A

Learning & Information Department Telephone +44 (0)20 7323 8511/8854 Facsimile +44 (0)20 7323 8855 education@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG Switchboard +44 (0)20 7323 8000 www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

The Greeks: War & Peace Key Stage 2 Starting Points

2

Gallery Activity Sheets for Room 69 How to use these activity sheets These sheets are aimed at introducing some of the cases in the gallery and

give a brief insight into war and peace in ancient Greece, through the eyes

of the poet Homer. We provide below some basic information about the

Iliad which may be useful to you in designing activities for use in class and

links with Literacy Hour

(Year 5, Term 2).

1.Please do not use all five sheets as a trail. We suggest that you give each

of your groups two or three of the cases to focus on.

2.Please encourage adult leaders to read the extracts to the children. Allow

the children time to discuss other objects in the cases with their adult

leader, to experience awe and wonder at the artefacts and to look at and

record things which are of interest to them.

3

The Iliad All the quotes on the sheets are from the Iliad. The Iliad is a long narrative

poem in which Homer, the ancient Greek poet, tells part of the story of the

Trojan War. Homer probably lived in the eighth or seventh century BC, but

the Iliad is set in the Greek Bronze Age four or five hundred years earlier.

Scenes from the Trojan War can be seen on many Greek pots of the sixth

and fifth centuries BC.

It was regarding the Iliad which inspired Heinrich Schliemann to try to find

the real city of Troy and Mycenae, the home of the Greek king

Agamemnon. You could follow up study of the story of the Trojan War by

asking children to do research on Schliemann and his discoveries.

Although the Iliad is about war, amidst the scenes of violence, cruelty and

death, Homer gives us glimpses of peace and calm. Through contrast he

reminds us of the horror of war and that peace is the normal and best

condition for people.

4

Go to Case 26 and read this: The Greek hero Patroklos kills a Trojan: Patroklos’s spear struck him just below the heart. Just like and oak tree of a

poplar or a lofty pine which men have cut down in the hills with their sharp

axes to make the planks for a ship, so he fell to the earth.

In case 26, you will find a drinking cup showing this man smoothing a plank

of wood with an adze:

•Find the large clay slab, nearby. This shows the building of a ship. The

goddess Athena is helping. You can recognise her from her helmet.

•Tick the following when you find them:

Athena’s shield a man using a hammer and chisel the sail of the ship a rope around the ship to strengthen the hull Athena’s owl keeping an eye on the work

5

Go to Case 15 and read this: The god Hephaistos decorates a new shield for the Greek hero Achilles: He showed the fields of a king, where the workers were hard at work with

sharp sickles in their hands. Some of the golden corn still lay where it had

fallen, but the workers had tied some of it up in bundles. The king stood

nearby, smiling in satisfaction at the richness of his land.

In case 15, you will find a curved bronze sickle. Greek farm workers used

tools like this to cut the corn.

Nearby is a large pot which may have been used to contain olive oil. It

shows men gathering olives. Look at the pot carefully.

Now look at the drawing. Can you spot the differences? There are 10 all

together.

6

Go to case 16 and read this: The Trojan hero Hektor says goodbye to his family before going out to battle. Glorious Hektor held out his arms to take his young son. But the baby

shrank back crying. He was terrified by the gleaming bronze of the helmet

and by the crest of horsehair nodding grimly on top. His father and mother

shared a smile. Hektor took off his helmet and placed it on the ground.

Then he took his baby boy into his arms and kissed him.

• Look at this drawing of a Greek warrior.

Label the objects on the drawing which you can actually see in case 16.

You may only be able to find parts of some of them!

• Which parts of which objects have disappeared?

• Why do you think these parts have not survived?

7

Go to Case 5 and read this:

The Trojan queen Hekabe selects a gift for the goddess Athena. She went into the palace and down to the sweetly scented storeroom

where she kept her dresses. Her son Paris had brought these for her from

Phoenicia when he had returned with the beautiful Helen. Hekabe picked

out the longest and most finely decorated dress as a gift for Athene. It

glittered like a star.

• The drawings below show two women preparing wool for spinning

and another woman spinning wool into thread.

• Look for the actual objects in the case and tick the label boxes when

you find them.

8

Read this: The Greeks and Trojans struggle to capture the dead body of the Greek hero Patroklos: They tugged the body to and fro between them like the men whom the tanner tells to stretch the hide of a great bull. They take the hide and stand round in a ring and tug at it until it is tight all over and the moisture oozes out.

• Look all around this room. See if you can find any objects made of

leather.

• Record these in the left-hand box.

• How did you do?

• Now look around again, but this time look closely at the pictures on

three or four pots.

• In the pictures try to find objects and parts of objects which were

probably made of leather. Write these in the right-hand box.

• How did you do this time?

Objects made of leather Objects in pictures whish were probably made of leather

Why do you think there is such a difference between the number of objects

in each box?

9

List of some objects with scenes from the Trojan War / Iliad Ground Floor Room 13: Archaic Greece

• Freestanding case 9: The Sophilos Vase: procession of gods attending

the marriage of Thetis and Peleus

• Wall case 6: plate from Rhodes c. 600 BC: Menelaos (left) and Hektor

fight over body of the Trojan Euphorbos. Iliad XVII – line 45ff.

• Freestanding case 8: black-figure Amphora signed by Exekias c. 540

BC: Achilles slaying Penthesileia, Queen of the Amazons

Room 15: Greece in the 5th Century BC

• Case 3: large krater [mixing bowl] showing Achilles slaying Hektor

with Athene on left and Apollo on right

Upper Floor Room 69: Greek and Roman Daily Life

• Case 9: amphora from Athens c.520 BC: Ajax (left) and Achilles

playing Backgammon

• Wall case 12: several scenes from the Trojan War including: The

Judgement of Paris, Peleus and Thetis, Achilles and the centaur

Cheiron, the ambush and death of Troilos, son of Priam.

• Wall case 13: Achilles and Briseis – Iliad 1 – line 180ff; Ransom of

Hektor – Iliad 24 – line 470ff; Achilles carrying body of Queen

Penthesileia

• Wall case 14: Priam killed by Neoptolemos, son of Achilles, on the

altar of Zeus; recovery of Helen: escape of Aeneas

10

Room 71: Italy before the Roman Empire • Case 28: Etruscan Bronze Mirrors: 9 – Menle (Menelaos) seizing Helen

clinging to altar of Menerva (Athene) with Turan (Aphrodite) looking

on; 14 – Achle (Achilles) with severed head and dead horse of Truile

(Troilos)

Room 73: The Greeks in Southern Italy

• Wall case 23: red-figure situla (water jar) from Campania c. 350 BC –

Paris abducting Helen with Aphrodite and Eros watching

• Freestanding case 66: kalyx krater [mixing bowl] from Lucania c. 390-

380 BC with Odysseus (left) and Diomedes (right) ambushing the

Trojan Spy Dolon (Iliad 10 – line 340ff)

• Freestanding case 73: volute karater from Apulia c. 370-360 BC – The

Sack of Troy

• Kassandra seated clinging to the statue of Athene as Ajax

approaches; Priam, Hecuba and Hektor’s son Astyanax to right

A more complete study guide suitable for use with sixth form students is

available on the learning section of the British Museum website at

www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

11

Checklist of ancient Greek weapons and armour and scenes of warfare Please note: Not all scenes of warfare on Greek pots are listed here – there

are many examples throughout the collections and it would be a good idea

to encourage students to scan objects and then focus on specific examples

they find. You could ask different groups to focus on different types of

equipment or on designs on shields. Scenes listed there depict specific

features.

Room 12 Cases 7 and 8: Mycenaean spears, swords, arrow heads, dagger, spear butt.

There are scenes of warriors on some of the pots, but they are not easy to

make out.

Room 13 Case 6: plate with vivid scene of warriors fighting over a fallen comrade

Case 8: several good scenes of warfare

Case 10: bronze helmets

Room 14 Plates with scenes of archers, trumpeter; pot with weapons and warriors

Room 15 Case 6: bronze helmet

Various scenes of warfare including Greeks and Amazons, the farewell of a

warrior, fully dressed warriors rescuing old woman (case 5)

Room 17 Carved friezes from the Nereid Monument showing: battle formations,

different styles of breastplate, siege of a city

12

Room 69 Case 16: Greek armour, also pot with scene of warrior’s farewell

Room 73 Cases 38 and 39: bronze greaves, breastplate, helmets, ankle guards,

shoulder straps

Case 53: bronze leg wearing a greave

Freestanding case with bronze horseman in Corinthian style helmet