Ancient Greece

Geography of Greece
Mountainous peninsula
-Mountains cover 3/4
Approximately 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
Location shaped its culture
Skilled sailors
poor natural resources
Difficult to unite the Ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small, independent communities
Approximately 20% suitable for farming
Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula
Because of geography the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives
Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
Temperatures range from 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer
Mycenaens
Began around 2000 B.C.
Located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall
Kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 B.C.
-Controlled trade in the region
1400 B.C. Mycenaens invade Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language
Culture in Decline
Around 1200 B.C. sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
The Dorians moved into the war-torn region
-Far less advanced
-Economy collapsed
-Writing disappeared for 400 years
Known as the Dark Ages of Greek History
Homer and Myths
Stories were passed on by word of mouth
Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Age"
Recorded stories of the Trojan War in The Iliad and The Odyssey written 750-700 B.C.
Trojan War was one of the last conquests of the Mycenaens
-Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter