History · Greece · 1904

Famous Men of Greece

John H. Haaren and A. B. Poland's short life stories of the famous men of Greece, from the gods of Olympus and the Trojan War to Alexander and the Roman conquest, for children about 8 to 11. 37 guides cover every chapter, with the right page of the book beside each one.

0 of 37 lessons done (saved in this browser) Start Lesson 1 →

Turn this on to see every lesson as a simple checklist: what to get out, what to do and what to say, one line at a time.

How to use it

  • One story a session. About 25 to 35 minutes, two or three times a week, covers the book in a school year. Read aloud together, or let a strong reader read and then tell it back to you.
  • Narration is the heart of it. After each reading, your child tells the story back in their own words. Listen without correcting; the prompts in each guide help if they get stuck.
  • Keep a map open. Every guide starts by finding the places on a map or globe. A free online map works well, and the same few places (Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Troy, Persia) come up again and again.
  • Build a timeline. Add a date or a name after each chapter on a long strip of paper on the wall. By the end your child will see the whole story of Greece at a glance.
  • Myths first, then history. The first chapters are Greek myths, told as the Greeks told them; the guides say so gently. Later chapters are history, with a few legends mixed in.
  • Preview the hard parts. Like all ancient history, the book has battles, cruelty and some deaths told plainly. Where a passage may upset a younger child, the guide's tip tells you which page, so you can read ahead.

Unit 1 The gods and the first heroes

The Greek gods of Olympus, the flood, and the heroes Cadmus and Perseus. Lessons 1–5.

  1. 1The Gods of Greece (I–II): Jupiter and his brothers and sistersIntro, part 1✓
  2. 2The Gods of Greece (III–IV): the children of JupiterIntro, part 2✓
  3. 3Deucalion and the FloodCh. I✓
  4. 4Cadmus and the Dragon's TeethCh. II✓
  5. 5PerseusCh. III✓

Unit 2 Hercules, Jason and Theseus

The twelve labors, the golden fleece, and the Minotaur in the Labyrinth. Lessons 6–9.

  1. 6Hercules and His Labors (labors 1–9)Ch. IV, part 1✓
  2. 7Hercules and His Labors (labors 10–12 and the end)Ch. IV, part 2✓
  3. 8Jason and the Golden FleeceCh. V✓
  4. 9TheseusCh. VI✓

Unit 3 The Trojan War and Ulysses

The golden apple, Achilles and the wooden horse, and Ulysses's ten-year voyage home. Lessons 10–14.

  1. 10Agamemnon, King of MenCh. VII✓
  2. 11Achilles, Bravest of GreeksCh. VIII✓
  3. 12The Adventures of Ulysses (I): the lotus-eaters and the CyclopsCh. IX, part 1✓
  4. 13The Adventures of Ulysses (II): the bag of winds, Circe and the SirensCh. IX, part 2✓
  5. 14The Adventures of Ulysses (III): home to IthacaCh. IX, part 3✓

Unit 4 Sparta and Athens

The lawgivers Lycurgus, Draco and Solon, and Pisistratus the tyrant. Lessons 15–17.

  1. 15LycurgusCh. X✓
  2. 16Draco and SolonCh. XI✓
  3. 17Pisistratus the TyrantCh. XII✓

Unit 5 The Persian Wars

Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea, and the men who led Greece against Persia. Lessons 18–22.

  1. 18Miltiades, the Hero of MarathonCh. XIII✓
  2. 19Leonidas at ThermopylaeCh. XIV✓
  3. 20ThemistoclesCh. XV✓
  4. 21Aristides the JustCh. XVI✓
  5. 22CimonCh. XVII✓

Unit 6 The golden age and the war with Sparta

Pericles and the Parthenon, then Alcibiades and Lysander in the Peloponnesian War. Lessons 23–25.

  1. 23PericlesCh. XVIII✓
  2. 24AlcibiadesCh. XIX✓
  3. 25LysanderCh. XX✓

Unit 7 Socrates, Xenophon and Thebes

The wisest man of Athens, Xenophon's long march home with the Greek army, and two friends who freed Thebes. Lessons 26–28.

  1. 26SocratesCh. XXI✓
  2. 27XenophonCh. XXII✓
  3. 28Epaminondas and PelopidasCh. XXIII✓

Unit 8 Macedon and Alexander

Philip and his phalanx, Alexander's conquests, and Demosthenes who spoke against them. Lessons 29–32.

  1. 29Philip of MacedoniaCh. XXIV✓
  2. 30Alexander the Great (I–II): Bucephalus and the conquest of PersiaCh. XXV, part 1✓
  3. 31Alexander the Great (III): India and the endCh. XXV, part 2✓
  4. 32DemosthenesCh. XXVI✓

Unit 9 After Alexander and the fall of Greece

Philosophers and painters, the Ptolemies of Egypt, Pyrrhus, the last Spartan reformer, and Rome's conquest. Lessons 33–37.

  1. 33Aristotle, Zeno, Diogenes and ApellesCh. XXVII✓
  2. 34PtolemyCh. XXVIII✓
  3. 35PyrrhusCh. XXIX✓
  4. 36Cleomenes IIICh. XXX✓
  5. 37The Fall of GreeceCh. XXXI✓

The book itself

Famous Men of Greece

1904 · About ages 8 to 11

Short life stories of the heroes and leaders of Greece, one or two to a chapter, from the old stories of the gods and heroes to the fall of Greece in 146 B.C. A favourite first history book for families who teach history through biography.

🧑‍🏫 Teaching guides ⬇ Download PDF (4.5 MB) Internet Archive ↗

Scanned by Google from a Harvard University copy.

Each guide covers one chapter of the book, shown beside the title; the Introduction and the long chapters on Hercules, Ulysses and Alexander are split into two or three guides. The guides are written for this site; the book is in the public domain.

@teddyrookbook GitHub