Hephaestus: Prezi

Hephaestus on Prezi

Does Power Corrupt?

Yes power corrupts. There have been many real life examples of people in powerful positions being corrupt. Many times people are in leadership positions and are given power and they use it to their advantage. Just because someone has a lot of power doesn’t mean they can use it in any way they want  to. When power corrupts it is like a volcanic explosion because it cause so many problems and the power is being corrupted for so long finally it burst and the person holding the power gets in trouble.   The leaders who hold the power take advantage of their followers by using the power in ways it should not be used.

                Some specific examples of when power corrupts is shown in professional athletes, rulers, and bosses. An example of how it happened to a professional athlete was Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods thought that since he was a professional athlete and had power and control that he could treat women poorly and be dishonest and unfaithful to his wife. He treated them poorly but thought that since he was famous and had power he could do that without anyone caring. This causes huge controversy for a long period of time because people disagreed with this and frowned upon it. This had a huge impact on Tiger Wood’s reputation and he lost many fans due to this misuse of his power. Another person was Sheila Dixon. She had a recent incident where she stole money that was being donated for the poor. She put this money on gift cards and was using the gift cards for her own personal needs. The government found out about this and disapproved. Sheila Dixon thought that since he was very high in leadership it wouldn’t be a problem if she did this and that no one would yell at her because she had so much power. She was wrong and she got in a lot of trouble because of this. She used her power in a very poor way to get what she wanted and needed. This can happen to people when they are given a lot of power or have had power for such a long period of time. This causes many problems and a lot of times cause the person to lose all of their power and their followers. People will start to rebel against them because they don’t want to listen to someone who misuses their power in a bad way for them. This happens very often, some cases more serious than others, and can cause a lot of serious problems. A less serious case of this happening is when you are on a sports team and there is a captain. The captain may misuse their power and the power will corrupt. This happens because the captain will think they are in charge of everyone and can make them do things they don’t have the right to do. For example they may harass other players by doing things they aren’t allowed to do. Also, another example is when parents leave their children with a babysitter. The babysitter may get out of hand and tell the child to do things like clean their house when really they don’t have the right to do that. The power is becoming corrupt because they are using it in the wrong ways.

                Power does corrupt very often because some leaders do not know how to properly handle their power and control. They use it to their own advantage and think it is okay because they are in charge or they are the leaders. This is not true and often each leader has a leader of its own so they can get it trouble. When power become corrupt it causes many problems some in which the person who holds the power looses all the power they have because they don’t know how to use it properly. 

What Compels Someone to Lead Others?

Some people become leaders because it is natural to them.  It is an instinct to take control and be the person in charge. Some people have the instinct to follow. They will lay back and wait for someone else to take charge so they can follow and do what the ‘leader’ says. Sometimes there is a set leader; someone that is supposed to be in charge, but when there is not it turns out to a chaotic mess. In situations when a leader is needed to take control someone with leader instincts will jump in and take control. Some specific examples of leaders are presidents, generals, teachers, and anyone who is in charge and tells you what to do. A leader is someone who will take control, doesn’t mind telling people what to do, makes people do what they want or need, and someone who will take charge and make the plan to complete what is needed to be done. A leader can be defined as “a guiding or directing head.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/leader).

"Leader | Define Leader at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 25 Feb. 2010. .

IMAGE FROM: flickr.com 

Biographies of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are three great Athenian philosophers. Socrates was born in Athens. He fought in the Peloponnesian war. He had many people that listened to what he said and he taught them how to think and put many difficult questions that, that made them think hard, in their head. Some people got mad at what he taught and went against him.

                Plato was one of them men that listened to Socrates. Plato lived from 429 BC to 347 BC. He was also born in Athens. When he was young he started to listen to Socrates and learned a lot from him. He taught him how to think and what questions to think about. After Socrates death he wrote down the conversations he had with Socrates and this is a book often used today. A lot of what we know about Socrates today is from Plato. He then learned so much he then began to think of his own philosophies and even had his own academy.

                Aristotle was born in Greece.  When he was a young man he went to study at Plato’s Academy. He never became a leader there so he left Athens. He became Alexander the Great’s tutor. When Alexander became king he went back to Athens and opened his own school like Plato. He was more interested in science.  He wanted to use Socrates methods to figure out how the real world worked. He made the government classifications we still use today. He then went back north where he had been born. 

"Aristotle - History for Kids!" Kidipede - History and Science for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

"Plato - History for Kids!" Kidipede - History and Science for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

"Socrates - History for Kids!" Kidipede - History and Science for Kids - Homework Help for Middle School. Web. 22 Feb. 2010. .

IMAGES FROM: wikimedia commons and flickr 

Athens Theaters Related to Politics and Religions

The Athens theatre origins were related to both religion and politics. Many of the things preformed in the theatres were preformed to honor their gods. This is one reason their theatre is related to religion. They had festivals which were specifically held to honor certain gods. Politically, the state funded anything that occurred in the theatres. The actors put on tragedies for judges and the judges picked the best one. This shows how the theatres are related to religion and politics. 

"Introduction to Greek Tragedy." AbleMedia LLC - A Knowledge Company. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .

IMAGE SOURCE: flickr 

Is History Created by ‘the People’ or by Individuals?

History is created by ‘the people’. History is the events in the past. The people are a group of individuals and they are what create history. The people elect leaders and what the leaders do is what makes up history. Also it takes a group of people for events to occur, not many things occur with just one person it takes a group of people. Greece specifically is an example because the events in Greece’s history show it took the people to create history individuals. For these reasons history is created by the people not individuals.

                People elect leaders who create history. There is not just one leader but many leaders. These leaders happened because a group of people elected them. This is a mark in history that people created. A group of U.S citizens elected Obama for president this is a part of history and was created by a group of people. Although history may be about one person it was created by a group of people. These leaders like presidents do things like create laws and govern and protect the people. For laws to be created they have to be passed by other people first. That makes creating a law a group effort. All the people had to work together to create this which is one way the people created history. Like the quote “there is no I in team,” said by many people like Michael Jordan. This means there is not one person who is the leader. It takes a group of people for things to occur. Not one person, the I, can make things happen they use help from people along the way. In our government for things to occur they have to be consulted with many different people first not one person can override everyone. Although one person may be credited with something they had to get help from people along the way. That means a group of people really helped for that thing to be created or done. For example inventors may think of the idea on their own but they are going to use other people’s help throughout the way. They may also use other people’s ideas.  Not one person can make history. History is events that occurred in the past. In order to have history you need to have more than one event.  These events will be pulled from what people do throughout time. The people and what they do will create history.  One person may make one event in the past but all the events that occurred will make up history. That is pulling together what everyone did and all of these people would make up a group.  Many of times the events in history are not created by one person because everyone works together to make that event occur.  For example a war may make up an event in history. For this event to occur two or more people will have to fight or battle to make a war. Most of the time it is one group of people fighting against another group of people and this creates a war. Not one individual made the event occur but everyone fighting in it did. For these reason history is created by people not individuals.

                Historical events from ancient Greece will even show how history is created by a group of people. Some important things that occurred in Greece’s history happened because of a group of people. Some important historical events that occurred in Greece were things  such as Alexander the Great becoming king. Also many wars occurred like the Peloponnesian war, and the Persian War. Last events like first Olympic games occurred. All of these things happened because of a group of people not one individual. Alexander the Great became king because of his dad, he inherited this place of high power because of his dad. His dad was king before him and when he died Alexander became king. It took more than one person for Alexander to become king and that was a major event in Greece’s history. The Peloponnesian war was a battle when Athens fought Sparta. This was a major war in Greece. It was a very large war that had three stages or parts to it. It was a major war that went on for a long time. This war greatly affected the Greek world and reshaped it. This war led to many other events in the history of Greece. This means that the events occurred because of the war so these events happened because of many people and other events not one individual person like many other major, important events in Greece. This war was two groups of people fighting each other so many people were involved in causing this historical event.  Another major event was the Persian War. The Persian War was a series of conflicts. All of these conflicts were put together to make the Persian war. The Persian war was not an individual event but took many of people to occur. All of these people had to participate to make this happen not one person could be a war. These are some major events in Greece’s history and past that show history is created by a group of people not just one person.

                History is created by the people not individuals because it takes a group effort for things to happen. Every person who has done something important in history has used the help of others. Not one person can do it all. Also history is a makeup of many past events and these events are not all created by the person. Greece is a specific place you can look at. In Greece’s past events their history is created by ‘the people’ not individuals.                 

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Alexander the Great: Hunting for a New Past." BBC - Homepage. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .

"Greco-Persian Wars -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .

"Peloponnesian War -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 19 Feb. 2010. .
IMAGE FROM: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS                                                                

Athens a Democracy

The definition of democracy is “government by the people.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/democracy). Athens was considered a democracy where the people had the power. Their government was not ruled but one single person. Athens was one of the oldest Greek democracies. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml). What was considered a democracy to them is not what we would consider a democracy today. The people would vote for their leader. Their government was not always stable but it worked best for them. the democracy would get overthrown but somehow restored. We choose the people to rule for us but in Athens it was more direct. Democracy has changed over time but Athens was still considered a democracy.

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: The Democratic Experiment." BBC - Homepage. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. .

"Democracy | Define Democracy at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 18 Feb. 2010. .

IMAGE FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS 

Olympics: Then and Now

They Olympics that take place now are a more advanced version of the Olympics that occurred many years ago in Greece. This means there are some similarities and differences. The ancient Olympics were for men and no women participated in them. “Women did not participate at the main Olympic festival.” The purpose of the Olympics was to get the men in shape for the military. Today we play for fun. Now many women compete and even win. They used to only have one event but now we have many. We even have to Olympics, one in the winter and one in the summer. Some of these events were the same.  Just like today the winners brought great pride to their home city. Also like today not everyone enjoyed athletics.   Religion played a big role in the Olympics because the athletes thought that their Gods brought them good luck and looked over them. A big difference from the Olympics then and the Olympics now is that then they played naked and now we participate fully clothed and often bundle up to keep warm in the winter.  The Olympics then were a lot different than now but also have many similarities and are a big part to many cultures.

SOURCE: "BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: The Olympics: Ancient versus Modern." Ow.ly -Shorten urls, share files and track visits - Owly. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. .

IMAGE SOURCE: wikimedia commons 

War is Technology? Agree or Disagree

The definition of technology is “the terminology of an art, science, etc.; technical nomenclature.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/technology). Some of the things we would consider technology are things like computers, iPods, phones, and etc. The definition of war “a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/war).  I would disagree because war is a conflict and technology is an advancement and a type of art. Technology is an advantage while war is a disadvantage.  Technological inventions can help the people battling in the war. For example with great technology more inventions are made for war like guns, swords, and other weapons. These weapons are used in war and are a type of technology but the war itself is not. The war is a battle and technology is a scientific advancement.

"Technology | Definition of Technology at Dictionary.com:." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

"War | Definition of War at Dictionary.com:." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. . 

image from: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Battle.jpg

What is Important? Article #3

Important is a word that can be interoperated in many different ways. According to dictionary.com, important means “of much or great significance or consequence.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/important).  According to freedictionary.com important “means strongly affecting the course of events or the nature of things; significant.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/important).  Important is more of an opinion word. Different things are important to different people. For example to me getting a good education, family, and friends are important. To someone else something like sports or money may be more important. Important can be a very strong word or can be a very relaxed word. In the sense saying that picture is very important to be because my grandmother gave it to me would be stronger than saying it is important to turn off your TV. Sometimes we use the word important without really thinking about what it means.

                Some things important to me are things like my family, friends, and education. Without these three things my life would be totally different. These three things get me through life and help me accomplish some many things. My family helps guide me through life helping me make good decisions and supporting me along the way. Without my family especially my mom and dad I would not be alive. Family is the people who punish you when you do wrong so you learn that lesson and can achieve that goal. Friends are the people who stand at the end and clap for you when you cross the finish line. Your friends support you and motivate you to accomplish things. Friends are always there for you and this is why they are important. My education is another thing that is very important to me. Without my education I would not be where I am today. It helps me have the success I have had throughout my life and the success in my future. Some of the greatest events would not occur without education. The education is our basis for life. It teaches us what we need to know to survive and be successful. Some things important to everyone are food, shelter, and water. These three things are necessities for life. These things are key to survival and without them you will greatly struggle to live. To me that is what important means. Things needed to live or things that mean so much to you would be considered important. I would also consider something important if it has greatly helped me and or made me successful in life. These are some of the things I would consider important and why, the mean a lot and are things I need in my life.  

                The Egyptians didn’t have many things they would considered important but what they did consider important was like sacred to them. For example life after death was very important to them. This is something they strongly believed in and everything they did in their life was based around the fact of life after death. When they were being mummified they made sure to keep the heart in this way they could survive in their life after death. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/mummies_01.shtml). Without their heart they wouldn’t be able to survive. This is one belief or practice that is very important to them. Something else important to the Egyptians are their pharaohs. Their pharaohs are greatly worshipped. They have a cycle in which a pharaoh dies and a new one is positioned and these keeps repeating. They have specific orders and if something goes wrong the whole cycle will become ruined. That is because it is very important to them and they don’t want to mess it up. (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/pyramids.html).  Another thing that is important to their lives is a piece of geography. This would be the Nile River. This is very helpful in their life which makes it important. They became very dependent on the river for many things. They used the Nile for things such as a water source and a way of transportation.  The land around the Nile was very fertile which made it could land to settle near. This river became helpful in so many ways that made Egypt a more civilized region and helped advance it throughout the years. Pyramids were also an important practice they believed in. They would build the pyramids in large groups and spend a lot of time on them. These pyramids were not only important to the Egyptians but to us too because we learned a lot from them. It taught us a lot of mathematics education because it took a lot of thought and math to plan out the building of the pyramids. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/egypt_importance_01.shtml). Archeologists have found many old Egyptian paintings or drawings. The Egyptians must have used art as a way of communication. That was a very important part of their life because without communication nothing can occur or advance. We need communication to talk to one another so that way we can work together and become a civilization. The Egyptians used something called Hieroglyphs to communicate with one another. This was a list of symbols that look a lot like pictures, but were not. 

(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/decipherment_01.shtml).  Overtime people have advanced this and how way of communication has improved over time. Egypt is an overall important place because it has helped us become where we are today and has made many very helpful inventions. That have caused a more advanced civilization. Today we have learned some of the things we know from what Egypt has done and created. These things are important to Egypt because they helped them become successful and truly mean something to them .

                Something is important if it is significant. Something important to you would be considered one of you “number ones.” By this I mean that it would be top on your list and truly mean something to you. Important is a word that can be interpreted in many ways and is like an opinion word that could be different from person to person.  Important things would be the things you would save first out of a fire. Things don’t just have to be material to be important they can be ideas or beliefs kept in your head also. What would you consider important?

Works Cited

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Ancient Egypt and the Modern World." BBC - Homepage. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Mummies Around the World." BBC - Homepage. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: The Decipherment of Hieroglyphs." BBC - Homepage. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

"Important | Definition of Important at Dictionary.com:." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

"Important - definition of important by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia." Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .

"The Invention of the Wheel." Inventors. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

"National Geographic: Egypt Pyramids--Facts, Photos, Diagrams." National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

Image from: Wikimedia commons 

What is the Most Important Human-Created Artifact To You?

The oldest invention that has mattered to me is the invention of the pencil. Without the pencil we would have no written records of things that happened in our past and present. The pencil is a way of keeping data, a key part of education and a great resource used every day. It was invented in 1564 when a huge graphite mine was founded.  The graphite was sawed into rods and these rods were carved into wooden holders forming pencils.  The English were the ones producing these at first because they were the only ones with a pure graphite mine. Pencils have many uses and without them we would not know much that we know today. The pencil was what most people first used to learn to write and how many key events were kept track of. Without a pencil in life many things would not occur.  

Source: "Invention of the Pencil - EnchantedLearning.com." ENCHANTED LEARNING HOME PAGE. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .

Image Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pencil.jpg 

Mummification- Pixton Comic

http://pixton.com/comic/fdzxcxod 
"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Ancient Egypt and the Modern World." BBC - Homepage. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .
"BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: Mummy Maker." BBC - Homepage. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .

Pyramids of Egypt

Pyramids were the greatest testaments. Many Egyptians believed when the pharaoh died they became the king of the dead. The new pharaoh would become god of the heavens. This cycle would keep occurring. The pharaoh’s spirit remains with his body. If the corpse didn’t have proper care then the pharaoh would not be able to be the king of dead and this would ruin the cycle. This is why the pharaoh would be mummified, to keep it in good care so it could fulfill its duties. Egyptians built tombs, sometimes pyramids and sometimes not. These were used to protect the pharaoh’s soul. The pyramids were modeled on the benben which symbolized the rays of the sun. This is because it was said that pharaohs reached the heavens from sunbeams.  Workers of the pharaohs were the ones who built the pyramids, not slaves or foreigners. People found graffiti that showed that some of them actually liked their work.  It took them a lot of time and work to create these. Many workers would work on one pyramid at a time because it was such a large job.  All of the people who helped even the slightest bit on building the pyramids helped keep the life and death cycle of the pharaoh running. 

"National Geographic: Egypt Pyramids--Facts, Photos, Diagrams." National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .
Image from: "File:All Gizah Pyramids.jpg -." Wikimedia Commons. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .