In this lesson you will:

• explore the contributions of Greek civilization.

• read a Greek myth.

• discover the first steps in the evolution

of human-powered flying machines.

• appreciate how a writer was fascinated

by flight.

Ancient Greek civilization was

the most influential the world

has ever known. Many aspects

of it: its art, its philosophy, its

drama, its educational system

and its values are prominent

in our culture.

Some of the words we use

today are based on Greek

civilization.

Take for example the phrase

“The Midas Touch”.

The Greeks were the first

people in ancient times who

thought and acted much like us.

They were very curious and

thought about almost every

subject. They also had a strong

individualistic spirit, and would

not accept any law, rule or fact

just because somebody "said

so ".

Some of the Greeks' most

interesting ideas appeared in

their

mythology, which usually

mirrored Greek society.

The myths' main purpose was

to

explain the wonders of the

world.

Let’s go to the

Webster Dictionary

to find a definition

for the word

“myth”.

The first man to fly,

according to Greek

mythology, was the skilled

Athenian craftsman and

inventor Daedalus.

Daedalus was an architect

and inventor who designed

the

Knossos labyrinth for Minos,

the cruel king of Crete. The

Crete civilization existed from

the end of the 3rd millennium

BC., reaching its peak about

1600 BC.

3000bc____1600BC____AD- birth of Christ

BC means before the birth of Christ

AD means after date, Anno Domini

The labyrinth was built as a

prison for all the King’s

enemies. They had to face the

Minotaur, a man-eating monster

that was half

man and half bull.

The labyrinth was so skillfully

designed that anyone who

entered could not find his way

out. Thus, no one could escape

from the Minotaur. Daedalus,

however, revealed the secret of

the labyrinth to Ariadne, Minos’s

daughter, so that she could help

her lover Theseus kill the

Minotaur and escape.

Angered by the escape,

Minos imprisoned Daedalus

and his son Icarus in the

labyrinth. Daedalus made

two pairs of wings out of

feathers, sticks and string so

that they could both fly out.

Icarus, however, flew too

close to the sun. His wings

melted and he fell into the

sea. Daedalus flew to Sicily,

where he was welcomed by

King Cocalus.

1.Daedalus was an inventor. Y/N

2.Daedalus designed a monster.

Y/N

3.Minos put his enemies in

prison

with the Minotaur. Y/N

4.Daedalus killed the Minotaur.

Y/N

5)Daedalus and his son were put

in prison for helping Theseus

escape. Y/N

6)Daedalus made wings so that

he

could fly out of the labyrinth.

Y/N

Thousands of years after it

was first told, the story of

Daedalus and Icarus still

stirred the imaginations of

those who explored the

mysteries of flight.

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-

1519), who lived about

2500 years after the

ancient Greeks, was also

fascinated with flight.

Leonardo da Vinci left

over 500 sketches and

35,000 words in

manuscripts devoted to

flying machines, bird

flight and the properties

of air flow. Yet, he had no

influence on the

development of human

flight.

Which of the many of Da

Vinci’s inventions are

connected with flight?

These are examples

of his flight sketches.

Ironically enough Da Vinci

had no influence on the

development of human

flight.

His life was filled with

ironies.

While some people worked

on wings, others had taken

to the air in an entirely

different way - in balloons.

In the eighteenth century a

book on the properties of

newly discovered gases

gave the Frenchman Joseph

Montgolfier the idea that

bags of gas might rise in the

air.

What gave Montgolfier theidea that he could develop

aflying machine?

1. the discovery of new

gases

2. the balloons he read

about

3. a book about air

Hot – air balloons

inspired the

imagination of

writers as well.

“Around the World in Eighty

Days”

by Jules Vernes (1828-1905),

is a novel about the

adventures of Phileas

Fogg

and his servant

Passepartout.

One day, while Phileas Fogg

is with some friends, he

reads in a newspaper that it

is possible to travel around

the world in eighty days

and bets them that

he could make the

journey

in that time.

One of the means of

transportation he and his

servant use on their

journey

is a hot-air balloon.

Who traveled in a hot-air balloon?

1. Jules Vernes and his

servant

2. Passerpartout and

Fogg

3. Fogg and Vernes

Jules Vernes is a well

known author.Let’s find

out some details about

his life and write his

biography.

The modern hot air balloon

is made up of three main

parts:

the envelope,

the basket,

and the burner.

The envelope is the colorful

“balloon” part and is sewn into

many patterns, geometric

designs and custom shapes. The

wicker basket (sometimes called

the “gondola”) is tightly woven

so that it will not get caught on

tree branches or entangled in

power lines.

When Jules Verne wrote this

book, he probably had no idea

about how much the world

would advance. Today, with

the technology we have, we

can physically travel around

the world in about a day.

Man has wondered

about the possibility of

flight for thousands of

years. Ancient myths,

songs, poetry and books

have been written to

describe the “flights of

imagination.’’

In this lesson

you have gone through a

timeline from 3000BC to

1900AD, discovering the

world of flight in people’s

imaginations.

Daedalus built the maze1. because the king asked him to.2. to make it difficult for prisoners to

escape.3. both 1 and 2

Leonardo da Vinci • had no influence on the development

of human flight.• had a tremendous influence on the

development of human flight.• had a partial influence on the

development of human flight. 

The ancient Greeks were very different from our society. - False

 Myths were created to explain the

wonders of the world. - True 

It takes at least 2 days to travel around

the world. - False

 

 

True or

False

End of ”Flight” part one.