Greece is the most influential ancient civilization in Western history. The modern country of Greece is located in the Southern Balkan region in Europe. It’s an extremely mountainous area with most cities built in the coastal areas. Greece also has many islands and the Ionian region of ancient Greece, now in modern-day Turkey, contained the most creative people of the Old World. 

For instance, Homer was an Ionian bard who wrote the two epic poems, “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” Part myth, part history, “The Iliad” was about the Trojan War, a conflict between the city of Troy, in modern-day Turkey, and the Greek city of Sparta along with her allies. The war began when King Menelaus of Sparta married a woman named Helen, who was thought to be the most beautiful mortal woman on earth. Paris of Troy coveted Menelaus’ wife and finally decided to steal her for himself. After the kidnap, Menelaus called other Greek warriors to help him to retake his wife.

After 10 years, the war was won when the Greeks sent a giant horse, which was thought to be a peace offering, to the city gates of Troy. The Trojan soldiers took it inside the gates thinking it was a gift. While the city slept, Greek soldiers who were hiding inside the horse jumped out, razing and destroying the city completely. Afterwards, Helen was returned home and Troy was occupied. 

“The Odyssey” is another myth about the Trojan War that was also written by Homer. This story was not about the actual war, but about the return home of a soldier named Odysseus after the conflict concluded. It had been years since the war had ended and Odysseus’ son and wife were worried. During his attempt to return home to his family, he had a myriad of adventures. Odysseus encountered many obstacles including a sorceress and the struggle of sailing past sirens, creatures that had voices that were so beautiful it would make someone go mad. He solved this problem by instructing his crew to tie him up until they passed the tricky creatures.

When he finally arrived home, the soldier found that his wife had remained faithful to him even though he had been away for a long time and a flock of different suitors had tried to take Odysseus’ throne by marrying his wife. Like an angry wolf protecting its pack, Odysseus killed all the suitors with the help of his son. 

Ancient Greece also had another bard named Virgil who wrote “The Aeneid.” About the founding and origins of Rome, the story focuses on a mythical man named Aeneas who’s trying to found a new Trojan nation after the fall of Troy. We can use this story to understand that Rome began around the same time as the fall of Troy to the Greeks. 

Let’s now move from literature to Greek government. There were four forms of Greek government: Anarchy, Oligarchy, Monarchy, and Democracy. Anarchy is lawlessness with little or no government. Oligarchy is rule by a few wealthy, powerful people. Monarchy is the rule of one king or tyrant. And finally, Democracy is rule by 51% of the voting population.

The creators of Greek law were two tyrants. Draco wrote the law and Solon reformed them. In Greek times the word tyrant didn’t mean a brutal oppressor like it does today; instead, it just meant a king or ruler.

Athens was the first city to use Democracy as a form of government and Cleisthenes introduced it. Democracy consists of two Greek words, demos and kratos, meaning people and rule. Under Democracy, the government was divided into two branches, the Assembly and the Council. The Assembly voted on proposals the Council made. If a council didn’t serve the people, they would be banished for 10 years. Only free men were allowed to vote in the Assembly.  

As you can understand, Greece was a highly important and impactful civilization. We can thank Greece for creating the basis of our government and largely affecting our literature and even architecture today.

For 120 years, the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah were one nation. After the reign of King Solomon in 930 BC, they split into Israel, which contained the 10 northern Jewish tribes, and Judah, which housed the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were the descendants of David.

The first king of Judah was Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, who wasn’t exactly a great ruler. He went to war with Egypt and Israel during the 17 years of his kingship. The first king of Judah to be remembered as a benevolent king was Asa, who ruled from 911-870, a total of 41 years.

Two kings later a man named Jehoram came to the throne in 848. He married a pagan named Athaliah. They had a son named Azahiah, who became king after his father in 841, but after ruling just one year, he and his father were assassinated by King Jehu of Israel during a visit there. When hearing of the death of her son and husband, Athaliah seized the throne and ordered the execution of all possible claimants to the throne, including the relatives of Azahiah and Jehoram. In Israel, King Jehu also ordered the execution of their descendants. After six years of her reign, Athaliah heard that her grandson, Joash, had survived the purge and been proclaimed king. While trying to stop the rebellion, she was captured and executed. Joash then became the next king in 835, ruling for 40 years.

After a mix of godly and wicked kings, Hezekiah came to the throne of Judah. Hezekiah is remembered as the most god-fearing and faithful king. For obeying God, Hezekiah was granted 15 extra years of life. After him, his son Manasseh became king. Sadly, he reversed the work of his father and reinstituted polytheistic religion. Fortunately, In his last years, Manasseh repented and tore down all the idols in the country. 

During the rule of King Zedekiah in 586, Judah fell to Babylon after the capital city, Jerusalem, was desecrated. The Jews were then taken into captivity by the Babylonians. 

Now let’s move north to Israel. The first king of Israel was Jeroboam, who ruled from 931-910. He instituted idol worship in the nation because he wished for Israel to be different from Judah, which worshiped God. Jeroboam’s sin resulted in God cursing his descendants. The curse stated that Jeroboam’s offspring would die painful deaths. His son Abijah, perished of an illness when Jeroboam was still king. Nadab, his second son, became king and ruled for two years until he was killed by Baasha, who became king next. A couple leaders later in 885, King Zimri ruled for only seven days and still managed to earn a reputation as a poor king before being replaced by Omri. 

After the 12 years of Omri’s rule, his son Ahab became king. He married the daughter of a priest of Baal named Jezebel. During his reign, Ahab desired to purchase a vineyard from its owner. As it was his livelihood, the owner had to deny the king. Angrily, Ahab ordered the man to be put to death. He then greedily took the field. Like Jeroboam, Ahab’s descendants were cursed by God with painful deaths. This was fulfilled when his son, Ahaziah, fell out of a window and again with his son, Joram, who was butchered by Jehu, the next king. Jehu then murdered all of Ahab’s remaining progeny.

Hoshea was the last king of Israel before the godless nation was invaded by Assyria in 722. He remained a puppet king until 712 when he was deposed. 

Throughout Israel’s existence, there was not a single king that consistently submitted God. In Judah, there was a mix of good and bad rulers, but the majority were still unfaithful. Israel fell before Judah in 722, while Judah fell in 586. Because Judah was more faithful, it lasted longer. This is also the case with kings. For instance, Hezekiah was blessed with more years because he agreed to God’s command. The other kings should’ve picked up on this, but instead both nations fell to different empires, scattering the Jews across the world. Disobedience leads to division, which leads to downfall.