It was December 3, 2015, there were two thirteen year olds both in seventh grade, Taylor and Jacob. They were in Ms. McHugh’s history class and at the time. They were learning all about Ancient Greece. The class had to do a project about the democracy in Ancient Greece because Ancient Greece invented the democracy system. The driving question that they had to answer was “Is education essential for democracy?” “Ok class, let’s talk about the upcoming project. You have to answer the driving question using one of the six art forms. Your choices are Greek Tragedy (play), Greek Comedy (play), Epic Poem, Pottery, Myth (story about the Gods), or a speech. You are allowed to chose who you want to work with. You can either work with one other person of two others. No more than two.” Said Ms. McHugh Jacob and Taylor decided to work together on the project. “This is so hard. I don’t understand how this system of democracy in Ancient Greece.” said Taylor “I know. This is impossible.” said Jacob There was only one more minute left in class. “Ok, don’t pack up yet. We still have to do character points.” said Ms. McHugh Taylor and Jacob were obviously stressed out about this project and then the bell rang. “Thank you class!” yelled Ms. McHugh “Thank you Ms. McHugh.” said one student “THANK YOU CLASS!!!!” yelled Ms. McHugh louder “Thank you Ms. McHugh!” said four other students The next day in history, the two were still stumped because they did not understand how the system of government worked. Taylor raised her hand for Ms. McHugh’s help. “What do you need?” questioned Ms. McHugh “We don’t understand how the democracy works in Ancient Greece.” said Taylor “Start off with finding what democracy is, like the definition of democracy.” said Ms. McHugh Ms. McHugh walked away because another group needed her help. “Hey! What’s that?” said Jacob “What’s what?” questioned Taylor “That purple seed. There are two of them.” informed Jacob Taylor picked up both seeds and handed one to Jacob and took the other one for herself. “Should we eat one?” questioned Taylor “Sure.” said Jacob Both of them ate the seed and suddenly they were transported to some weird ancient place. They landed on their face first on the ground. “Where, where are we?” said Taylor “I’m not sure.” said Jacob “Hey, are you guys ok?” said Achilles “No. We are kind of lost. Who are you?” said Jacob “Sorry. My name is Achilles.” said Achilles “Where are we?” questioned Taylor “You guys are in a place known as Ancient Greece. You arrived just in time. Tomorrow is the day of the big voting for who our representative is going to be.” said Achilles “Hold up! Are you telling me Taylor and I are in Ancient Greece?” questioned Jacob “Yes. What are your names?” questioned Achilles “I’m Taylor and this is Jacob.” said Taylor “Taylor and Jacob! Those are some strange names. What are with your clothes?” said Achilles “Forget the clothes. We do not belong here. The last thing I remember is being in Ms. McHugh history class and we had to do research on the democracy of Ancient Greece but, we were so confused.” said Taylor “I will be your guide and your help. I can help you understand the democracy of Greece. Before we start though, we got to change your clothes or you’ll get judged.” said Achilles Taylor and Jacob accepted Achilles offer. Achilles explained the history of Greece and how it came to be. The three of them explored as far as they could through Ancient Greece. Taylor and Jacob were amazed by the sights they saw. They were going to be so educated and informed about Ancient Greece but they still needed more information about the democracy of Ancient Greece. “Any questions?” asked Achilles “Actually, yes. We still need information about how the democracy is ran here, who can vote, and what qualifications they have to have in order to vote.” said Jacob “Oh. I kind of got side tracked. Sorry. Only males in Ancient Greece were allowed to vote but males had to be 21 years or older to vote and speak. In Ancient Greece it doesn’t matter if you are rich or poor every man could vote. You had to be educated as a child (male) to be able to vote when you're 21. The Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced us a system of political forms that he called demokratia or “ruled by the people”. The system was comprised of three separate three institutions the ekklesia, a sovereign governing body that wrote laws and dictated foreign policy; the boule, a council of representatives from the ten Athenian tribes; and the dikasteria, the popular courts in which citizens argued cases before a group of lottery-selected jurors.” said Achilles “Thanks. DO you think that people have to be educated to vote regardless of the qualifications?” asked Jacob “Of course I do! You have to be educated to vote because you have to know who the best leader is for your country and you have to have some education in order to do so.” said Achilles “Thanks for your opinion.” said Jacob
Jacob and Taylor went to the election with Achilles. They still needed to find a way home though. They got here from a purple seed so maybe they needed a seed to get back home. “Thank you Achilles for all you have done.” said Jacob and Taylor “No problem.” said Achilles Achilles walked away and went home. Taylor and Jacob decided to go to the food trading place and look for a purple seed to get back home. It has been hours and they have looked everywhere for it and they couldn’t find it. Taylor had an idea that the seeds might be where they landed when they came to Ancient Greece. They ran to the spot where they landed and there were the two purple seeds. They both ate one immediately and they were right back in Ms. McHugh’s history class. It was like time has frozen since they left. “Ms. McHugh! You will not believe where we have been! yelled Jacob Taylor kicked Jacob in the leg. “I’m sorry, was that you’re leg?” questioned Taylor “Oh.” said Jacob “Anyway, the point is we understand all about Ancient Greece democracy. It just took a trip back in time.” said Taylor “Oh great.” said Ms. McHugh Taylor and Jacob fully understood the democracy system of Ancient Greece and they got full points on the assignment. They made a sculpture of Achilles reading a scroll and wrote a speech.