COVID-19 Challenege

This whole experience of COVID-19 is shocking. This is new to everybody and it is full of unknowns. I am honestly nervous about the future and I have no idea what to expect from all this. I am hoping it ends soon, but I have a feeling it will not. The cyber school forcing students to teach themselves is one of the worst parts. It is really hard for me to focus on five or six subjects a day trying to teach myself new things in each. It makes me worry that I am able to do the work, I may not be truly retaining any of this information. I can't quite tell and that is something that worries me. I am also worried about the possibility of exams. Are exams still in place? I have no idea, but that continues to be a question I have running through my head. While at home I have stayed my honest self. I know I can do the work on my own so that is what I have done. I have kept my integrity and done my own work. This being said, I don't think this crisis is changing people into bad people. I believe that this crisis is just messing with peoples minds in a way that has never happened before. We have been stuck inside, or at least we should be, for three weeks now. People are stressing and panicking because nobody is really sure what to do or how long this could last. I can say for myself I have no idea what is to come, but I am staying hopeful that things will get better fast.

The Great Plague of Athens Compared to COVID-19

The Great Plague of Athens was very similar to COVID-19. Both were a large epidemic disease that swept through Greece after it was brought over through trading. This part alone reminds me of the Corona Virus. The Corona Virus has become a pandemic at this point and is sweeping through the world. In both disease and the virus, it is spreading very fast. Both are were spread form person to person and both made people resort to staying at home. People were terrified of the plague and would refuse to leave their home in hopes that could help save them. Now people also are being told by officials to stay home, unnecessary stores have been closed temporarily, and people are and were scared. Many symptoms of the plague and the COVID-19 are similar such as fever and flu like symptoms. Both illnesses came from another region and were brought to a new location. I am nervous about COVID-19 because it is spreading like wildfire. I see celebrities getting it and I have been watching numbers grow around me. Also, both illnesses seem to spring up onto the people. The leaders of Greece at the time of this plague did not expect to receive the plague along with their trade, so they were unsure of how to fix it. The plague had to takes its course. As COVID-19 began to spread, many officials and people were unsure what to do. It was a known possibility, but the United States was not prepared to actually be effected. People are still unsure of how to solve this pandemic other than quarantine, but scientists are quickly trying to resolve this issue.

Biographies of King Phillip II, Alexander the Great, and Darius III

Today I will be writing biographies of King Phillip II, Alexander the Great, and Dariuis III. The first biography will be of King Phillip II. Phillip II was born around 382 BC. He had grown up being apart of generation long ruler ship of Macedonia in Greece. He had two older brothers who were expected to take the throne before Phillip II would. During some of his younger years he spent some time as a hostage in a place called Thebes( A strong Greek city-state). This time spent there around 370 BC was very beneficial to him because this is where he was able to learn about military strategies. He then returned to Macedonia carried on the legacy of ruling Macedonia to become king in in 359 BC. This happened after his two brothers had passes, so he took over the throne. He was a strong military leader and hoped to avenge the Persian invasion of Greece. He carried on many victories for Macedonia with his strategic and brilliant war strategies of the phalanx formation or his use of cavalry. His final victory was the battle of Chaeronea where Macedonia defeated the Greeks. He was seen as a threat to surrounding cities due to his power. He was killed by being stabbed by a a former guardsman in 336 BC. The next biography will be of Alexander the Great. Alexander was born in 356 BC and he was the son of King Phillip II. Around the age of 13, Alexanders father requested that one of the most well known philosophers at named Aristotle to tutor Alexander. At the age of 16 he was first introduced to the idea of him ruling Macedonia as his father went to war. Just like his father, Alexander had a strong knowledge of war strategies and had the potential to be a great leader. He became king in 336 BC after his father had been assassinated while Alexander was only around 20 years old. Around 6,000 Thebans had attempted to rebel, but Alexander showed his strength by either selling the survivors into slavery or killing the others. This when the people began to respect and listen to him. After this, he finally wanted to carry out his fathers wishes of invading Persia so he gather thousands of soldiers to invade. This was one of his most major victories as he conquered the Persian empire.At the age of 32, Alexander became extremely ill and ended up passing away. The final biography will be of Darius III. Darius III was born around 380 BC. He grew up in a wealthy and royal family. He took over the throne of part of the Persian Empire around 336-330 BC. He was also the last leader from the Achaemenid Empire and legacy. The biggest defeat he had faced was when Alexander the Great had invaded their empire and took over. Darius III attempted to send peace offerings and agreements to Alexander, but Alexander rejected all of them. This is when Darius III quickly became desperate to not lose his empire. Darius was later captured and murdered in a desert at the age of 50. This was the biographies of Phillip II, Alexander the Great, and Darius III.

Alexander and Bucephalus

The relationship between Alexander and Bucephalus was definitely and interesting story to be told. Bucephalus was a horse Alexander had earned through his miraculous transformation of the horse. Bucephalus began as a gift to Alexanders father, King Phillip. Bucephalus was a beautiful, massive black horse, but he seemed to be "untameable" . Because he was such a spooky horse, Phillip almost got rid of Bucephalus. Alexander did not want to see this horse sent away so decided to work with this horse. There was even a bet between the king and some other men whether Alexander could not handle this horse or not. Alexander stayed calm and gentle towards Bucephalus and the horse grew trust towards Alexander. Alexander was able to see that horse was afraid of its own shadow so Alexander helped Buceohalus by moving him into the sun so he would not face his shadow. As time went on Alexander was the only one person Bucephalus trusted and would allow to ride him. Alexander from that point on would ride Bucephalus into battle as his noble companion. This was the relationship between Alexander and Bucephalus. 

My Thoughts on Cyber School

Now that the first week of cyber school is coming to an end, I still have mixed feelings about it. So far I have woken up around 8:00AM everyday to get work done early and keep myself on a schedule. It is still a little difficult to keep myself focused, but I have gotten better at it. The first day was definitely the worst for me. I had gotten a bad grade on my test, stayed up till 9:00PM doing homework, and stressed all day. The thing that has helped me most is being able to have all day to complete work. Since I am constantly distracted at home it takes me more time to get work done. As time goes on I feel better about the cyber days, but I do wish I could be back in school. I miss seeing people everyday rather than sit in my house all day. After I get my work done I have nothing to do and it's not fun sitting home all day. I don't think the workload has been that bad. I have been thinking recently that I am not sure if I am retaining information or just flying through my work to get it done. I am hoping this won't last too long but at this point I have no idea how long we will be out. I am questioning what will we do about exams? I am not sure , but I am beginning to get the hang of the cyber days.

Why Philosophers Would Question Traditional Beliefs

Socrates and Sophists like Protagoras would start questioning traditional beliefs at this particular point because Athens had just lost a major war which left Athens without their empire, wealth, and power. Since this was such a major loss, the people began to question whether their democratic government was truly going to work for them anymore. The loss made them lose faith in their strength and abilities in their government and the leaders at hand. This is when the philosophers decided to question their lifestyles and seek the truth. The philosophers focused on logic and reason to determine their state of mind. The ideas philosophers had was very new to the Greeks because nobody questioned their beliefs and morals the way philosophers had like Socrates and Protagoras. These philosophers wanted people to think for themselves on what they believe. This was so new that many people began to threaten philosophers for questioning the morals and beliefs that the Greeks always had. It was intimidating to people and many disagreed with this idea, but others began to trust and believe the philosophers point of views.

Pericles War Plan Outcome

In the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was the first to push Athens and invade. Sparta started by burning Athens farmland around the city. This is where Pericles plan was put into play. Pericles insisted that the Athenians waited within the city as Sparta attacked. Pericles idea was that Athens could have resources such as food sent to them by boat to substitute the loss of their farmland. The next problem was brought into play by the boats that had delivered the food and resources. The boat had carried a massive plague over to Athens. As time went on this plague began to kill hundreds at time since the citizens were still told to stay within the city walls. The symptoms from this plague such as inflammation of the eyes and extreme fever got so bad that many citizens would have rather died than suffer anymore. Many Athenians did not understand their suffering and almost killed 1/3rd of their populations including Pericles. Once Pericles died, it was little time before the next person was fighting to become ruler. This plan had gone completely wrong for Athens and ended with people questioning Pericles authority. Although Pericles tried his best to be a strong leader for Athens his plan did not end with victory. The plan slipped through from an unpredictable outcome for him.

Pericles, Direct Democracy, and the Delian League

For the first portion of my paragraph, I will be discussing some facts about Pericles. Pericles was a highly valued leader in Athens from around 461-429 BC. Pericles was born into an aristocratic family. He was said to be fair, honest, a good politician, well respected all around. The Athenians called this time period a Golden Age for Athens. His three major goals was to strengthen Athenian Democracy, to hold and strengthen the empire, and to glorify Athens. Pericles was very fair to all citizens. For example he allowed for any citizen of Athens to run to be in office if elected or chosen. He did not favor the wealthy or exclude the poor and he kept all citizens open to the government. This is what a direct democracy is. A direct democracy is when the citizens can be directly involved with their government like how the Athens had their voting systems or meetings in the argora with male citizens. The people were allowed to speak their opinions directly to the leaders at the time and had voting systems that majority ruled on the citizens votes. The final topic was how a Delian League worked. The Delian League was an organized group fulled of combined Greek city-states. This league was formed to somewhat untie parts of Greece to create an all powerful clan of citizens. This league was most beneficial for the money from the groups and during times of war to have one major alliance.

Last Day Before Cyber School

Today was out final class before cyber school began. I am super anxious and nervous for cyber learning. As I wait for the email to explain everything that will be happening, I am think about the possibility. Everybody is nervous and still unsure of what is coming in the future like how cyber school will be or when we will even be back in school. This seems like history in the making. I have never heard or seen anything like this so this is new to everybody right now. In a  way it feels like the entire world is shutting down and locking themselves away. I can't believe, but I am prepared to be out for a while. I am also nervous that I was not able to meet with all of my teachers today. I am excited to be home with my dog and sleep in though. It has been so nice outside so it is unfortunate that everything is beginning to close while spring is just beginning. Next week will be a whole new type of week for me and I am sure many others.

School Update

I was not sure if I was supposed to do a blog post today, but here it is anyway. Today in class we discussed fully on the current pandemic of the Corona Virus. As time goes on I am beginning to worry more and more about this virus and the possible outcomes. To me it feels like an apocalypses that is starting to tear down the world. I am trying to take as many precautions as my family and I can, but I am still nervous. I am also not excited by the idea of cyber days. I am worried I will get confused or somehow mess up schedules not being in school. I am worried that it will mess me up not being organized and having a specific knowledge of what I need to do and when. I am nervous to teach myself things and figure cyber days out on my own since I have never done them before. I will be glad to be home, but that would have to be it. I am nervous for my health and the health of all others. This would be all for today.

Day 2 of the Revolution Video on Greece

We began this video discussing with of Athens grew with their wealth as trade over the Mediterranean grew for the Greeks olive oil. Another major trading point for the Greeks was there pottery like the vases. These vases were often made by the poorest people of Greece. These vases had patterns like simple figures and geometric patterns. Today, these Greek vases are extremely valuable. Making these vases allowed for ordinary people to show their talents. Next the part of the video talked about the chain of rulers and or tyrants to follow in Greece. Peisistratos, father of Hippias, was the first ruler discussed. This was a good ruler who helped Greece to grow, but when he died in 527BC, his son Hippias took over the ruling. In 514BC Hippias brother was murdered causing Hippias to become bitter to the people. This was when he became a tyrant out of revenge towards the people of Athens. The video said, " He had no cause but self preservation". In 510BC Cleisthenes overthrew Hippias by trapping Hippias and banning him. This was Cleisthenes heroic act by saving the people. The next ruler was an Athenian aristocrat named Isagoras. Isagoras tried to overthrow Cleisthenes with the help of Sparta. Isagaros brought his troops to the acropolis and then ostracized Cleisthenes and his family. This is when the ordinary people of Athens revolted against Isagoras to push him and the Spartans out of Athens after three days of surrounding them. This is when in 508BC the first democracy began as the people fought for power for themselves. Cleisthenes was then brought back to Athens to unite Athens by giving the people a voice to govern themselves. Every 9 days there were meetings with the people where they had direct votes on things like taxes, roads, and war using white or black rocks to answer yes or no.  The next portion of the video was discussing the "Olympics" of Greece on Olympia. This was the origin of the modern Olympics where any Greek man could visit from all over Greece to watch or participate in 776BC. Women were not allowed to participate or even watch. Some of the games included chariot racing, boxing, and wrestling. Participating in these events helped to show heroic abilities of the men. The video ended by bring up the Persians from the East becoming a threat to Athens.

The Greeks Crucible of Civilization Part 1

Today in class we watched a video called The Greeks Crucible of Civilization, episode one.  Here are some of my notes during the video. First the video began with describing 508BC which was first revolution in Athens, Greece demanding freedom. Cleisthenes was the ruler at this time. He believed that the people should have the ability to govern themselves and have their own voice. Cleisthenes was born into a rich family meaning he is an aristocrat. Herodotus was a historian of the time. He claimed Cleisthenes grandfather helped a great king with a favor. An acropolis was an outcropping of rock in the center of the city in Athens. The life expectancy in Athens at the time was around 15 years old. The social classes were the Aristocrats as the elites and the ordinary people to be the lower class. At Cleisthenes time there were around 1,000  independent city-states. Sparta had the military power and Athens had the Naval power. Helots were the name for the normal people under the government. 
Ancient story tellers were loved by passing on the stories as oral tradition. Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey to tell about great warriors and heroes. The heroic ideal was to have the glory, greatness, bravery, strength, and to be the best version of yourself. Pisistratus was a tyrant who got power by lying saying he was summoned by Athena. He gained trust by asking the people for advice , reducing taxes, and provide free loans. The East Mediterranean was the best market for trade. This is as far as we got today. 

Philosophers Continued

Today we continued to learn about primary philosophers. A philosopher is a "lover of wisdom". Aristotle was the next philosopher we discussed. We began with Socrates, to Plato, to Aristotle. Aristotle was a student of the Plato at his school. Aristotle helped foster the idea of Athens as an intellectual destination.His school, the Lyceum, focused on cooperative research building on knowledge gathered from all over the world. He had dreamed of having knowledge being able to be accessed in one location such as the way online information is found. Some of his primary writings focused on topics such as logic, physics, biology, ethics, politics, rhetoric, motion, theater, poetry, metaphysics, psychology, dreams, and more. He also tutored Alexander the Great as a request from the King. Alexander took those teachings and brought them throughout life with him. These were all the notes we took today. I am feeling pretty good with this information, but I struggle when it comes to the wars and battles of the time. Otherwise I feel confident I know about the philosophers and a little bit of the gods/ goddesses.

Philosophy in Ancient Greece

Today we discussed major philosophers in Ancient Greece. We began by talking about what philosophy is which was thinking and challenging the mind. Socrates was one of the first and most well known philosophers. Socrates looked to science compared to logic which was strongly against the Greek idea that gods are the explanation to how the world works. The Socratic Method fostered major beliefs of critical thinking and finding deeper thoughts without forcing another opinion onto another person. Socrates had also once said: "The unexamined life is not worth living". Socrates was later charged with "impiety"(disrespecting the gods) and "corruption of Athens youth". Over half of jury of 500 men found Socrates guilty of these crimes. Socrates never denied what he did. He was forced to drink Hemlock which is a type of poison. Even though he was offered the chance to escape the jail, he decided to take his punishment to stay true to the democratic system. Plato was the next major philosopher. Plato was a student and follower of Socrates. Plato would write Socrates teaching to ensure they are not forgotten. One of Plato's most influential writings was called "The Apology" to describe the teachings of Socrates. "The Republic" was another one of his writings was based on a discussion of justice and the ideal state.This was as far as we got in class today. 

Wars in Greece

Today in class we began to learn about wars. The Greeks were strong warlike people. Spartans were especially warlike. Spartans were tough and had a ruthless infantry(Soldiers who fought on land). Spartans had a strong Army. Athens had a great infantry, but nothing could compare to their Navy. Athens most effective weapon was the trireme- massive, fast, agile, battle ramming ship. Next is the Phalanx- close rank, defense grouping warriors. They were armed with long spears interlocking shields. Soldiers would advance slowly toward the enemy, until they broke through their ranks.
Persian Empire vs. Greece
Persians have a huge army, and nearly unlimited resources. The Persians were massive compared to Greece. Greece had an easier advantage being able to defend their home rather than attack another land.
Greece Advantages and Disadvantages:

• Iron weapons meant ordinary citizens could defend themselves
• Foot soldiers(Hopilites) trained at an early age
• Armed with spears, swords, shields
• Phalanx formation
• On their "home field"
• Motivated to win to save preserve their democracy

Persian Army Advantages and Disadvantages:

• First Archers(Does damage from a distance)
• Calvary(Disrupt communication between generals and soldiers)
• Lightly armored infantry
• Carried spears, bows, sword
• Huge numbers
• Long way from home
• professional Army(Mercenaries) 

Wars lasted from 546-480BC.

 546BC- Persian conquer Greece in Ionia

499-494BC- Ionian revolt(Greece wins) 

490BC- Persians war on Athens, but Athens lost

480BC- Greece win at Persia sea by help with Delian League(Greece list in the end)

The Delian League is when Athens and other city states combine and pay to be in an  alliance.

Greece Gods and Goddesses

Today in class we took notes. Some of my notes were:
Gods and goddess interacted with humans. These gods were explanations for the natural events in the world. Some of these gods and goddesses included;
Zeus:

• Ruler of heaven and earth
• father of Athena
• God of sky, weather, thunder, lightening, law, order, and justice
• had a temper and was known for throwing thunderbolts

Poseidon:

• God of the sea, rivers, floods, earthquakes
• brother of Zeus
• King of waters and sea
• interfered with Odysseus trying to return home

Aphrodite:

• Goddess of love, beauty, desire, beauty, sexuality
• Had lovers of both gods and mortals such as; Ares( god of war), Adonis(demi-god of desire), Anchises( mortal human)

Athena:

• Goddess of wisdom, skill, warfare, peace, intelligence, battle strategy, and handicrafts
• Born from Zeus' head fully formed and armored
• A special of patron of hero- such as Odysseus , she was a patron of Athens(city named after her)

Apollo: 

• God of music, arts, healing
• Zeus father Artemis sister associated with moon and Apollo with the sun

Adonis:

• Demi-god of desire
• Anchises- mortal

Demeter:

• Goddess of grain, harvest, agriculture
• Zeus' sister