There are many possible learning targets you may select for your students. One learning target: Students can explain how the ancient Greek Olympics differed from modern day olympic competitions. There are many resources that can inform the teaching of the ancient Olympic Games. Please consider the following websites:  Events of the Ancient Olympics.  BBC Overview of Games.

 

Here are some possible themes for this study.

• Only males competed. The audiences were only male.

• It was limited to nearby city-states, not countries all over the world.

• Athletes competed in a variety of sports, not just one event.

• Winners were celebrated and often recognized with large quantities of olve oil.

• Greeks promoted well-rounded humans.

 

During the musical, we meet four athletes in training. The athletes present a song that showcases their well-rounded nature as Olympic athletes. Each athlete sings one of the lines per verse; they all sing the choruses.

This is a playful way to share the values that the early Greeks promoted in their athletes. It reflects their cultural perspectives on what human greatness looks like. And perhaps, it offers a meaningful set of values

for present day culture.

 

Every Part of Me   (Listen to a clip from the Music Page.)  

(The entrance chant)

All my life, preparing for this day

To do my best, that’s the only way!

I will use, every part of me

So I achieve a victory!

 

I am Theron, I am swift as the wind

I am Yannis, I throw the javelin

I am Demetrios, I wrestle till I win

I am Georgios, I can knock your teeth right in

 

Chorus

 

Foreign languages, I speak fluently

I’m a writer, of the epic stories

Listen well, I recite poetry

I love math, even in my sleep

 

Chorus

 

I am Theron, I take care of my mother

I am Yannis, I make peace with foreign brothers

I am Demetrios, for you I will pray

I am Georgios, with the sick I will stay

 

Chorus

 

We cannot be judged by just one thing, like the size of my biceps

Developing the human mind, is more powerful than my triceps

The spirit of the human heart, means more than the muscles you see

The mind and the body and the spirit are in balance: to be all we can be!