Download The Geography and Early Cultures of Ancient Greece

The Geography and Early
Cultures of Ancient Greece
Crucible of Civilization
Geography
• Greece has several
peninsulas
– Peloponnesus
and Balkan the major
ones
• Mainland Greece was 75%
mountains
– Separated different city-states
from each other
• Helped city-states gain individuality
(different governments)
• BUT, it hurt their ability to work
together
• Each city-state thought it was better
than the others
– Greece lacked enough
agricultural output to support its
population
• BECAUSE: Only 20% of the land
was arable (farmable) due to the
mountains
– overpopulation led to the Greeks
colonizing new lands for farming
AND the expansion of trade
• Greece had MANY
waterways
– seas, straits, islands, harbors
• Dardanelles
– Strait that connects the
Aegean Sea to the Black Sea
• Strait: thin area of water
connecting two other
waterways
• The large amount of water affected Greece
– Caused them to trade primarily by water
• Profitable trade through the Mediterranean,
Aegean, and Ionian Seas
• Early on, Greeks shifted from an economy based
on barter to one based on money, making trade
even easier.
Processing
• How did the water in and around Greece
affect the lives of the people living there?
Give at least two examples.
• How did the mountains affect the people
of Ancient Greece? Give at least two
examples.
Rise of the Greek City-State
• Mycenaeans form the first major citystate, or polis
• Dorians come later and Greece declines
• Around 750 BCE, the polis reforms and
people are more connected to their
community than their country
Early Cities
• Early cities focused on two ideas:
– Promoting civic participation
• Getting citizens (free-born men) involved in decisions
of city
• Women, foreigners, and slaves had no political rights
– Promoting commercial/business life
• Getting people to trade products/ideas
• A city-state is known as a polis
– Polis: city and surrounding countryside
• Ex—Washington DC and its suburbs
– Agora: city center—like business district
– Acropolis: fortified (protected) area of city
• Not all had one
• Some cities put agora in acropolis
• Agora:
– Place for discussion and trade
– Men met for food, clothes, ideas
– Women rarely seen
• Acropolis:
– Used for protection and as a sign of power
– Made it easy to see oncoming attackers
– Place for royalty, women, and children to hide
during war
The Polis
• Made up of
the main city
and its
surrounding
countrysides
(villages)
– Usual size
ranged from
50-500
square feet
– Usually had
less than
20,000
people
Ways to Rule the Greek Polis
• Different Government Options
– Monarchy- ruled by a King
– Aristocracy- ruled by a small group of
landowning people
– Oligarchy- ruled by a few powerful people
• Was created when merchants/artisans disliked the
rule of the aristocracy
• They decided to rule together instead
– Representative governments began in a few
cities
Early polis in Ancient Greece
• Athens
• Sparta
• Corinth
Athenian Acropolis
• Fortified hilltop for protection
– Walls are the mountain its built on—marble
Protecting the Polis
• Armies used to protect the polis, citizens
were expected to make up the army
• Weapons of the Greek armies
– Early armies used bronze weapons, only the
rich could afford them
– Iron weapons were then invented, iron was
cheaper and stronger
• Footsoldiers become the new style of fighting
instead of chariots etc.
– Equipped with an iron spear and long shield
• Footsoldiers would standing next to each other
– Phalanx- long lines of soldiers line up for battle
– Considered to be the most powerful fighting force in
the ancient world
The Early People of Greece
• Indo-Europeans
– Mycenaeans ruled
from 2000 BCE-1200
BCE
• Name came from city:
Mycenae
• Cities included Athens
and were ruled by
kings (monarchy)
– Trojan War weakens
Mycenaens and
causes collapse
Trojan War
• 1200 BCE: Mycenaean Kings fought 10
year war against Troy (located in Anatolia)
• According to legend, Paris, a Prince of
Troy, stole Helen, the wife of a Mycenaean
King , away starting the war
• Dorians move in after Mycenaeans
– Less advanced--little writing
– After Dorians, Greeks split into city-states
Epics of Homer
• Because the Dorians lost the
skill of writing, the Greeks
learned about the Trojan
War through oral traditions
• Homer: blind storyteller who
wrote epic poems of the
Trojan War
– The Iliad: The Trojan War
Scenes from “Troy”
The Fight Scene
Priam and Burial rites
– The Odyssey: Odysseus’ 10
year journey home