The Beginning of the Presentation of Projects

Today in Western Civilization we started to present our projects. The group consisting of Chase, Faith, Ellie, and Maddy presented their food first. Next Ben and Owen presented their trireme. Our group was the final to present that day. Here is the final copy of our essay:

Frank Cassidy, Vladimir Chervenkov, Dominic Comello and Aiden Stine 3/6/18

Poseidon’s Trident

Ancient Greece is replete with many stories of gods and goddesses. Some of the most well known gods and goddesses include Zeus and Aphrodite. Many have also heard of Poseidon. Poseidon is god of the sea. The Ancient Greeks were heavily influenced by their gods. If something went wrong, such as no rain to saturate crops, the farmers would complain to the gods. If something like no rain for a season were to occur then the people would think that the gods had forsaken them and that they had done something wrong. The gods and goddesses could have human emotions like joy and anger. In many aspects, the gods of Ancient Greece were developed to resemble humans.

Now, onto the history of Poseidon! The Roman name for Poseidon was Neptune. He plays a key role in the Odyssey. The Odyssey, as told by Homer, is a story where a war hero named Odysseus is attempting to return home from the Trojan War. Poseidon does anything to knock him off course such as stirring up the sea to steer his ship off-course. In the end, it takes Odysseus ten years to return home from the war. Poseidon had one wife, a sea-goddess whose name was Amphitrite. Although Poseidon was one of the gods present on Mount Olympus, he spent most of his time in waterways near Greece. When the gods decided to divide heaven, the watery region and the subterranean land of the dead, the gods on Mount Olympus decided that Earth would be ruled by all of the gods. This made some of the gods angry and therefore a fuss was brewed up among the gods. Poseidon strived with Athena to be the patron gods of Athens. Poseidon decided to display his capability by bashing the Acropolis with his three-pronged spear, also known as a trident, which resulted in the appearance of water.

The god Poseidon wields a three-pronged trident but what exactly is that? The three prongs can be compared to a modern-day pitchfork. Poseidon’s trident is one-of-a-kind. Even in Roman mythology, no other god is known for carrying a trident making Poseidon very unique. The idea of the three spikes originated in Greek mythology. The reason why the trident has the three prongs, or spikes, is debated among by scholars. There are three properties of water: liquidity, fecundity, and drinkability, which could symbolize each prong. Other theories suggest that the sea is the third part of the world as the reason for the three prongs. The final reason for which there may be three prongs is that there are three types of waterways: seas, streams, and rivers.

Ancient Greece is loaded with compelling topics of study. Areas of study include the Ancient Greek day-to-day life, the city-states, their government, the Trojan War, and the gods and goddesses. Their development and contributions to their society have made their way into the twenty-first century. Some of these concepts include democracy and asking questions about how life works, better known as philosophy. The Ancient Greeks and their way of life will never be forgotten and there is a great deal to be learned from them.

The strategic phalanx dominated ancient greek military formations from 600 BCE until 300 BCE and four major wars or conquests. It was made up of rows of heavily armoured soldiers with large shields and a long spears known as Sarissa, which were 13-20 feet long. The phalanx was used from the archaic times of Greece all the way to the conquest of Alexander the great because of its effectiveness. During the archaic period Greece was divided into city states that could not afford large armies. They called upon their citizens to join the army, who were responsible for their own weaponry. These citizen soldiers were known as hoplites.

In the archaic period the Greek city states were small and had very small hoplite armies. Conflicts between city states usually only lasted one battle because replacement troops were limited and so were the campaigns because hoplites still had other jobs. Battles would consist of both sides building momentum then crashing into each other. After that, the battle depended upon the Army’s front line and rows behind, using a tactic called “othismos”, which is Greek for push. Commanders spread their rows of men thinly because then more soldiers could be fighting at once. Battles would quickly finish after one side broke through because it was much easier to flank at that point.

These small skirmishes would come to an end by the time the Persian empire attacked Greece. The Persian empire was much larger than any Greek city state and would quickly overwhelm even the largest city states military. To even stand a chance, the feuding city states which did not surrender to the Persians, needed to form an alliances. In this war, unlike the battles before, the Greek navy was also involved and on a large scale for the first time. The battles that were fought on land the Greeks used the Phalanx. The powerful Greek phalanx proved very successful even against great odds. In the first invasion by the Persians a very notable battle was fought at Marathon. The Persian army outnumbered the Greeks 2.5:1. At this time the Greek phalanx had developed to becoming deeper and having light infantry or javelins flank on either side. At Marathon the Greeks cornered the persian army and advanced. The Persian light infant stood no chance on breaking the line of the heavily armored Greeks. The huge defeat at Marathon ,among other things, made the Persians retreat for ten years. In the second invasion of Greece the Persians came with many more troops. The city states united yet again and their primary form of land combat was the phalanx. Remarkably the Greeks won with huge victories on land and sea.

After the Persian wars the two largest city states Athens and Sparta went to war. This was known as the Peloponnesian war. It lasted for 27 years with Sparta winning in the end. Sparta briefly was in control until The Thebans took over. Then a kingdom from Macedonia led by Philip 2nd, the father of Alexander the Great, took over all of Greece. Philip was executed and Alexander took ascended to the throne. Under Alexander’s rule the phalanx started to change. The phalanx was now twelve levels deep and more cavalry and long range units were used. Alexander no longer used hoplites because Greece was now unified and could afford a large army. The phalanx was now made up of phalangites that had longer spears and lighter armor. This allowed for more utility and mobility. With these improvement Alexander the Great would go on to invade and conquer Asia minor, Asia, and parts of Africa.

In conclusion the Greek phalanx stood the test of time because of its simplicity and that it could be used for offensive and defensive strategies. It was at the heart of Greek military while the Greeks were at their strongest. The phalanx was used throughout four major wars or conquests and stood until the downfall of Alexander the Great.  

Works Cited

“Gods and Goddesses.” Ancient Greece - The British Museum, 8 mar. 2018,

www.ancientgreece.co.uk/.

Moe. “Symbol of the Trident.” Gnostic Warrior 27 March 2014.

“Poseidon(Earthshaker, Dark-Haired One, Neptune).” GreekGods.org, 8 Mar. 2018,

Joshua J. Mark. Ancient History encyclopedia. www.ancient.eu/article/110/the-greek-phalanx/          Accessed March 9th, 2018.

Wikipedia.com. Ancient greek warfare. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_warfare. Accessed March 9th, 2018

Wikipedia.com Macedonian Phalanx. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macedonian_phalanx. Accessed March 9th, 2018