Topic: Geography of Classical Greece

EQ: How did the geography of Greece affect the development of Greek culture?

Bellwork: Set up your Cornell notes. Then, respond to the following question:Why might the sea have been important to the spread of

Greek culture?

In ancient times, Greece was not a united country. It was a collection of separate lands where Greek-speaking people lived. By 3000 B.C., the Minoans lived on the large Greek island of Crete. The Minoans created an elegant civilization that had great power in the Mediterranean world. At the same time, people from the plains along the Black Sea and Anatolia migrated and settled in mainland Greece.

Greece is surrounded by the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

Greece is comprised of a peninsula, a body of land surrounded by water on 3 sides, and an archipelago, a large group of islands

The seaways linked most parts of Greece, and sea travel linked Greece with other societies

Sea travel and trade were important, because Greece had few natural resources

¾ of Greece is covered in mountains, which divided the land into different regions

Because of the different regions, Greece developed small independent communities instead of one single government

Few roads existed, and the uneven terrain made land travel difficult

There was very little usable farmland or fresh water available for irrigation, so Greece never had more than a few million people at any given time

A desire for more space and farmland may be why Greeks wanted to colonize new areas

The climate in Greece varied between an average of 48 degrees in the winter and 80 degrees in the summer

Moderate outside temperatures allowed the Greek citizens to spend leisure time at outdoor public events

It also allowed people to meet outside to discuss public issues, exchange news, and take part in civic life

Respond to the following question, and be prepared to share. You do not need to write down the question, only your answer.

In what ways did Greece’s location by the sea and its mountainous land affect its development?

The city of Mycenae was settled around 2000 B.C.

The city was in southern Greece with a 20-foot thick protective wall

Mycenae was ruled by a warrior-king, who was also in control of the surrounding villages and farms

Around 1500 BC the Mycenaeans came into contact with the Minoans, who were strong in seaborne trade

Mycenaean trade spread through the Aegean islands, Anatolia, Syria, Egypt, Italy and Crete

The Minoans also influenced the Mycenaeans in writing and art, as well as Greek religious practice, politics, and literature

In the 1200s, the Mycenaeans fought a 10-year war against Troy, a trading city in Anatolia

Historians used to believe the Trojan War was fictional, but excavations in the 1870s revealed that some of the stories of the war might have been based on real events

Respond to the following question, and be prepared to share. You do not need to write down the question, only your answer.

How did contact with the Minoans affect Mycenaean culture?

Mycenaean civilization collapsed soon after the Trojan War, when their cities were burned and attacked by sea raiders

The Dorians moved into the countryside, and spoke a dialect of Greek, but were not as advanced as the Mycenaeans

The economy collapsed after the Dorians arrived, and the Greeks may have stopped written language as well

During the Dorian Age, Greeks learned history through spoken word

The greatest storyteller of the Dorian Age (and all of Greece) was a blind man named Homer

The Trojan War was the backdrop of his most famous epics (a narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds), the Illiad and the Odyssey

During the Dorian Age, the Greeks developed a set of myths, or traditional stories, about their gods

The works of Homer and another epic are the source of much of Greek mythology

The myths were how the Greeks sought to understand nature, the power of human passions, and events like the changing of seasons

The Greek gods had human qualities, but lived forever on Mount Olympus

The ruler of the gods was Zeus. His wife was Hera, and his favorite daughter was Athena, who was the goddess of wisdom

Athena was seen as the guardian of cities, especially the city of Athens, which was named in her honor

Respond to the following question, and be prepared to share. You do not need to write down the question, only your answer.

The Dorian period is often called Greece’s Dark Age. Why do you think this is so?

Go through your notes and underline or highlight main ideas, circle key terms, mark a star by other important information

Write your questions in the left-hand column

Summarize your notes at the end (answer the essential question)