Did you know that the ancient Greek civilization started about 2,500 years ago?To start their civilization, Greeks took inspiration from cultures and ideas from different countries. Greeks came in and settled from France, Italy, and North Africa.One of the famous European countries to visit, Greece has had a glorious history associated with it. Ancient Greeks had their own interesting lifestyle, which had drawn several people, historians, and philosophers towards Greece and its culture. Most are drawn towards this ancient Greek period that lasted for merely 1,000 years and concluded with the advent of Christianity. This is considered the first western civilization by many people. In fact, Greece has been known to have had a significant impact on the Roman era, which allowed Rome to adapt to Europe. Ancient Greeks’ legislature, education, language, science, and reasoning even impacted the renaissance in western Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries.Contrary to the many stereotypes shown in different TV shows and movies, Greece was not all about temple-based buildings, togas, war, and gods. Several ideas and innovations have originated from ancient Greece that are still relevant in our everyday life. Check out some fantastic Greek facts and find out more about the country Greece in this article.In the meantime, do check out our articles about ancient Greek clothing facts and ancient Greek culture facts too!What was ancient Greece called?Have you always been curious about Greek culture, Greek civilization, Greek art, and Greek history? Then let’s dive into some interesting facts about ancient Greece! Ancient Greeks existed over 3,000 years ago, and for most of the time, ancient Greece was demarcated into many smaller cities, each with its own customs, laws, and rulers. The Dark Age in Greece was thought to have ended in 800 BC; however, at around 300 BC, most of these small Greek cities were ruled by the famous Alexander the Great. Alexander was, in fact, the founder of the ancient Greek empire that spanned across Egypt, Europe, and southwest Asia. Some fun foodie facts about Greece include the fact that they wouldn’t consume beans as they thought that beans carried the souls of the dead. How strange, right? It is also known that ancient Greeks descended from Mycenaeans, who were commonly believed to be the first speakers and writers of ancient Greek. A very famous legend about Mycenaeans hiding in a giant wooden horse to conquer the city of Troy is also popular. Apparently, the horse was considered a gift and left outside the city’s walls; the people of Troy wheeled it inside only to find sneaky Mycenaean soldiers ready to seize the city.Do you like movies? Well, guess who invented the theatre? Ancient Greeks! They were always fond of plays, and most city-states had theatres that were big enough to hold 15,000 people! Back then, only boys and men were allowed to act in plays, and they would wear masks to show the audience if their character was sad or happy, so some masks had two sides to portray two emotions.We are pretty sure you might have also come across the term Mount Olympus when speaking about Greece. It is a famous spot in Greece and is the highest mountain in Greece too. The mountain is located in the Olympus range between the Thessaly and Macedonia border, near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean sea. It is located somewhere between the Pieria and Larissa’s regional units, about 49.70 miles (80 km) southwest from Thessaloniki.Did you know that Homer has described the Mediterranean sea as the wine-dark sea in many of his famous works such as the Odyssey and the Iliad? If you have been there and have looked at the sea, you might think the sea to be of the color of claret. Homer names a couple of color terms to describe other objects too. According to Mark Bradley, a professor of ancient history at Nottingham University, color had varied significance and was used differently than how we use it today.Have you ever asked what was ancient Greece called? Greece was never one country before to be really called ancient Greece; instead, small cities like Olympia, Sparta, Athens, and Corinth existed, each with their own laws, army, and government.Greece was also known by the name Hellenic Republic. The Hellenistic period spanned the time between the death of Alexander the Great and the emergence of the Roman empire as recorded by the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt and the battle of Actium in 31 BC.Ancient Greece History Ancient Greece was previously a northeastern Mediterranean civilization that existed from the 12th-9th centuries. It comprised city-states that were culturally and linguistically related and other territories for about 13 years. Ancient Greece ruled the period of 336 to 323 BC under Alexander the Great. Western history has records of the early Middle Ages and the Byzantine period after this era of the Classical period. Let’s explore some old yet fascinating facts about ancient Greece.Classical Greek culture’s philosophy always had a significant influence on ancient Rome. It carried a version of Greek culture throughout Europe and the Mediterranean areas. This is also why you’d see some historians consider classical Greece to be the cradle of seminal culture and western civilization from where modern western Asia and other western countries derive their archetypes and ideas in science, art, politics, and philosophy.Speaking about philosophy, ancient Greeks were always ahead of their time compared to any other part of the world, even in other subjects such as architecture, literature, and mathematics. This advanced civilization came to be after the Bronze Age. In fact, did you know people even call it the Hellenistic period or the Archaic period? It is the period from the 12th-9th centuries BC to the 1st century AD.You might have stumbled upon the term, Archaic period, too. The term archaic refers to being ancient, and so the Archaic period refers to the ancient period from the years 700-480 BC. Don’t confuse this with the Classical period from 480-323 BC, which was known for its splendid architecture, philosophy, and art. On the other hand, Archaic Greece had advanced in technology, art, and poetry and even had the commencement of the concept of city-state and polis.During the 8th century BC, ancient Greece was freed from the Dark Ages, and eventually, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed too. In this process, most literacy had been lost, and the Greeks forgot the Mycenaean script too. Instead, they adopted the Phoenician alphabet, which was then modified to create the Greek alphabet. If you are an avid history buff, you’d be curious to know the earliest evidence of Greek writing; well, the graffiti on Greek pottery from the mid-8th century is the first place to spot Greek writing, although objects inscribed in Phoenician writing are available from the 9th century in Greece.The ancient Greek civilization, as mentioned above, was divided into several small self-governing communities called city-states, and these city-states were formed according to the geography as divided by mountain ranges or seas.One of the very first wars documented in ancient Greece was the Lelantine War which was fought between Eretria and Poleis city-states over Euboea’s fertile Lelantine plain. Both these cities suffered terrible losses due to the long war although Chalcis was officially declared the winner. Another war was the Messenian War in Sparta that was fought in the latter half of 8th century BC, which eventually resulted in the conquest of Messenia and the enserfment of Messenians. This was considered an unprecedented act in ancient Greece that even led to a social revolution in those days. This revolution subjugated the male population of Sparta to become permanent soldiers in the Spartan army. Rich and poor alike were obligated to act accordingly, almost like Spartan slaves, which resulted in social conflict. Later, many of these reforms were attributed to Lycurgus of Sparta.Athens, a popular spot in Greece, also suffered its part in olden times. It suffered an agricultural and land crisis in the late 7th century BC that resulted in civil strife. The chief magistrate (Archon) made many reforms and changed the law code in 621 BC, but they failed to resolve the conflict. Eventually, Solon’s moderate reforms put an end to it, giving aristocracy power and Athens stability.During the 6th century BC, many cities of ancient Greece emerged to be dominant, such as Athens, Corinth, Thebes and Sparta. Each had around it smaller towns and rural areas to control; in fact, Athens and Corinth had become significant mercantile and maritime powers by then.Weird Facts About Ancient GreeceYou can never get enough of ancient Greece and its fascinating facts. From wine to Greek gods, there’s so much to read about. Greece gods featured heavily throughout the history of ancient Greece. The Greek goddess Athena and the God Zeus have been a significant part of Greece’s culture. But for now, how about we look at some weird facts about Greece?Wine is pretty popular in Greece, and it was popular even back in the olden times. It was said that Dionys, the god of wine, was able to drink wine without water and still never get drunk.There are strange facts about ancient Greece monsters too. In fact, Greek mythology is famous for its monsters, and it is said that they all emerged from a single mother, Echidna. She was believed to be half-snake and half-woman. Apparently, Echidna and Typhon, a monstrous serpentine, tried to overthrow Olympian Zeus to gain power over the world. But Zeus, with the help of other Olympian gods and his thunderbolts, managed to defeat both of them and buried Typhon underneath Mount Etna. Echidna’s descendants and children lived to challenge other future heroes. Do you know any of her descendants? Here are a few of them. There was Lernaean Hydra, a serpentine water monster that eventually got killed by Hercules. There was Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades. There was Scylla, the monster that killed most of Odysseus’s crew. Finally, there was Chimera, a fire-breathing creature.We bet this one would do it all to top the list of weird facts about Greece; no toilet paper was ever used in ancient Greece! How strange, right? In fact, many cultures used other things to substitute for toilet paper. Items such as corn, coconut shells, tree leaves, sails (primarily for poor people), sponges tied to a rod, plain water, and sheep’s wool were used, but ancient Greeks had even weirder substitutes. They used pebbles, ceramic pieces, and stones instead. This could be a little bit of helpful information in case you forget toilet paper for your next camping trip!Did you know ancient Greeks used two different conceptions of time? It is true! They used Chronos and Kairos. Chronos is similar to the time as we measure it today, the chronological time. In contrast, Kairos’s concept signified a suitable time for action, something like the right time to act on something important. Chronos is a quantitative way to measure time in contrast to Kairos’s qualitative way. In fact, ancient Pythagoreans believed Kairos to be the fundamental law of the universe. In Aristotle’s scheme of rhetoric, Kairos plays a significant role; for him, Kairos is nothing but the space and time context through which the proof could be delivered.Interesting Facts About Greece Greece is a place where beauty meets mythology and history and has loads of strange superstitions too. Many historians and philosophers have been mystified and fascinated with stories of Greek mythology, and we are sure once you read some of these facts, you’ll be smitten by Greek culture too, so go ahead and make yourself acquainted with some very interesting facts about Greece and its culture.You might be familiar with the Olympics, right? Did you know that these ancient Olympics were, in fact, staged in Olympia from 776 BC to 393 AD, and then it took 1,503 years for the Olympic games to return? The first modern Olympics or Greek Olympics was held in Athens in 1896, and surprisingly a Frenchman named Baron Pierre de Coubertin revamped the idea of Olympics. Although he initially did think to unveil the modern Olympics in his hometown Paris, several other delegates from other 34 countries convinced him to let Athens be the first host of the games.Apart from Olympic games, Greece is famous for another very dangerous and gripping sporting event, chariot racing. An athletic event that uses both men and horses in a race, the sporting event dates back to 700 BC. Back then, around 10 chariots would participate at a time. People from everywhere would gather to watch the event as horse teams pulled carts around a track that was specially built in a hippodrome or an arena.Apart from history, here’s an amusing fact: the word idiot actually originated from ancient Greece but it was not used to call someone stupid; rather, it signified people who did not participate in politics. Quite a revelation, right?It is hard to talk about Greece in today’s world without mentioning its natural beauty that is so well preserved. Sandy shores, the blue ocean, and whitewashed buildings are a typical picture anyone would imagine of today’s Greece but did you know that despite modernization, the majority of Greece’s land is mountains? In fact, Greece is one of the most mountainous countries in Europe, with 80% of its land covered by mountains. So if you plan to travel to Greece, make sure you have with you a good pair of walking shoes!As well as mountains, Greece is packed with the world’s most impressive and splendid coastline of around 9,942 miles (16,000 km), making it the world’s 10th longest coastline. Moreover, in no part of Greece is any place more than 85 miles (137 km) from the ocean, so you can only imagine there’s a large amount of water available in Greece.With diverse natural landscapes in and around Greece, it’s no wonder that Greece also houses some of the world’s most unique and beautiful animals. In fact, any Greek island is home to certain species of animals that are not be found anywhere else on Earth. Animals like frogs, lizards, snakes, turtles, seals, fish, butterflies, and the kri-kri (a type of goat) are found in abundance in Greece. For avid birdwatchers, Greece would be the go-to place with approximately 240 bird species. So this year, maybe consider taking a trip to Greece and treat your eyes to the beautiful variety of over 100,000 birds who migrate to wetlands of Greece.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for ancient Greece interesting facts then why not take a look at ancient Greek food facts or ancient Greek temples facts.
Did you know that the ancient Greek civilization started about 2,500 years ago?
