summer+project......+anna+melone

Hey anna, it is really good!!!! they only thing that i really see is u should indent your paragraphs. thats it!!!!!

Pearls in Ancient Greece Throughout ancient cultures, ordinary objects have been seen as powerful treasures. Foods, sculptures, and jewelry are all examples of this. In ancient Greece, pearls were used to explain the gods, astrology, and the union of marriage. When the Greeks claimed victory against the Persians they gained access to the magnificent treasures of Asia, and these exotic gems flowed into Greece. Soon after discovering the value of the pearl, tons of natural oyster beds began being harvested for pearl collecting in the salt waters of Persia, and fresh water pearls were brought from China. The pearl quickly gained enormous value, with only the most important people, such as emperors and high priests, being able to wearing them. At one point, the pearl was more valuable than any other jewel or precious metal; one pearl could fund the building of an entire city! Pearls also had a lot of value in a very different way. In Greek mythology, the goddess of love, Aphrodite, was known as the pearl of the sea by her followers. Pearls and other gems were said to be a symbol of the goddess; gold, silver, sapphire, jade, and copper are just a few examples. Also, pearls were thought to be tears of joy shed by Aphrodite; because of this, pearls supposedly held all the charms of the love goddess. Some people say she was the original “Golden Girl”. In the painting “The Birth of Venus”, Aphrodite is shown coming out of the sea in a clam shell making her the “pearl”. Plato used the pure color and perfect shape of the pearl to describe the union of man and women; this is known as the “spherical man”. Plato believed that this was the ultimate human being that had complete knowledge of the universe. It was said that pearls had hidden powers; people wore pearls in search of these hidden powers. Greek men wore a pearl earring on their right ear to symbolize that they had a rank; while the women wore a string of pearls around their neck. Also pearls were giving as bridal gifts to bring love and happiness into the home; the pearls had absolute beauty in them. If the bride wore pearls on her wedding day it was said that she wouldn’t shed a tear throughout the day. Hymen, the Greek god of marriage, was said to carry a strand of pearls, to represent the bond between the heart and mind. In the ancient world, because of their characteristics of purity, pearls were thought to protect against evil. The association of the pearl with the gods helped to start the first great demand of pearls. Empires across Europe and Asia, like the Romans and Persians, soon had great demands for these beautiful gems. Many people started to buy pearls, which helped Greece boom financially, with them being able to trade large amounts of pearls to other countries. Greece’s location in the world helped it to grow to a prosperous nation. The longitude of Greece is 38 degrees 00 feet north; the latitude is 023 degrees 44 feet east. The capital of Greece is the city of Athens. In the winter the average climate is 10 degrees Celsius or 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Greece is great for people who love the sun with an average temperature of 24 degrees Celsius or 75 degrees Fahrenheit. They usually have hot dry summers and moderate winds. Their winters are mild and damp with cold winds from the east but dry warm winds from the south. In the west coast of Greece the annual rainfall is 1,300 millimeters and on the east coast its 406 millimeters. During the winters the low- pressure system reaches Greece from the North Atlantic; while in the summer the low pressure system is much less. Greece’s climate is a lot different than ours climate here in America. In conclusion, Greece has lots of interesting facts about their history.