Peloponnesian- little island

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
• A lot of people that didn’t get along
• Easier to get around with ships

Geography continued:

• Approximately 20 % of Greece is suitable for farming
• Fertile valleys cover 14 of peninsula

• Because of the geography (mountains) 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
• They don’t have to get use to different weather changes
• They don’t have massive snow storms, or a lot of rain
• They also eat grapes
• People were athletic, it was your responsible to keep yourself in shape
• Good wine makers
• Colonization- they colonized on the water and ocean

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 from 1600-1200 B.C.
• Controlled trade in the region

• 1400 B.C. Mycenaean's 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
• Writing disappeared for 400 years

• They were like body builders
• They are very big and get people away

• They didn’t know how to read or write
• They don’t trade, don’t interact with people

• They told stories but didn’t record anything else

Homer and Myths:

• Only stories were kept and passed on by word of mouth

• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"

• Recorded storied of the Trojan War in The lliad and The Odyssey (written 750-700 B.C.)
• Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans

• Homer was blind
• He wasn’t a rich man
• Wrote the two most good books people wanted to hear

Greek Concepts:

• Arête
• Virtue and excellence

• Epics
• Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds

• Myths were created to explain creating
• Zeus: leader of the gods
• Hera: Zeus' wife
• Athena: goddess of wisdom