Most information we have about ancient Greek laws is from Athens. Draco was the ýrst law-giver in Athens around 620 BCE, followed by Solon around 594 BCE. Solon made new laws, saying murderers should be banished but most crimes only needed ýnes. He also ýxed a big problem where people could be enslaved for unpaid debts. Solon ended this practice and freed those enslaved. In Athens, courts were set up to decide cases, and citizens chosen by lot made the decisions. In Sparta, laws were not written down. Lycurgus is said to be the law-giver who created the Spartan laws, but his story may be a myth.
SOURCE2 Herodotus, The Histories , Book I, 66.
How the change to good government came about I will now relate. Lycurgus, a distinguished Spartan, visited the Delphic oracle, and no sooner had he entered the shrine than he was greeted with these words:
Hither to my rich temple have you come, Lycurgus, Dear to Zeus and to all gods that dwell in Olympus. I know not whether to declare you human or divine – Yet I incline to believe, Lycurgus, that you are a god.
. . . [Lycurgus] made fundamental changes in the laws, and took good care that the new ones should not be broken. Later he reorganized the army, introducing the system of messes and the new tactical divisions of squadrons and companies . . . By these changes Spartan government was put upon a sound basis, and when Lycurgus died a temple was built in his honour.
Greek myths The early Greeks shared many myths (see SOURCE3 ), which they passed down through stories. Starting around 800 BCE, these stories were written down. The most famous are Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey . The Iliad is about the siege of Troy, while the Odyssey follows Odysseus on his ten-year journey home, facing strange creatures and dangers. In these myths, the gods act like people and often take sides in human ýghts. The gods of Mount Olympus The Greeks believed that many gods controlled their lives. These gods lived on Mount Olympus in northern Greece. They were immortal but had human weaknesses. • The chief god was Zeus, and the other gods were his family. Each god was responsible for different parts of human life. Hera, Zeus’s wife, was patroness (protector) of marriage and children. • Ares was the god of war. • Artemis was the patroness of hunting and wild animals. • Dionysus was the god of wine and pleasure. • Athena was the goddess of wisdom. • Hephaestus was the god of ýre.
• Hermes was the messenger of the gods. • Apollo was the sun god and god of law. • Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty.
• Poseidon was the god of the sea. • Pluto was the god of the underworld. These were the main gods, but there were others and many mythical heroes. The heroes weren’t immortal but had powers beyond normal people.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 7 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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