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The Pyramids were a thousand years old and were beginning to show the first signs of decay, and Hammurabi, the wise king of Babylon, had been dead and buried several centuries, when a small tribe of shepherds left their homes along the banks of the River Danube and wandered southward in search of fresh pastures. They called themselves Hellenes, after Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha. According to the old myths these were the only two human beings who had escaped the great flood, which countless years before had destroyed all the people of the world, when they had grown so wicked that they disgusted Zeus, the mighty god, who lived on Mount Olympus.

Of these early Hellenes we know nothing. Thucydides, the historian of the fall of Athens, describing his earliest ancestors, said that they "did not amount to very much," and this was probably true. They were very ill-mannered. They lived like pigs and threw the bodies of their enemies to the wild dogs who guarded their sheep. They had very little respect for other people's rights, and they killed the natives of the Greek peninsula (who were called the Pelasgians) and stole their farms and took their cattle and made their children slaves and wrote endless songs praising the courage of the clan of the Achaeans, who had led the Hellenic advance-guard into the mountains of Thessaly and the Peloponnesus.

But here and there, on the tops of high rocks, they saw the castles of the Aegeans and those they did not attack for they feared the metal swords and the spears of the Aegean soldiers and knew that they could not hope to defeat them with their clumsy stone axes.

For many centuries they continued to wander from valley to valley and from mountain side to mountain side Then the whole of the land had been occupied and the migration had come to an end.

That moment was the beginning of Greek civilization. The Greeks, living within sight of the Aegean colonies, were finally driven by curiosity to visit their haughty neighbors. They discovered that they could learn many useful things from the people who dwelt behind the high stone walls of Mycenae, and Tiryns.

The Greeks were clever pupils. Within a short time, they mastered the art of handling those strange iron weapons which the Aegeans had brought from Babylon and from Thebes. They came to understand the mysteries of navigation. They began to build little boats for their own use.

And when the Greeks had learned everything the Aegeans could teach them, they turned upon their teachers and drove them back to their islands. Soon afterwards they ventured forth upon the sea and conquered all the cities of the Aegean. Finally, in the fifteenth century before our era, they plundered and ravaged Cnossus and ten centuries after their first appearance upon the scene the Hellenes were the undisputed rulers of Greece, of the Aegean and of the coastal regions of Asia Minor. Troy, the last great commercial stronghold of the older civilization, was destroyed in the eleventh century B.C. European history was to begin in all seriousness.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read and/or listen to the story.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary terms.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Answer the review questions.

Synopsis

One thousand years after the pyramids were built, the Hellenes (Greek) people left the River Danube in search of fresh pastures. The Hellenes were ill-mannered and fed the corpses of their enemies to their wild dogs. The Hellenes killed many people as they wandered, stealing farms and livestock and making captured women and girls slaves. Eventually, the Hellenes discarded their stone axes and took up iron weapons to defeat the people of the Aegean empire and overrun Greece.

Vocabulary

River Danube: The second longest river in Europe, running through central and eastern Europe.
Iron: A common, inexpensive metal, often black in color, that rusts, is attracted by magnets, and is used in making steel.
Navigation: The theory, practice and technology of charting a course for a ship, aircraft or spaceship or road vehicle.
Plunder: To pillage, take or destroy all the goods of, by force (as in war).
Stronghold: A fortress built to withstand attack.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Lesson

  • After you read or listen to the lesson, narrate the events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Study the Story Picture

  • Study the story picture and describe how it relates to the story.

Activity 3: Map the Story

  • On the map of Germany, find the source of the Danube River, which begins in Germany.
  • Which country does the Danube flow through after leaving Germany?
  • On the map of Romania, find the mouth of the Danube River, which ends as it flows through the Danube Delta in Romania and Ukraine to empty into the Black Sea.
  • Describe the path of the Danube, listing the countries the river touches on this map.

Activity 4: Complete Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art   

Click the crayon above. Complete pages 31-32 of 'World History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'

Review

Question 1

Why did the Hellenes people leave the banks of the River Danube?
1 / 5

Answer 1

The Hellenes people left the River Danube in search of fresh pastures.
1 / 5

Question 2

Where is the River Danube located?
2 / 5

Answer 2

The River Danube runs through central and eastern Europe.
2 / 5

Question 3

Describe the ill-mannered behavior of the Hellenes.
3 / 5

Answer 3

The Hellenes fed the corpses of their enemies to their wild dogs, killed many people, stole farms and livestock, and made women and girls slaves.
3 / 5

Question 4

Why didn't the Hellenes attack the Aegean empire right away?
4 / 5

Answer 4

The Hellenes had to wait to attack until they adapted the superior iron weapons of the Aegeans or they would have lost.
4 / 5

Question 5

Which present-day country did the Hellenes overrun?
5 / 5

Answer 5

The Hellenes conquered and ruled Greece.
5 / 5

  1. Why did the Hellenes people leave the banks of the River Danube? The Hellenes people left the River Danube in search of fresh pastures.
  2. Where is the River Danube located? The River Danube runs through central and eastern Europe.
  3. Describe the ill-mannered behavior of the Hellenes. The Hellenes fed the corpses of their enemies to their wild dogs, killed many people, stole farms and livestock, and made women and girls slaves.
  4. Why didn't the Hellenes attack the Aegean empire right away? The Hellenes had to wait to attack until they adapted the superior iron weapons of the Aegeans or they would have lost.
  5. Which present-day country did the Hellenes overrun? The Hellenes conquered and ruled Greece.

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