Lesson Modules on the Pan-Hellenic and Modern Olympic Games

By Lilith Waters

“The Glory of Greece”/Ancient Greece

Dr. Jack Pesda

October 18, 2000

As an instructional tutor, I encounter students with different educational backgrounds in the McKinney Homeless/Migrant Program. Throughout the school year, I tutor students at two homeless shelters. In the spring, I also visit the homes of migrant workers for ten weeks and tutor their children after school.  In addition to assisting students with their homework and with test preparation, I usually reinforce what the students are learning in school with appropriate supplemental reading activities that they will probably enjoy.  (If the topic is neither interesting nor related to their homework, they get bored easily and ignore the tutor.)

As I listened to the guest lecture on the Pan-Hellenic Games, I realized that this topic would make an enjoyable discussion/reading activity since many students like sports.  Since the Olympic games were recently celebrated in Sidney, Australia, I assumed that my students would be familiar with terms associated with Olympic Game and that they would be able to incorporate new information on the topic with what they already know about it (elicit background knowledge).

   While listening to the guest lecturer David Romano speak about the similarities and the differences between the Ancient Pan-Hellenic Games and the modern Olympic games on September 27, 2000, 1 didn't realize that there were as many similarities between the Ancient Olympics and the modern Olympics as there were.  I learned so much during this lecture that I was already envisioning how I was going to relay this information to my students, which is not always the case.

   When I returned home that evening, I immediately looked through my files for the section on semantic mapping and graphic organizers.  Graphic organizers and discussion webs are similar ways of visually representing important concepts and vocabulary in any content area using a picture or a map.  Filling in the map allows students to connect what they already know about the Olympics with new concepts obtained from the readings and from the discussions and to organize that information.  The students will be able to see the relationships between the main ideas, which facilitates their recall/memory of the subject.

   As I was looking through this section, I found two map activities that would be appropriate for teaching my students the main ideas of the unit: the Discussion Web and the Venn Diagram.  (Examples of Discussion Webs and Venn Diagrams can be found at the end of this lesson module.)  I would use the Discussion Web to show the students’ initial reactions to my question and their reasons for their opinions; the Venn Diagram, which is simply a fancy name for a compare/contrast map, would be filled in after reading the article, “The Olympics: Then and Now” from the Super Treasury of Amazing Knowledge.

   To teach this lesson, I would initiate an informal discussion with my students about the modern Olympic Games by asking some questions.  Before they actually read articles on the topic, the students would express their opinions to these questions, which would revolve around a specific controversy in the modern Olympic Games; for example, I would ask them the following open-ended questions: “Should professional athletes be allowed to compete with amateur athletes in the Olympic Games?  Why or why not?”

   Of course, there isn't a right or a wrong answer to this question; however, my students should be able to support their questions with logical, valid reasons based on what is known about successful athletes during the Pan-Hellenic Games and during the modern Olympic Games.  After reading the articles on Ancient Greece, I would want to know if their initial opinions, especially negative opinions, have been modified or changed based on their newly acquired knowledge of the Ancient Pan-Hellenic Games.  One of my objectives for this lesson plan is to dispel the mistaken beliefs that the Ancient Greeks distinguished between professional and amateur athletes and that victorious athletes during the Ancient Pan-Hellenic games didn’t profit from their successful athletic performances; in fact, victorious athletes during ancient times received luxuries such as free meals for life, poems written to honor them, and coins made to commemorate their victory.  Another objective of my lesson plan is to show how the Pan-Hellenic Games are closely related to religion and to the Greek military.  After all, the Pan-Hellenic Games were created to honor Zeus, father of the gods.

   Before having the students silently read the articles on the Ancient Olympic Games, I would also emphasize the important vocabulary in this unit using a context clue procedure.  When reading, it is important for students to be able to figure out the meanings of unknown words in context.  Sometimes a dictionary or pictures are not available while the student is reading; therefore, it is necessary for the student to learn the meaning of an unknown word from the clues that are provided in the passage.  Looking up a word in the dictionary interrupts the thought processes during reading, which can be annoying; therefore, teaching students how to figure out a word’s meaning without resorting to a dictionary can improve a student’s reading level.  Consciously or unconsciously, many excellent readers use this strategy for understanding unknown vocabulary terms, whereas poor readers are less inclined to use this strategy and sound out the word instead, or even ignore it altogether.

   For each sentence, the vocabulary word to be learned would be underlined.  I would instruct the student to read the phrase, the sentence, or even the passage to figure out the meaning of the underlined word.  I would then tell them to ask themselves the following question: “What is the meaning of the underlined word?  Does the meaning of the word make sense based on the clues provided?  What clues did you use in the sentence, phrase or paragraph to figure out the meaning of the word?”  Then I would model sentences using this technique until the student feel comfortable enough to complete the assignment on his or her own.  (Examples of the context clue vocabulary lesson plan for the Olympic unit can be found at the end of this module.)

   Once my students have read the required articles, they would then complete a Venn Diagram which compares the Pan-Hellenic Games to the modern Olympics.  I would ask my students the following questions:  “How were the Pan-Hellenic Games similar to the modern Olympic Games?  How were they different from the modern Olympics?”  Answers to these questions are organized into three categories, so students can more easily recall main ideas and important concepts covered during readings and the discussion of the Olympic Games.  When my students have finished their Venn Diagram, they will share their answers with the tutor and with the other students and write a journal entry.  This gives my students an opportunity to modify or to include new information on their map as necessary.

   Following the Olympic Games lesson unit, my students will finally have a chance to make a craft related to Olympic Games.  They can choose to make a victor’s wreath or a plate commemorating a victorious athlete.  This craft activity will further reinforce what they have learned throughout the Olympic lesson unit and will hopefully help them to remember what they have learned.

Context Clue Lesson on the Ancient Olympic Games

            For the next few days, you are going to learn some terms and read articles related to the study of the Olympic Games in Ancient Greece.  I'm going to teach you these words by showing you how to figure out a word’s meaning in a sentence using context clues.  A context clue is the setting in which a word occurs.  The context clues or setting could be a phrase, a clause, a sentence, a paragraph, or even a whole passage that provides you with a clue as to the meaning of an unknown word.  In order to use context clues, you should read to the end of a sentence (further, if necessary), think about the meaning of the unknown word from the clues that are provided, and guess the meaning of the unknown word.

            Let's read the following practice sentences aloud.  Let’s see if you can figure out the meanings of the underlined words from the clues given in the following sentences.

1)      In 776 BC, Koroibos, a cook from the nearby city of Elis, won the first recorded event of the Ancient Olympic Games: the foot race.  This 600-foot-long foot race was called the stadion.

2)      Elis, a city-state, established the Olympic Truce during the Ancient Olympic Games; it would protect athletes, spectators and official embassies from military and political conflicts that would usually disrupt the Olympic Games.  However, the Olympic Truce was frequently violated.

3)      In 665 BC, the town of Pisa asked the powerful tyrant Pheidon of Argos to capture the sanctuary of Zeus from Elis, a nearby city-state.

Now try to guess the meaning of the underlined words in the following sentences on your own.  If you need help with any of the problems, just let me know and I will assist you.

1)      In Ancient Greece, an important part of being an athlete was competing in the events to win a prize.

2)      While the Eleans defended themselves from the ground level, the allied forces of Pisa fought from the roofs of the porticos.

3)      In the 7^th and 6^th Centuries BC, political tyrants in Ancient Greece tried to gain influence and power by more peaceful means.

Sometimes, you might not be able to figure out the meaning of an unknown word because there aren’t enough clues in the information given.  If you can’t use context clues to learn the meaning of a new word, you will have to use another method; but first try to guess what the unknown word means based on your knowledge of the Olympic Games.

1)      The wrestlers were competing between the dromos and the altar.

2)      In The Iliad, Achilles organizes funeral games for his friend Patroklos, who was slain during the Trojan War.

Context Clues on the Pan-Hellenic Games

1)   Pheidon and his hoplite army marched across the Peloponnesos and took control of Zeus’ sanctuary for Pisa.

2)   Bronze tripods have been found at Olympia; they may have been prizes for some early winners’ events during the Ancient Pan-Hellenic Games.

3)   Contrary to popular belief, the marathon was not an event in the Ancient Olympic Games but a modern invention.

4)   The Ancient Olympics were created to honor Zeus, King of the Gods.

5)   Athletes and audiences came from every city-state to participate in the Pan-Hellenic (“all-Greek”) Games.  Only Greek                  were allowed to compete in the Ancient Olympics.

6)   Winners in the Ancient Olympics received many prizes and gifts from their                         .

7)   The Olympic Games originated in the country of                 .

8)   The Ancient Olympic Games consisted mostly of track and field events.  (True or False)

9)   There was only one event in the Olympic games.    (True or False)

10)  Athletes participated in the Ancient Olympic Games for almost 1,200 years; however, the Christian Emperor Theodosius abolished them, considering them a pagan spectacle.

11)  Ancient long jumpers used hand weights (halteres) to jump long distances.

12)  Even though women were not allowed to watch the men compete in event,s during the Ancient Olympic Games, they did participate in their own Olympic Games, called the Herea.

13)  Ancient Greeks commemorated their Olympic heroes with odes, coins, and statues.

14)  Many statues of victorious Olympic athletes were placed in the altis of Zeus’ sanctuary.

15)  Monuments and inscriptions of athletes caught cheating or bribing were also built along the roadway leading to the altis.  Every Olympic year, athletes competing in the Games would pass along the road and see the monuments as they walked to their events.

16)  Milos of Croton was an infamous wrestler in Ancient Greece.

Journal writing activity (After reading activity based on the book The Lion in the Gateway by Mary Renault, Chapter 3, pp. 55-66; the article “The Olympics: Then and Now,” Super Treasury of Amazing Knowledge, and notes from David Romano, guest lecturer on the Olympic Games)

1)  How were the Ancient Olympics similar to the modern Olympics?

2)  How were the Ancient Olympics different from the modern Olympics?

3)   How did the Greeks punish athletes who cheated or bribed judges or other athletes in the Olympic Games?  Do you think that this punishment was harsher or more lenient than for athletes who cheat today?

4)   Why did athletes compete in the nude in the Ancient Olympic Games?

5)  Did women anticipate in the Ancient Oiympic Games?  Why were married women not allowed to participate in the Herea?

6)  How long did the Ancient Olympic Games last?  Why were they abolished?

7)   Who revived the Ancient Olympic Games?  Why was Pierre de Coubertin successful in reviving the Olympic Games whereas others were not?

8)   What other events have been added to the Olympics since its origins in 776 BC?

9)   When was the marathon included in the Olympic Games?

10) The Winter and the Summer Olympics were always a part of the Olympic Games.   (True or False)

11) How did Ancient Greek city-states honor their Olympic heroes?

12) Why did the Ancient Greeks allow Nero, a Roman emperor, to compete in the Olympic Games?  How did he make a mockery of the Games?

13) What was the inspiration for the Olympic event, the marathon?

14) During the long jump in the Pythian Games at Delphi, Phayllus of Croton jumped an incredible distance of 55 feet.  Since today’s athletes can’t jump that far, how do historians explain this amazing accomplishment?

15) How did politics affect the Olympic Games?  What happened to Greek city-states that violated the Olympic Truce?  (Provide at least one example.)

16) The most prestigious Pan-Hellenic Games were held at Olympia, but there were others.  When the Olympics weren’t taking place, in what other festivals did athletes participate?

Craft Activity  (pp. 47-48 in Ancient Greece: 40 Hands-On Activities to Experience this Wondrous Age by Avery Hart & Paul Mantell)

Create a Greek plate or statue commemorating a victorious athlete in the Ancient Greek Olympic Games.

Make a wreath that an Olympian would wear.