The Teaching of Ancient Greek Language and Civilization.

Ancient Greek Technology

The 7^Th Seminar of the Council of Europe: In-Service Training Programme for Educational Staff

(Limassol, Cyprus 7-11.05.2001)

REPORT

The 7^th Seminar: "The Teaching of Ancient Greek Language and Civilization".

Ancient Greek Technology” was organized by the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute and the Direction of Secondary Education of the Ministry of Education and Culture under the auspices of the Council of Europe. One hundred and ten teachers of Greek Philology from Cyprus and six teachers from various countries of Europe (Italy, Spain, Greece, Belgium, Poland and Lithuania) participated in the above Seminar.

 The general aim of the seminar was to contribute to the reinforcement of the interest on the study of Ancient Greek Language and civilization.

 The specific objectives of this seminar were the following:

a)      To study several aspects of ancient Greek technology and its influence on contemporary European civilization.

b)      To offer the opportunity to teachers to apply and present new approaches in the teaching of the ancient Greek language and civilization which promote the creative and active involvement of the students in the process of learning.

c)      To examine recent developments in the teaching of ancient Greek language and civilization in Europe and Cyprus.

d)      To investigate the utilization of primary and secondary sources as well that of modern Educational Technology (e.g. IT, CD-ROM) in the teaching of ancient  Greek language and civilization.

For the achievement of the above objectives the programme of the seminar consisted of lectures from distinguished speakers with particular expertise and experience in the field, presentations from teachers and relevant projects from students. Within the framework of the seminar the following were organized:

Ø      A performance of ancient Greek Drama

Ø      A music programme

Ø      A very significant exhibition of Ancient Greek Technology

Ø      Visits to archaeological sites and Museums

 Concerning the first objective of the seminar, from the lectures of experts in the field of ancient Greek Technology, one may arrive to the following main conclusions:

Ø      The ancient Greeks reached very high standards of technological achievements.

Ø      This technological development did not lead to the automation of production.

Ø      The technological developments of the ages that followed including the contemporary ones are connected with the discoveries made by ancient Greeks.

Ø      The technological achievements of ancient Greek world are connected with the structure of a well-organized society.

More specifically, according to the lectures of the seminar:

In Cyprus the production of copper through fire metallurgy was developed in very early times, something that contributed drastically to the historical and cultural development of the island. In fact, in the classical period the copper production was so massive that someone can argue that most probably the ancient Greeks knew techniques of working with copper which continue to remain unknown to us.

The ancient Greeks developed ways of controlling the quality of goods (metals, mixtures of metals, foods, etc), which enabled them to form standards of controlling the quality of materials. In this way, technology contributed to the improvement of the quality of peoples’ lives.

Achievements of high technology were used for the needs of public services concerning the accurate measurement of time and meteorological anticipations. A very important example, is the clock of Andronicus from Kyrristos. In the Hellenistic period, machines were constructed which can be considered as a precursor of the industrial period. The rams, the pressure machines, even the steam engine are inventions that can be attributed to the creativity and inventions of the ancient Greeks. Striking examples of these inventions are the ones of the genius engineer Heron from Alexandreia. These inventions were not used for automation of massive production. This reality creates a puzzle for the reasons of such a use.

A relative development is observed in the techniques of goldsmith, silversmith and the production of earthenwares and the smelting of metal statues. Furthermore, it is widely recognized that pottery of classical period is the product of high technology. Many of the techniques used in antiquity were used until recently, especially in the Cypriot goldsmith and silversmith.

For the achievement of the second objective, four projects were presented by groups of students, which indicated that:

Ø      The students were actively involved, with enthusiasm, in the process of teaching/learning.

Ø      They had the opportunity to experience the cultural continuity, to see in practice the application of the technique of building the plough, mentioned in Hesiod, even in contemporary times unchanged.

Ø      The students studied the use of methods of telecommunication to transfer messages and the use of technology in solving problems of performances in the ancient theatre.

These creative projects provided the students with the opportunity to study in depth the ancient Greek world through the use of original sources and the Internet. The field studies and visits of archaeological sites helped students to develop their imagination, to realize that we owe a great deal to the discoveries and resourcefulness of the ancient Greeks and, finally, to be sensitive concerning the influence that human achievements can have on the physical environment, on social life and even on the ethical aspect of human life.

Concerning the third objective, the reports of the foreign teachers indicated that the teaching of ancient Greek language and civilization continues today to be done with enthusiasm by inspired teachers. However, many more need to be done, especially by various Ministries of Education of European countries for the reinforcement and upgrading of the lesson. Reference was also made to the new approach of teaching the ancient Greek language, which is currently applied in the schools of Greece and Cyprus. This new approach aims at the students´ in depth familiarization with the language focusing greater attention on grammar and syntax.

For the achievement of the fourth objective new approaches in teaching ancient Greek civilization with the utilization of modern educational technology, especially the use of multimedia, were presented.

The seminar, therefore, provided the participants with the opportunity to see with their own eyes the results of the creative involvement of the students in the process of learning and how the students can realize the cultural continuity and to experience the culture as a constantly renewing source of inspiration and creativity for people. In this way, the students by gaining love and respect towards our ethnic culture can be led to the love and respect of any other culture.

The lectures and discussions that took place during the seminar, however, beside their strictly educational interest can contribute to the broader reflection concerning the problems of the world in our time. Europe, today can contribute to the establishment of a peaceful and prosperous society by seeking the common cultural roots of its people. The papers, presented in this seminar, indicated once more that the Greek civilization is one of the most basic pillars of our common European world.

More broadly, however, the seminar indicated that the ancient Greek civilization must not be viewed as the fossils of a past, which can only inspire romantic teachers of language. On the contrary, the study of the ancient Greek civilization, even when it is referred to technology, the high pride of our days, indicates clearly to the contemporary man that technology is not his exclusive achievement, but it is based on the inventions of ancient Greeks.

The Organizing Committee