Geography of Greece

Mountainous peninsula
- mountains cover 3/4
Approx. 1,400 islands in Aegean and Ionian Sea
Location shaped culture
Skilled sailors
Poor natural resources
Difficult unit of ppl, because of terrain.. they 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, olives
Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer

Mycenaean:
Began around 2000 B.C
Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall
Mycenaean kings dominated Greece form 1600 - 1200 B.C
- controlled trade in the region
Mediterranean = middle of the earth
1400 B.C Mycenaean invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language

Culture in Decline:
Around 1200 B.C. sea ppl began to invade Mycenae and burnt after palace
The Dorians moved into the war-torn region
-Far less advanced
- Economy collapsed
-Writing disappeared for 400 years
1200 - 800 B.C. = dark ages


Homer and Myths
Stores were passed on by word of mouth
Lived at the end of the "Dark Ages"
Recorded lived at the end of the Trojan War in the Iliad and the Odyssey (written 750 - 700 B.C)
- Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaean
- Odyssey was 12,100 lines of dactylic hexameter
Iliad = Epic Poem; story of the Trojan War

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