Welcome to History with Mr. Sage! [open]

[Alexandre Sage]

Alexandre Sage. Alex for short. He'd gone to this very school years ago, learning how to survive in the mortal world. Now, he had been honored with a teaching job and he was determined to drill some knowledge into these kids. Well, maybe not with a strict, learn-something-or-else attitude, but he still wanted to teach the students about the past. Instead of hammering it into them, however, he wanted to get the kids interested in the history. He wanted them to learn by themselves.

Perhaps if he was kind to them and encouraged them by letting them goof off in class. That would surely get them to learn. IT may not sound like it but in the long run it seemed pretty genius. You see, Alex saw it as a way to get the kids to realize he wasn't going to carry them along. He'd help them with anything they may not understand and answer any questions they may have, but he wasn't about to give away good grades. They'd have to earn those.

He'd been teaching since the beginning pf the semester so it's not like he was completely new. The students knew him and he knew the students. The bell rang and he checked the class for attendance. Everyone was here who was supposed to be here - good. No skippers. Now, to begin.

"Okay, who's ready for some history? No one? Well, history's like your vegetables - you don't want 'em but your gonna get 'em anyways!" he said in an energetic, joking tone. "Now, we left off, yesterday, by finishing up with the Romans. Bye-bye Rome for the rest of the semester! Hello, main course! Today, we'll be starting with Greece. Namely, Athens - it's capital."

He decided he'd begin the class by asking a simple question, tying in the so-called 'mythology' of Greece with it's history. "Now, who can tell me who the patron god or goddess of the city of Athens was? One thing about his questions: if no one volunteered to answer them, he'd call on someone random to answer it for him. If they got it wrong, he may or may not call on someone else. His teaching methods could be a bit sporadic and unpredictable, but it usually kept the kids on edge and that was a good thing. Edgy kids pay more attention!

[sabrina]

Sabrina sat in the second row, close by the window. At the beginning of the semester, she’d been uncertain whether to sit up front for the teacher to notice her, or to pick a seat in the back where she wouldn’t bring attention to herself. In the end, she’d compromised with finding a place in the second row. Plus, it provided a nice view of the academy’s courtyard. The grass had been freshly cut, maybe a few days again, and the morning dew broke into dazzling colors as the sunlight hit it.

Usually not fully awake in the mornings for the daughter of Apollo had difficulty sleeping, Sabrina tended to stay silent and maybe catch a few more z’s before the teacher started asking questions. But in Mr. Sage’s class—she called him Mr. Sage for politeness, though he didn’t seem like he would mind if the students just called him Alex—letting her attention drift off, even for a few seconds, was not something she could afford. To sum up her history teacher’s personality in one word, she would have to say unpredictable. She never knew when he could suddenly snap a question in the midst of all the talking. If she failed to listen carefully, she couldn’t risk making a fool of herself and attracting attention from the students.

Rubbing her droopy hazel eyes when Mr. Sage had started talking, Sabrina propped her head up on her elbows, blinking vigorously in attempt for the tendrils of drowsiness to leave her alone. As much as she disliked the sudden loud voices cutting into her mind in the morning, Sabrina had to smile a little at Mr. Sage’s enthusiasm everyday. While most teachers would bore you to sleep, droning on and on with their long lectures, Mr. Sage knew how to crack some jokes, but it was dangerous to underestimate him. As easy-going as he was, he wouldn’t hand out the answer sheets to tomorrow night’s homework for the stress of grading the papers the next day, so you had to listen.

Athens. At least she wasn’t completely clueless about this. Although she lacked most of the knowledge and experience as a demigod than some of the campers, the Greek myths had once been Sabrina’s favorite topic, and would spend hours researching and reading the legends. Now that they weren’t myths anymore, she didn’t like them as much, fearing she could find something she really didn’t want to know.

Sabrina raised her hand. “Athena, after a competition with Poseidon.” Now that she’d gotten started, the memories of the stories had come flowing back, and she mentally sighed in relief. This was one unit she would ace.

[Alexandre Sage]

Alex nodded, smiling. "Yes, Athena. Some books refer to her as Athene. Goddess of Wisdom and War Strategy. As the story goes, both Athena and Poseidon wanted to be the patron god of a small but growing city in upper Greece. The two of them decided to have a competition and let the citizens of the new city decide who to worship above all gods. Athena came down from the heavens and sprouted an olive tree in the very middle of town. The people thanked her as they loved the olives."

"However, Poseidon rose from the sea and came upon a dry hill. There, he threw his trident into the Earth and from it came a large, beautiful spring for the people of Athens to drink from. The citizens rejoiced! ...until someone tasted the water only to find it was salty and undrinkable. Because of that flaw, they chose Athena over Poseidon."

He was done with the historical part you might find in a textbook at a mortal school. Now, it was time to show proof of the gods' existence by explaining the aftermath. "Because the Athenians worshiped Athena, they named their city after her and, in the many years to come, they were to experience great technological advances and be the city of great philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle as well as, of course, Socrates. They went on to become the first city to use true democracy on a large scale. However, they had angered Poseidon. As a punishment, throughout Athens' city-state history, their navy often suffered great losses at sea thanks to the god of the oceans - Lord Poseidon. Personally, I'd rather be dumb than drown but, hey, that's just me. Moral of the story? If your ever stuck in a godly competition, just say both gods did a heck of a job and call it a draw!" Yeah, one day he'd anger the gods enough to kill him thanks to his jokes but, until that day came, he'd keep making fun of each and every one of them, including dear old dad.

"That olive tree, by the way, burnt down sometime in the 2nd century AD but a new one sprouted from its ashes," he added. "You may want to take out your notebooks and take some notes, now, because I'm going to start going into ramble mode. Feel free to interrupt," he joked. The kids knew to ask questions. Giving the students a moment to get their notebooks, he began. "Now, it is thought that Athens first came into existence as early as 7000 years ago. It was originally ruled by kings and who headed an elite group of nobles who helped run the city. During this time, much of the area around Athens became enveloped in its growing empire. One reason for the city's success in its early days was thanks to little to no threat of invasion from the Dorians. Dorians were first recorded inhabiting the island of Crete. They came to eventually control most of southern Greece. But they're not invading Athens. Also, Attica - the area around Athens - came under Athenian rule early and Athens made all of the Attics Athenian citizens." He continued to ramble on about the early history of Athens, knowing that his students would ask a question if they had one. He wouldn't yell at them for interrupting or anything, he'd answer the question and maybe even elaborate on his answer.

The information he gave could have gaps in it, at times, but he would make note of it and keep anything he left out out of any tests unless it was absolutely important, in which case he'd backtrack and add the information in.

[sabrina]

[Sorry for the late reply! D:]

When Mr. Sage nodded at her correct answer, Sabrina smiled back and kept her head propped up, but her hazel eyes started to flutter shut again. She already knew this stuff, so a small nap wouldn’t hurt, but dozing off during class wasn’t the politest thing to do at the academy, so she forced herself to sit up straight and look at Mr. Sage. A quick sweep around the classroom at the other students showed that some of them too were fighting an internal battle not to drift off. Sabrina regretted paying attention when Mr. Sage launched into a description of Athena and Poseidon’s competition, explaining why Athena was favored over Poseidon in the Athens. After trying to stay awake for so long, she couldn’t fall asleep again, no matter how she tried, so she was stuck listening to his lecture. Sabrina settled with staring outside the window again, trying to catch a glimpse of the world beyond the black bridge, the gateway between reality and the ‘safe’ asylum for kids like her.

She was closed away at Silver Creek Academy, like a princess in a tower, but it felt like the isolation was for the safety of the world than for her. Here, the monsters wouldn’t follow her, the staff had told her, here, the Mortals would be safe. Sabrina resented her foster mother, resented herself, for not telling her about her real parentage and not leaving her family quickly enough. If they’d only come a bit sooner, maybe Rosemary would still be alive. No, Sabrina knew her sister would still be alive this moment if she had left for the school or the camp sooner. The daughter of Apollo felt like a prisoner here, stuck behind the stone walls, but freedom was a small thing to give up for the lives of the ones she loved. They never consulted her about her opinion, she had just been told to obey the directions. Now, she didn’t really care where anyone placed her. She had nothing left, except for the few friends she’d made at the academy. It was all fake anyways—no one knew her except for Pyre, and even he was beginning to feel distant these days. Did she even have a future outside of these barriers? Sabrina was reminded of Ariel, who longed to walk on land. But this was different—she belonged outside with all of the other mortals, right? This prison wasn’t her home, but honestly, Sabrina didn’t know where her home was now. For once in her life, she felt lost and not in control of her own life, being directed around like a small pebble in the lapping waves of change. Wherever the current flowed, she would follow. Sabrina hated being a demigod.

Jolted out of her wistful thinking at the sound of papers rustling, Sabrina wearily reached into the desk to take out her notebook, and flipped to the next blank page and titled it in block letters, “ATHENS NOTES,” in her small, neat handwriting. Everyday was the same, and frankly, life at the academy was getting old. As Mr. Sage spoke, Sabrina scribbled down key terms and details, but notes only occupied your hands, not your mind.

[Alexandre Sage]

Alex looked around the room and continued to talk about the early history of Athens. Their agricultural development as well as their trade and conquests. He added in hints of the gods every now and then, but would get to the religion, later. "After the Persian Wars, Athens had most of northern Greece and the Turkish coastline under their rule. However, many of the other territories formed the Peloponnesian League - a coalition of empires and city-states led by none other than the Peloponnesian Superpower - Sparta." He made the word 'Sparta' sound magnificent and over-the-top.

"Sparta declared war on Athens and, because of lack of unity and a plague in the second year of the war, among other things, Sparta reigned victorious and the war marked the end of the Athenian Empire. Of course, Athens would rise, again, briefly, but it would never shine as it did, before." Beginning to walk around the room, as he could never simply stay in one place, Mr. Sage went on. "Now, more about this plague. This illness was called the 'Plague of Athens' as it most notably affected Athens and not many other cities in Greece. Some claim it the work of the gods though, to this day, no god has ever admitted to it and claimed the plague as their own work. They say the disease began in Ethiopia. It then spread to Egypt and Libya and, subsequently, to the Greek World. It took hold of Athens with an iron grip and didn't let go until about one third of the population was dead." Pausing for a moment, he added, "Now you may think 'well, that isn't too bad. More than half survived, right?' Wrong. Well... right, but still wrong! Let's put things into perspective for you. Say we were in a war against another class with the same number of students with the same powers and capabilities as us. Now, the plague hits and one in every three people are dead. Do you think we could still take on that other army? Because of this, the Spartans came out victorious. Any questions?" He decided to double-check to see if anyone had a question that he hadn't noticed or someone hadn't spoken up or anything. After all, he'd been on a roll for a while.