place. Really think about what it would have been like to live in this time period and think about structuring your script so that there is some real drama.

Setting: Athens, between the walls built to protect Greece from the outside world attacks. It connects to its ports at Piraeus and Phalerum. They thought it was a brilliant idea to put up walls to protect them from the world around them. This ends up not exactly being the best idea...

Characters: Narrator

                Agnes- Woman, Athenian citizen

                Agatha- Young Athenian girl

                Alexius- Man; Athenian worker/citizen

                Elpis- Man; Athenian worker/citizen

                Hagne & Pelagia- Spartan guards

                Hercules- Athenian hero

(In the Athenian streets between work hours.)

Agnes: Well, good morning Alexius! How are you?

Alexius: I’m alright, thank you for asking. Aren’t you worried about these walls that our government has been attempting to put up? I do not know why but they give me an uneasy feeling.

Agnes: Oh, they’re fine! There’s nothing to worry about, I mean what could go wrong?

Alexius: Well, I guess you’re right. I have to head off to work now. Hopefully I’ll see you later!

Agnes: Have a good day!

(While working on building the Long Walls, two Athenian workers are discussing random things during work hours)

Elpis- Hey, Hercules, how is it going?

Hercules- I’m good, tired, but good. All this work is wearing me down; it’s too much for this short amount of time they are making us build these walls. I don’t even understand the point of these.

Elpis: I believe that these are for protection from the outside enemies and for us to still be able to get to our ports and everything without being ambushed.

Hercules- Ah, I see now. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling these won’t work…

Elpis- It’s possible. But before we start contemplating that thought, let’s build these walls so we don’t lose our jobs.

Hercules- I agree.

On the other sides of the walls, Spartan guards talk about the plan just devised by their leader)

Hagne- I cannot believe what we are planning to do!

Pelagia- Neither can I! It is so risky, but these Athenians don’t even know what’s coming. They will be so surprised.

Hagne- I’m still confused on how we are going to get our army into their land.

Pelagia- It’ll all work out, don’t worry. By the time you know what is going on, we will have conquered Athens.

(As you know, the Spartans come and surround the citizens of Athens inside of their walls. They are all trapped and do not have food, water, or supplies. The plague is going around, too. Soon enough, everyone will be dead, and Sparta will win. )

Hercules- I knew everything was totally wrong about building these walls! It just was looking for trouble!

Alexius- I said the same thing. What is your name young man? You look very tough and strong.

Hercules- My name is Hercules, and you are?

Alexius- I am Alexius, pleased to meet you, considering these terrible conditions.

Agnes- This is horrible! What are we going to do? How will we live? How will we eat? How will we sleep? Where is my daughter too?!

Hercules- Agnes, calm down. I am determined to help all of the people in danger here.

Agatha- Mama! There you are! I couldn’t find you for the longest time! I thought you had been killed by those nasty Spartan guards!

Agnes- Agatha, my dear! Good, you are safe! I also thought you had been killed! This man Hercules here says he wants to save us all, but I do not know how. Spartans are watching us everywhere. They are just waiting for us to die and then they will conquer our city.

Elpis- Hercules, you can’t do this. We can’t figure out how to conquer that great army in this little amount of time. People are already dying of starvation, just wait until this plague comes and hits us all! Then we are in big trouble.

Hercules- We can do this. We will find a way out and we will survive to redeem our city.

Agnes- I sure do hope so!

(On the other side of the walls, Spartan guards keep watch of everything they can see.)

Hagne- These worthless Greeks think they can overrule us? Ha! Now they do not know what hit them.

Pelagia- Of course they will never succeed over us again. Big mistake in overlooking us! We will always fight back.

Hagne- You’re completely right. Now stand guard.

(Back inside the walls)

Hercules- Elpis! You can’t do this! You must stay alive; we need you to help us defeat them!

Elpis- I just can’t… I’m too sick… They finally won over me… Don’t let them beat you…

Hercules- No, Elpis!

Agnes- (weeping) He is gone.

Hercules- He would want us to fight back for him. We must think of a way to get out of here!

Agatha- I know I’m just a little girl, but I might have an idea…

Hercules- Tell us Agatha! And We can modify your idea!

(After sharing her plan with Hercules and everyone that needed to know, Hercules got an even better idea from Agatha when they told them her idea. They actually, somehow rose up and beat the Spartans)

Hercules- I don’t know how we did it, but we made it! We defeated them and came back to claim our city that was rightfully ours! And we couldn’t have done it without you, Agatha!

Agatha- Well thanks, I think we could have gotten out of there with or without my help.

Hercules- No, we could not have, which is why we give you this award for your braveness in battle. Thank you Agatha!

Week 4: Daily, February 16th

Explain how the origins of theater in Athens are tied to both religion and politics. Check out this resource


Theaters in Athens were related to religions and politics in many ways. Theatre of ancient Greece flourished from 550 to 220 B.C.  Athens theatre was tied into religion because sometimes the plays and stories were based and evolved from religious beliefs. The things they performed were considered to be just like worshiping their gods. They had many gods that were related to many different things. Because there were so many, there were also stories about these immoral people. Some of the stories were interpreted into plays and tragedies. Religion was a huge part of Athenian lifestyles. There were people who dedicated their lives to their religion. These people enjoyed theatre because it related to the Greek gods and goddesses. Theatre was related to politics because the easiest way to get the attention of the public was through theatre. Mainly all of the citizens were into theatre and enjoyed it very much; so they went to watch plays. If the government were to be included in these festivals, it would be easier for the public to know more about their government. Theater can be tied between religion and politics in several ways. A lot of things were interconnected in Greece, actually. 

Week 4: Daily, February 15th

Was Athens really a 'democracy'?

A democracy is a government run by the people in a specific place. I do not believe that Athens was a true democracy. There are several reasons why I would say this. First of all, they never had a real set leader. Their leadership was always changing, especially during times of the Peloponnesian War. During the Peloponnesian War, Pericles ruled some of the time; and at other times, a group of about 400 people controlled the city. The 400 people would take on the issues in the city which were separating the citizens. Another reason that Athens wasn’t a democracy is because their disciplinary system was much unorganized. They would put people in jail or even put them to death for things that people were just accused for. There were many other flaws in the so-called democracy system. One thing, there were no set political parties, like plebeians. It was just that what you believe in was what you were. If there were groups, it would be easier to rule Athens. There were many disagreements among the Athenian citizens that the government couldn’t solve. These disagreements sometimes resulted in wars. I notice that people try to say that Athens was a democracy, but I believe that Athens was so disorganized, that it could not have been a democracy. 

Week 4: Daily, February 14th

Do you think Socrates got what he deserved?

Socrates was classical Greek Athenian philosopher that lived from 469 B.C. to 399 B.C. He was alive during the change of power in Athens. He was put to death and was forced to drink a poison. HE got in to trouble because he "mocked" the gods and goddesses, according to the leaders. That was a huge ordeal and Socrates got in big trouble with authority. At age seventy, Socrates was forced to drink the poison hemlock, which was made to kill him. I personally do not believe that Socrates got what he deserved. He was saying how he felt and that should be allowed. Not everyone was going to agree with things, so he just wanted to see and interpret every side of an issue. He would go around the city and start debates to see how other people in Athens felt. He simply was just studying the way of life in Athens. Socrates was able to choose two things when he was on trial. He could either be exiled from the country and never return, or he could be put to death. For some reason, Socrates chooses to die. He said that an unexamaned life wasn’t worth living.  Many critics say that Socrates corrupted the citizen’s minds by putting other ideas in their heads. But Socrates really was just curious about what others thought about the problems and disagreements in Athens and among the people of Greece. Socrates was a very wise man who was always on his feet, thinking of what else he could do. He did not deserve to be punished for that.

Weekly 3: Our John Carroll Megalith Project

Our civilization is called the Xobile civilization. They have lived in Bel Air, Maryland for thousands of years. This civilization was founded around 100 b.c. my the famous Myan explorer, Kimosabe. Our civilization prospered to to the areas high amount of fertile soil. The Xobile took off agriculture making new tools such as plows and domesticating local deer to pull the plows.
Our culture fell upon poor times when the climate dropped majorly. Many people died of starvation. All of our domesticated deer died. When the summer came around though due to the leadership of Kimosabe the leader rebounded. They population came back and they were able to create enough surplus to survive the winter. Thanks to Kimosabe our civilization was able to survive. When Kimosbe died everybody was very sad. They decided to build a massive burial tomb. They traded many of their valuables for these massive stones and dragged them to their holiest spot. They made a glorious tomb to recognize their leader. This tomb has survived for thousand of years even though the civilization was wiped out.

Week 3: Daily: Thursday February 10th

"Structures, both social and physical are continually improving." agree or disagree

Physical and social structures are continuing to improve majorly. The people who are the literal foundation of these structures are growing intellectually which causes the structures to be bigger and better. This allows them to exceed their limits before and do what they think they are capable of doing. People are becoming smarter and smarter each day because we learn new things every day. People who are smarter, can build better buildings for companies and other big agencies in our world. Humans no have the capability to build whatever they want without anything getting in their way. Yes, maybe sometimes they hit roadblocks but so does everyone. That just shows how much smarter these people are and how much they can achieve in life. Humans are becoming so much more intelligent that this enables them to build everything bigger and better. People learn of new ways to do things all of the time. People build buildings differently and learn what works and what does not work. Once they learn these things, they can advance even more in the race against themselves to be as smart and developed as you can be. No matter what year or millennium it is, people always grow. Whenever people grow, so does society.