Ancient Greece

By now, many of us know what happens to Hercules in the Disney movie. But that tale bears only a small resemblance to the real adventures of the mythic hero--which you can find in this week’s Web sites. The ancient Greeks gave us far more than good movie ideas, though. Everything from the Olympics to math formulas has origins in Greek culture of more than 2,500 years ago. Want a quick way to get to these great sites? Use the direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site.

https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

LEVEL 1:

Ancient Greece Unplugged: A fifth-grade class describes its travels through a time machine as it explores and writes about Greek architecture, the first Olympics and Greek theater, culture and mythology.

https://oakview.fcps.edu/~smith/95-96/greece

Western Civilization Was Born in Ancient Greece:: Learn the Greek alphabet, study maps and architecture, read about government, religion, conflict and war. Then test your knowledge by trying the crossword puzzle provided.

https://www.oakview.fcps.k12.va.us/ ~ harris/96-97/agespages/greece/

greece.html

LEVEL 2:

Greek Mythology: Learn about the characters and the events of Greek mythology through a complete listing of the gods, heroes and creatures, including extensive information about their deeds and family trees.

https://www.intergate.net/uhtml/.jhunt/greek_myth/greek_myth

.html#GreekMythIntro

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Greek Mythology: Illustrated brief descriptions of characters, events and stories in Greek mythology. Includes “The Real Story of Hercules and the Labors of Hercules.”

https://www.cultures.com/greek_resources/greek_encyclopedia/greek

_encyclopedia_home.html

Greek Civilization Home Page: Interesting discussions of all aspects of ancient Greek life: the climate, daily life, art, philosophy, politics, sports, wars and scientific investigations.

https://www-adm.pdx.edu/user/sinq/greekciv/carr.html

LEVEL 3:

Archaic & Classical Greek History: An extremely detailed account of the history of ancient Greece from approximately 1200 BC to 323 BC. An excellent reference for reports.

https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Secondary/TRM_Overview/

The Ancient Greek World: An online museum exhibition examining the daily life of the Ancient Greeks through artifacts such as pottery, sculptures and coins.

https://www.museum.upenn.edu/Greek_World/Intro.html

Greek Mathematics: A pictorial timeline of key mathematical works describes how ancient Greek mathematicians Euclid and Archimedes influenced modern mathematics.

https://sunsite.unc.edu/expo/vatican.exhibit/exhibit/d-mathematics/

Greek_math.html

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This week’s Launch Point was designed by Shantel Reyes, Anna Manring and Stan Woo-Sam.

Explorer’s Quest

Free Times T-shirt

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

What mythical creature grows two heads when one is cut off?

Clue: Use The Illustrated Encyclopedia, “The Real Story of Hercules”

How It Works: Answer the questions correctly in four Explorer’s Quest Web Challenges by Aug. 11 and you’ll get a free T-shirt. Just clip and fill out the form on Page B5, or make up your own handwritten form. You also can find the form on the Times Launch Point Web site, https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

Answer to last week’s Quest: Flying fish generally glide above the water for 30 feet or so, but the longest flight ever recorded was about 660 feet, the length of two football fields.