Monday, March 14, 2011

Notes on Greece

Geography of Greece

  • Mountainous Peninsula: Mountains Cover 3/4 of land
  • Approximatively 1,400 islands in the Aegean and Ionian Seas
  • Location Shaped it's culture 
  • Skilled Sailors
  • Poor Natural Resources
  • Difficult to unite the Ancient Greeks because of the terrain; developed small independent communities.
  • Approximatively 20 percent suitable for farming
  • Fertile Valleys cover a quarter of the peninsula
  • Because of geography the Greeks diet consists of grains, grapes, olives
  • Lack of resources most likely led to Greeks colonizations
  • Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer.
Mycenaens:
  • Began around 2000 b.c.
  • Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft wall.
  • Mycenaen kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 B.C.
  • 1400 B.C. Mycenaens invaded 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, and Writing disappeared for 400 years.
Homer and Myths 
  • Only stories were kept and 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 probably one of the last conquests Mycenaens.

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