Six catchy songs to learn exploring the civilisation and stories of Ancient Greece. See the for curriculum-based activities based on the songs.
The songs
1. Busy ancient city, Athens
Everyday life in the city-state of Athens in its golden age, 2500 years ago.
2. Myths and mysteries
Exploring Ancient Greek gods and goddesses and beliefs about the afterlife.
3. Build up stones and sculptures
Exploring architecture, theatre and other cultural activity in Ancient Greece.
4. Get training
The original Olympic Games of Ancient Greece and how they differed from the Games of today.
5. Philosophy
Exploring the Ancient Greek contribution to philosophy, maths, astronomy, medicine - and more.
6. Story, story, story
A song referencing many of the best-known myths and stories of Ancient Greece.
Resources
Click to download / print the Teacher Notes (pdf)
Ancient Greece on our History pages. collection
Accompanied by comprehensive Teacher Notes prepared in partnership with Teachit
Tales from Ancient Greece. collection
Exciting audio versions of some of the best-known Ancient Greek myths
KS2 Music: Ancient Greece
This set of six songs supports the popular cross-curriculum topic of Ancient Greece. The music evokes the atmosphere of a distant time and place but also brings in sound elements from contemporary music in a range of popular styles.
The songs are rich in ideas for drama and dance, with lots of opportunities for performances in school assemblies or shows for parents, including movement scenes, video presentations, projections, artwork and exhibitions.
Some of the songs explore Ancient Greek modes (scales) and rhythm patterns, with ideas for recreating these using classroom instruments. The music arrangements contain 鈥榓ncient鈥 sounds of lyres, reed pipes, panpipes and Greek percussion, mixed with some subtle contemporary sounds from guitars, keyboards, synths and electronica.
Each song can be heard in vocal versions and also in an instrumental backing track, with exactly the same timing. You can use these for practising as often as you like, and for performing in your assemblies and shows for parents and the whole school.
The contain:
- detailed information about the music for performing each song
- some hints for organising the class and combining the music with dance and drama in performance
- some suggestions for use of classroom instruments and simple improvising and composing
- suggestions for follow-up ideas in subjects right across the curriculum: History, Geography, Literacy, Maths, Science, RE, PSHE, Design Technology, Art and PE / Dance.
The six songs in the collection are:
Busy ancient city, Athens
A celebration of everyday life in early Athens, exploring parallels between Ancient Greek social life and contemporary 21st century life: food, sport, fashion, family and the roles of men, women, girls and boys.
Myths and mysteries
Exploring of the beliefs of Ancient Greece, including some Greek gods and goddesses - especially the well-known 鈥極lympians鈥 - and their links to harvest, healing, wine, the sea, music and fire. There鈥檚 a verse about ancient Greek stories concerning death, including the Underworld and the afterlife.
Build up stones and sculptures
A celebration of Greek architecture, columns, temples, theatres, statues and sculpture. The strong, stately melody rises then falls symmetrically, starting at the 鈥榬oot鈥 note 漏 as a 鈥榝oundation鈥 to build on and return to.
Get training
A lively, energetic song, about the Olympic Games. These began life as a religious festival for the god Zeus and became a popular competitive athletic event, with temples and stadiums at Olympia. The tune of each refrain has phrases going up, down, up, down etc, to suggest training regimes, with the key words changing in each refrain to introduce the events.
Philosophy
A relaxed, contemplative, jazz song. The first two verses explore different aspects of philosophical thinking - about evidence, asking questions, thinking wisely, words and language, the past, present and future. There are refrains to speak in time together, recitingthe first eight letters of the ancient Greek alphabet, and the names of six famous Greek philosophers. The third verse reflects on philosophy鈥檚 practical applications relevant to the modern world - in maths, geometry, science, medicine, astronomy, and the idea of democracy.
Story, story, story
A busy, syncopated song with a lively chorus - embracing rock 鈥檔鈥 roll and funk rhythms - which celebrates storytelling as art. The chorus sings of how stories can be told and acted out in public places. The verses are a bit slower, allowing a little extra time to fit in some tricky words, and explore some different kinds of Ancient Greek storytelling - fables, creation myths, legends, etc.
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