Greek Day Challenge

The Parthenon is one of the most famous buildings ever constructed. Built around 447 BC in Athens, Greece, it was a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the city's protector and goddess of wisdom. It took 15 years to build and was decorated with thousands of carved figures, originally painted in bright colours. It stood almost perfectly for 2,000 years, until 1687, when it was being used as a gunpowder store and a cannonball hit it, blowing the roof off. Many of its original sculptures were later removed and brought to London, where they remain today.

Which Greek goddess was the Parthenon built for?

The long carved band of stone running along the top of the walls is called the Frieze. It is 160 metres long and shows over a thousand figures, men, women, children and horses, all taking part in a grand procession to celebrate Athena's birthday. It was carved around 440 BC and was originally painted in vivid red, blue and gold. What you see as plain white marble today would have looked completely different to the ancient Greeks.

Tick everything you can spot in the Frieze:

Read the quick version below, choose your answer, and save your reason for the picnic discussion.

Should the Parthenon sculptures be returned to Greece?

Athens was the greatest city in the ancient Greek world, the birthplace of democracy, philosophy, theatre and the Olympic Games. At its heart was the Acropolis, a hill topped with magnificent temples. One of these was the Erechtheion, a temple supported not by stone columns but by six sculpted women called Caryatids. They have stood there for over 2,400 years. All but one. The sixth Caryatid was removed in the early 1800s and brought to London. She is in this room. Her five sisters are still in Athens.

Find the Caryatid in this room, she is a sculpture of a woman standing very still, displayed in a glass case. She was used as a column (a pillar to hold up a roof) in a temple on the Acropolis in Athens. She has been separated from her five sisters for over 200 years.

How would you describe her? Pick three words, or use your own:

Now share your three words with the group. Did anyone choose the same ones?

The Caryatid in this room has been separated from her five sisters in Athens for over 200 years.

If you were separated from someone you love for 200 years, what would you want people to know about you? What would you want them to remember?

There is no right answer. Just talk with your group.

Alexander the Great was born in 356 BC in Macedonia, in what is now northern Greece. He became king at just 20 years old, and by the time he died at 32, he had built the largest empire the world had ever seen, stretching from Greece all the way to modern-day India. He conquered Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan and beyond, and never lost a single battle. Along the way he founded over 70 cities, most of them named Alexandria after himself. He died in Babylon in 323 BC. The cause of his death, whether illness, poison or something else, is still debated by historians today.

Tap TRUE or FALSE for each statement:

Alexander conquered most of the known world in 12 years. He is celebrated as one of history's greatest leaders.

But he also destroyed cities, killed thousands, and forced people into slavery.

Is Alexander the Great a hero or a villain?

His empire touched modern-day Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Does his story connect to where you are from? Share it with the group.

This room is about ordinary people, not kings or gods, but everyday life in ancient Greece. What people ate, how they played, what they wore, how they raised children, celebrated weddings and mourned the dead. The objects here span nearly 3,000 years and cover sport, music, medicine, trade and more. Many of them look surprisingly familiar. The ancient Greeks invented or shaped much of what we still do today, from theatre and philosophy to the way we run the Olympic Games.

Walk slowly through the room. Find ONE object that surprises you, something you did not expect, or something that looks like it could exist today.

The ancient Greeks invented the Olympic Games. The first Games were held in Olympia, Greece, in 776 BC.

Which of these was NOT part of the ancient Olympics?