Hi folks! The goal this week is to get us started on the responses and into the rhythm of interacting with each other here as well as in class.

If you want some guidance on what I’m looking for in the post, basically I’m looking for your take on what we’re going to be studying. Things like: What are you curious about when it comes to ancient history and the Greeks? Is there anything about studying ancient cultures that makes you wary or concerned? How might Umberto Eco’s quote and what we’re talking about in class relate to how we see the culture of Hellas (the Greek word for Greek culture)?

Most important: What do you most want to explore, and why? Give it a ponder! I’m looking forward to hearing your answers. Read through each other’s responses, and respond to ideas that strike you as interesting or as prompting questions of your own.

When I was a child, I never thought about the past. I always focused on the present moment. Then I began to learn about history and saw it as something distant and inapplicable. It did not cross my mind that past events have an effect on the present moments we are living in. It seemed like a tale. Even segregation seemed so far away from our current events to me because I seldom witnessed it in my personal world. Then, as I witnessed 9/11, heard threats about end times, and watched the news on police brutality, I began to realize that history has patterns of repeating itself and is not as far off from our present reality as I thought it was. I think in general people look back at history and find it difficult to relate to. Yet we have much in common with ancient history, such as institutional systems, modern day, and the evolution of slavery. For example, people are in prisons working for free. I think their philosophies may be difficult to understand. It is challenging to understand their art and decipher whether the history shared about the Trojan was a real event or a myth. Their history is also difficult to interpret since there are different accounts of their past events. Their system structures strike me as important since we appropriated them in our modern-day society. I would like to learn more about their ideas and the structure of their systems.

When it comes to history, there are many reasons that interest me about it. I've always been a fan of the history channel and learning about different eras of history. From getting experiences of individuals in the past through their perspectives to understanding the circumstances such as struggles to achievements that molded the world we live in today. It also amazes me that history tends to repeat itself over time and gives us a view on how certain societies can adapt when it comes to their culture and environment they lived in.

When it comes to history, the difficulties of understanding mainly come from the lack of fully documented records. Majority of what we are taught comes from little valid sources such as accounts from people who were in power who could reshape the narrative of what actually occurred, inscriptions that might be found on the wall that might be interpreted wrong or even old ruins of an ancient society. With cultural differences it makes it difficult to fully dissect ancient sources with the possibility of misunderstanding them.

Greek culture can be tough to grasp especially how they view daily life compared to our daily lives. In their time mainly men ran their society whereas women and people who were slaves had no say so and unlike ours in which equality is roughly expected. Also their religious practices and their mythology is stacked with symbolism which currently in our current time does not look the same. Our government, philosophy, literature and even our architecture have roots that come from ancient cultures. To think our government came from Rome’s legal systems to Greece’s experiments with democracy to Egypt’s innovations in mathematics and writing. These ancient cultures paved the way for what our society is now due their influences.

I would like to explore more about how everyday people lived in these ancient times. I would like to view how farmers, families and artisans lived during these times, not just the rulers and philosophers. Understanding how they lived can help us view history through the eyes of the ordinary citizens who help build the foundation of civilizations and not through the eyes of the rich and powerful.

What interests me about history is how it tends to repeat itself in terms of decisions, like how the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty both segmented themselves after expansion. What makes understanding ancient history difficult is a general lack of viable sources. Some ancient cultures relied on oral communication for many generations, which can be subject to bias and/or different interpretations. As for fully understanding the culture of the Greeks, their belief in different gods might be challenging to wrap my head around. I understand believing in a greater force, but finding out what influenced their decision to have different gods responsible for different elements of nature would definitely take time. What strikes me as most important about ancient cultures and their influence is how much we know about them was due to their need to survive or to uphold traditions. I personally would like to find out how the Ancient Greeks rationalized the world they were in.

The way we recorded and documented history is interesting for the perspective we gain from our ancestors and what they may have found important at the time as well as what transcends that time period and is impactful to us to this day. When it comes to understanding history we must realize that the people who found these items and artifacts may have a story or point to prove and crate a bias from which we view that content. The ways they organized and create their philosophies, with so many competing ideas and beliefs at the time the compete philosophies will be very interesting to learn about as well as how they affected the people of that time. Seeing that so many of their ideas and theories still have a lasting effect on our modern way of thought is highly interesting and will be a great section to go over this semester.

My interest in history is learning the way society came to be, the connection of our heritage and national identity that serves valuable lessons for personal growth. The way the world was a decade ago and how it has evolved through time. Some obstacles that get in the way of understanding history are that the past is unobservable and interpreting what remains. Our aspects change on culture and the way society was back then and now. Ancient cultures have influenced u through language, writing, technology, philosophy, and religion.

History has always been interesting to me since high school. I enjoy learning about the past, how our future has been impacted by the past, how this country became what we know it to be in the present age, etc. I also enjoy learning about different cultures and their history. Every country and time period has a story to be told and a legacy. History is important, I believe, because if we don't learn from our past and the mistakes and lessons, our future won't change. History is always repeating itself, whether we see it or not. Sometimes expectantly with ancient history, it can be confusing to understand because of their different way of thinking, knowledge, and meaning compared to us today. History is always black and white, and for me, ancient history isn't black or white; it's more of mixed colors. What I think will be challenging to understand from ancient Greek or history in general is probably their literature and humor. Sometimes when I'm reading a primary source or an old playwright, I have a hard time understanding what the writer is trying to get the audience to take away. I agree with the quote, how we must dig deeper beyond our thinking and find the double meaning ot hide message, and that exactly what we have to do in history sometimes if we want to fully understand that time period we are studying. As we mentioned in class on Thursday, the Greeks wanted to be better than they could imagine; they pushed themselves, and I see that through this quote as well. Even throughout history, we can be like the Greeks at times, hoping to be better than we were for the future. I'm hoping to dive more into ancient history and not be afraid to think outside the box.

What interests me about history is how things that were created, the events that took place, and the people who made things happen have changed how the world is seen today. The things that can get in the way of history are wars, alterations made to the texts that were originally written that mess up the original meaning of the text, and many other things and events that can change the way history is viewed. One thing about their culture that might be particularly challenging for us to understand is how they were able to create a democratic type of government that, up to this day, has changed how things are viewed politically and how their innovations have made things somewhat easier to do, like their technology. What strikes me as most important about ancient cultures is how the events that occurred then have affected the way things are today. I would like to find out more about how history has changed and affected the world, as well as how it was viewed in the past and how it is viewed in the future.

What interests me about history is the unique perspective it gives us about cultures and civilizations from the distant past. When it comes to understanding history, particularly ancient history, one of the many obstacles that can get in the way is cultural bias. Cultural biases can lead to warped perspectives about the overall civilization and misinterpritation of its cultural practices. An example of this cultural bias could be in how we percieve Ancient Greek civilization through a Roman lens, and the Roman understanding of the Greek culture could be drastically different from the way the Greeks lived. Based on what I know about the ancient greeks, I think the hardest aspect of there culture for us to understand would be how the migration of certain cults gave way to different gods and stories which were later adopted in the wider cultural collective since gods like Aphrodite and Dionysus are believed to have been later additions to the hellanistic pantheon, and there is evidence suggesting that they they were brought along with cults that migrated from different regions. What strikes me as most important about ancient cultutres is the way groups of people in the past were able to come together and develop many of the concepts we still use today such as our writing system, our judicial proccesses, and political systems. I would like to learn more about how maritime trade greatly increased the flow of ideas and information across the ancient world, and how it helped to further civilization across the mediterranean.

What interest me about history would be learning about the culture and how people would survive back then and how many actions or cultures has been carried into the present and have the same system to this day. For me what gets in the way of me learning history is that I be forgetting small details easily sometimes so I would have to go over a reading multiple times to grasp the content and fully digest it. The only thing I mostly know about the Greek culture would be the mythology and how advanced they were as a society at the time and the one thing I would say that would be particularly challenging for me to understand would be seeing the way they became so advance and where could they pull some of their ideas in building their society. What I consider to be the most important thing about ancient cultures is how they maintain their data as with out any access to that data we wouldn’t know of their existence, especially during their golden age and what cause them to fail. What I would like to find out more would be seeing how much the Greeks had at hand to cause their downfall how much grasp they had on other cultures as well.

What interests me the most about history is knowing about the past while at the same time being able to have many interpretations about one single event. When I was a child, I wanted to become an archeologist but then discovered my fear of statues, so I had to retract from wanting that career, but I always loved history so now wanting to become a history teacher doesn't surprise me at all. I would say the things that get in the way of learning about any kind of history is sometimes the wording, I get tripped up sometimes and my interpretation can be wrong but that is something I want to work hard on this semester so that I can fully grasp the material into its entirety. Based on what I know about Greece I feel like what can be challenging to for people to understand is that Greece really relied on honor and public validation, their reputation meant everything to them, and they would want to keep it that way no matter the cost. It was up to the civilians to represent their city well which led to more of an egocentric behavior between the cities. What strikes me as important is how the Greeks influenced how we live today, for example the way we entertain, democracy and our visons on science and math come from Greece. What I would like to know more about is about the everyday life in Greece from the farmers to the elites. I would like to know about the warriors, women and enslaved individuals who played a huge part in this society.

What interests me the most about history is that we’re able to explore the unknown, in terms of how people lived, interacted with each other, and how societies worked. I love to learn and read about specific people and what they ate, how their relationships looked, their routines, their customs, their world view, and how society impacted them personally. Language and the way things are documented may be the biggest challenge in our understanding of history or how we interpret history. For Greek culture in particular it may be more difficult to relate to their customs and values because they are so different to societies in the modern world. Ancient cultures and civilizations are fascinating. Its very interesting to learn about the way fresh minds make sense of the world around them and interested the world around them and what they make out of it. I think the way of living of ancient cultures can teach us what is important in order to advance and what didn’t work. I don’t have much previous knowledge about Greek culture so I am excited to learn more about it in general.

Since my early academic career, History has always been an intriguing topic over the years. I have at times wondered about questions such as, “Where do we come from?” “How did humans originate?” “What led to this event in time?” “How did we get here today?” More than just a biological or philosophical perspective, but rather a timeline of mankind’s history across cultures and societies. Ultimately, ‘What Can We Learn From the Past to Build Our Future?”

History has sometimes been known as the ‘story of our past’. However, at times, that ‘story’ can be written in different ‘versions’ and many ‘revisions’ of a certain event in history. Our lack of knowledge or experience on a certain people or civilization; perhaps even our understanding of a language to translate the ‘accuracy’ of the written text to determine the event recorded. Unfortunately, this leads some to believe more in myth than in reality. However, those that seek to ‘find truth’, put forth the effort and dedication to finding the ‘real story’ of history and find its purpose.  

Ancient cultures exist, not just as a part of history, or as a ‘memory aid’, but establish a ‘set of origin’ for us to follow on today. A ‘point of reference’ one might say. These ancient cultures help us to understand the questions of who we were, what we are, and even what we may become. 

Personally, I would like to learn more particularly about the TRUTH of Greek culture, through the ‘lens’ of a Greek, written by Greek. In a sense, not lost in translation or interpretation of its origin and meaning. Learning about the native lifestyle and culture which makes ‘Greek’ Greek (Hellas). 

What interests me about history is how it connects us to people who lived long ago and helps explain the foundations of our modern world today. One major challenge in understanding ancient history is that so much of the evidence is either missing, destroyed, or written by only a small group of people, which makes it harder to see the full picture. It can even be difficult to understand the timeline of things in relation to others as well. When it comes to the Greeks, their myths, religious practices, and cultural values can be difficult for us to fully understand because their worldview was so different from ours today. What strikes me as most important about ancient cultures is the way they continue to influence our politics, art, literature, and philosophy, even if we don’t always realize it. I’d really like to find out more about the daily lives of ordinary Greeks, because history tends to highlight the elites and major events like wars while overlooking what everyday life was truly like for most people.

What interests me about history is how it connects us to people from the past and shows how their ideas still shape our world. Ancient history can be tricky because so much has been lost or passed down in biased ways. Like Umberto Eco's quote says, it's not just about what old texts say but what they mean in their own time.

With the Greeks, I am curious to learn more about their daily lives and traditions, since we usually only hear about famous leaders or philosophers. What stands out to me about ancient cultures is how much of their influence like democracy and philosophy is still around today. I'd especially like to explore what life was like for everyday people, because that would make their culture feel more real.

Something that interests me about history is advancements, religious impacts, and cultural changes that happen over time. It's harder to understand ancient history because there was a time where writing systems weren't fully developed or commonly understood. If all stories were only spoken orally, it prevents the spread of stories to other cultures. Bias can greatly change our stories or what we choose to tell. For an example, something that I think would be challenging for us to fully understand about ancient Greek culture is the lives of women during that time period. With women being hidden and overlooked, there are possibly many accomplishments and discoveries that went undocumented.

What strikes me as important about ancient cultures is how you can still find symbolism from them in the modern day world. From the mythological stories, to the fashion, architectural design, and even what we consider "beauty". Something that I would like to learn more about relating to this class is how religion has impacted ancient society, and what were the disparities between people during this time period.