Key Stage 2 history · World history

KS2 Ancient Greek influence on our world: a guide for parents

The third strand of the Ancient Greece study asks how Greek ideas have lasted and shaped the western world. Children look at democracy, the modern Olympic Games, the many English words with Greek roots, buildings, theatre, medicine and mathematics, and they learn to ask what has really changed, what has stayed the same, and how ideas travelled across centuries.

Greek influence on the western world, explained

The National Curriculum describes the study as one of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world. “Western world” here usually means Europe and the countries whose cultures grew from it, including Britain. Children are asked to see connections between the ancient past and their own lives, and also contrasts: something can be influenced by Greece without being the same as it. The questions of change, similarity, difference and significance run through this strand.

Democracy is the clearest example. The word comes from the Greek “demos” (the people) and “kratos” (power). In Athens, free male citizens met in an assembly and voted directly on laws. Britain today is a representative democracy: we elect people to make decisions on our behalf, and most adults can vote. So the idea is Greek but the system is different, and children are encouraged to notice both. Many schools also run a class vote or school council to make this concrete.

Language is another strong link. Many English words have Greek roots, including democracy, theatre, geography, history, philosophy, alphabet (from alpha and beta), telephone (“far sound”) and photograph (“light writing”). Greek letters are used in mathematics and science, such as the symbol pi. In sport, the modern Olympic Games were revived in 1896, in Athens, inspired by the ancient ones, though they are very different events. Greek columns appear on town halls, banks and courthouses, copied to suggest dignity and order.

Ideas did not simply pass down in a straight line. The Romans admired and copied Greek art, architecture and gods. Later, scholars in Baghdad translated many Greek books on science, medicine and mathematics into Arabic, and some were translated again into Latin in medieval Europe. From the 1300s, European artists and thinkers in what we call the Renaissance looked back to Greece and Rome for inspiration. Greek medicine and geometry were still being taught long after the ancient Greeks themselves had gone.

Teachers use this strand to practise historical thinking: building a claim and supporting it with evidence. It can also be a chance to challenge the idea that the west owes everything to Greece. Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China and the Islamic world also shaped science and learning, and the Greeks themselves borrowed widely. Which examples a school picks, whether language, sport, theatre or science, is its own choice.

Words your child will hear

Influence: The way one person, place or culture changes what comes after it.
Western world: Europe and the places whose cultures developed from it.
Democracy: Government in which citizens take part in decisions, directly or by electing others.
Legacy: What is passed on from the past and is still around today.
Root word: The older word that part of a modern word comes from.
Revive: To bring something back into use after it has stopped.
Continuity: Something staying the same over a long period of time.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 2 says:

Pupils should be taught about Ancient Greece – a study of Greek life and achievements and their influence on the western world
Pupils should note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.
Pupils should regularly address and sometimes devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference, and significance.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

A model answer: democracy then and now

Enquiry question: How similar is democracy in Ancient Athens to democracy in Britain today?

Choose what to compare: who could take part, how decisions were made, and who was left out.
Athens: free adult men from Athenian citizen families could vote in an assembly. Decisions were made by all citizens present voting directly. Women, enslaved people and foreigners could not vote.
Britain today: most adults can vote, both men and women. We usually elect representatives, who vote on laws on our behalf, although there are occasional referendums.
Name the similarities: the basic belief that people should have a say in how they are governed, and the word itself. Then name the differences: who can vote, and whether people vote directly or through representatives.
Write a conclusion that gives a balanced answer using the words “however” and “although”.

Democracy in Ancient Athens and democracy in Britain today share the idea that ordinary people should have a say in how they are governed, and the word democracy comes from Greek. However, they are very different. In Athens, only free men from citizen families could vote, and they voted directly on laws, whereas in Britain most adults can vote and we usually choose representatives to decide for us. So Greek ideas influenced us, although our democracy includes far more people and works in a different way.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking Athenian democracy was the same as ours

Because we share the word, children assume we share the system.

What helps: Use the two-column comparison. Ask: who could vote then? Who can now? How are decisions made? What has changed, and why does that matter?

Believing the ancient Olympic Games carried on unbroken until today

The two sets of Games share a name, so they look like one long story.

What helps: The ancient Games ended around AD 393, and the modern Games began in 1896. Put both on a timeline and ask what the gap tells us about “influence” and “revival”.

Thinking Greek ideas reached us directly from Greece to Britain

School topics often follow one civilization at a time, so the links between them go unnoticed.

What helps: Explain the route: Greeks, then Romans, then scholars writing in Arabic, then medieval Europe, then the Renaissance. Draw it as a chain of arrows.

“The western world comes from Ancient Greece and nowhere else.”

A topic about influence encourages looking for Greek links and ignoring other ones.

What helps: Ask what else shaped our world, such as Roman law, Christianity, Islamic scholarship, Egyptian mathematics, and Indian numerals. Influence usually has many sources.

How to help at home

Hunt for Greek words. Look at a few everyday words, such as telephone, photograph, dinosaur and geography. Break them into parts, and guess the meaning before checking in a dictionary.
Have a family vote. Take a real decision, like the weekend plan, and use a formal vote with a debate first. Afterwards, ask whether everyone felt heard, and how that might compare with Athens.
Column spotting walk. Walk around your town and photograph buildings with columns or triangular roofs above the entrance. Discuss why people chose to copy Greek styles for banks and courts.
Draw the chain. Make a chain of boxes with arrows showing how Greek learning reached us: Greece, Rome, Baghdad, medieval Europe, today. It makes clear that ideas travel and change on the way.
Compare then and now. Pick one thing, such as school, sport or voting, and write what has stayed the same and what has changed since Ancient Greece. Aim for at least two of each.

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: A significant society in world history