Geography Shaped Ancient Greek Life
ESSENTIAL QUESTION What were the main features of the geography of Greece?
The mainland of Greece sticks out into the Mediterranean Sea. It is a peninsula , a body of land that has water on three sides. Greece also includes thousands of islands. A gulf of water almost divides the Greek peninsula in two. The southern tip forms a second peninsula called the Peloponnesus (pehl•uh•puh•NEE•suhs). A narrow strip of land called an isthmus (IHS•muhs) links the Peloponnesus to the rest of Greece.
Landscape and Climate
Mountains cover 70 to 80 percent of Greece. The mountains divided it into many regions. The uneven landscape made transportation over land difficult. Greece had no large rivers on which people could travel. The rugged landscape made it hard to unite Greece under a single government. Greece has mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. In much of Greece, temperatures range from about 50°F in winter to 80°F in summer. The warm climate encouraged outdoor life. For example, outdoor athletic competitions such as races were an important part of Greek culture.
Land Use in Greece
Mountains cover 70 to 80 percent of Greece. As a result, only about 20 to 30 percent of Greek land was good for farming. Even so, the ancient Greeks found ways to make the best use of the land that they had.
• They grew grain on the few open plains. Olive trees grew
on the edges of those plains.
Agriculture
Greek land was rocky, so only about 20 to 30 percent of it was good for farming. Even so, more than half of all Greeks were farmers or herders. Most farmland was located in the valleys between mountains. In Greek society, landowners were part of the upper class. In general, only men owned property. A person who owned land could support himself. He had enough wealth to pay for equipment such as helmets, shields, and swords. This allowed him to serve in the army and defend his homeland. As a result, people respected landowners, who had a higher place in society than merchants or poor people. In order to get more farmland, the Greeks founded colonies in other regions. The western end of Anatolia had broad plains and rivers. The Greeks founded many colonies there.
Resources
The lack of farmland was not the only problem. Greece also lacked natural resources such as precious metals. The Greeks had to find those resources somewhere else. One resource that Greece did have was stone for building. Greece also had plenty of good sites for harbors.
Trade Helps Greece Prosper
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did the sea affect Greek life?
Just as rivers influenced other ancient cultures, the sea influenced Greece. Greece has a long coastline, and most places in Greece are less than 100 miles from the coast. In fact, many cities were built directly on harbors.
Highways of Water
Several seas played a major role in the life of ancient Greece. The largest was the Mediterranean Sea to the south. The Ionian and Aegean seas were branches of the Mediterranean. The Ionian Sea is west of Greece. The Aegean Sea is east of Greece. These "highways of water" linked most parts of Greece to each other. The Greeks used the seas as transportation routes.
A Seafaring People
The Greeks became skilled sailors and shipbuilders. They built rowing ships for fighting and sailing ships for trading. Some warships had two or three levels of oars on each side. Most sailing ships had a single mast and square sail. The Ionian and Aegean seas are not very large. Small ships could sail around them by staying near the coast or by sailing from island to island. Once the Greeks learned these routes, they could sail to other regions. The sea was a source of fish, an important part of the Greek diet. The Greeks traded fresh fish from the sea to local ports along the coast. The Greeks also dried some kinds of fish so that they could be transported over great distances.
Trade and Commerce
Greece did not produce much grain, but some regions produced surplus olive oil, wine, wool, and fine pottery. Greek city-states bought and sold surplus goods from each other. In addition, Greeks traded these items to other regions around the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, including Egypt and Italy. The main products that the Greeks bought were grain, timber for building, animal hides, and slaves. The Greeks also traded for nuts, figs, cheese, and flax, which was used to make linen.
The Earliest Greeks
ESSENTIAL QUESTION How did trade influence Greek culture?
The Greek culture of sailing and trading developed over thousands of years. The earliest Greeks had moved onto the Greek peninsula about 2000 B.C.
Mycenaean Civilization
The first Greek civilization was built on the Peloponnesus. It was named after its most important city, Mycenae (my•SEE•nee). A king ruled each city of Mycenaean Greece. The Mycenaeans were traders. Their culture featured writing, gold jewelry, bronze weapons, and fine pottery. Their civilization collapsed about 1200 B.C., perhaps because of invaders.
After the fall of the Mycenaeans, Greek culture declined. People no longer kept written records. Without such records, historians know little about the period from 1200 to 750 B.C.
New Advances in Greek Culture
In time, Greek culture made advances again. One reason for this is that the Greeks learned from other people, such as the Phoenicians (fih•NISHSH•uhnz). They were another important trading people, who lived on the coast of the eastern Mediterranean. By trading with other people, the Phoenicians spread their system of writing. It used 22 symbols to stand for sounds. Such a system of symbols is called an alphabet .
Alphabets
Writing systems change over time. The Greeks borrowed the Phoenician alphabet of 22 letters but wrote the symbols differently. Also, the Greeks added two letters. Since the time of ancient Greece, their alphabet has evolved into the one used in the United States today. American Sign Language is a language for the deaf that uses gestures to convey meaning. It includes an alphabet. The Greeks picked up the Phoenician alphabet between 900 and 800 B.C. They changed some letters to suit their language. The Greek alphabet later evolved into our own alphabet of twenty-six letters. The Greeks also learned about coins from trading with other peoples. Coins were invented about 650 B.C. in Anatolia. Most parts of Greece were making their own coins by 500 B.C. Eventually, the Greeks also developed new forms of literature and government.
Greece Activities
Athens World Wise Quiz (National Geographic)
Battle of Salamis: Game (British Museum)
Build a Greek Temple Online (British Museum)
Design a Greek Pot (www.schoolsliaison.org.uk)
Greece Challenge: Quiz (Time for Kids)
Greece Crossword Puzzle (http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill)
Greek Houses: Game (British Museum)
Greece Quiz (http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill)
Greek Vocabulary Olympics: Game (Scholastic)
Gods and Goddess Identification: Game (British Museum)
Gods and Goddesses Flash Card Games (Quizlet.com)
Greece Coloring Pages: Color online or print (www.onlinecoloring.com)
Greece Flash Card Games (Quizlet.com)
Learn the Greek Alphabet (PBS)
Learn to Speak Greek Phrases (Time for Kids)
Theater Masks: Project (www.activityvillage.co.uk)
Myth Brainstorming Machine: Write Your Own Myth (Scholastic)
Shipwreck: Game (British Museum)
Spartan Training Challenge: Game (British Museum)
Spartans: Wrath of the Titans: Game (www.game2kids.com)
Warriors-Fight a Spartan: Game (History Channel)
Greece Information
7 Wonders of the Ancient World (Mr. Donn)
A Day in the Life of a Greek Kid (Time for Kids)
Aesop's Fables (www.umass.edu/aesop/fables)
Aesop's Fables 1 (www.aesopsfables.com)
Aesop's Fables 2 (www.aesopsfables.com)
Aesop's Fables 3 (www.aesopsfables.com
Ancient Greece (British Museuml)
Ancient Greece (www.ancientgreece.com)
Ancient Greece for Kids (Mr. Donn)
Athenians vs Spartans (British Museum)
Athens Interactive Map (www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks)
Battle of Thermopylae (British Museum)
Classical Literature Biographies (ph.infoplease.com)
Famous Greeks (British Museum)
Flashcards: Greece (http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill)
Greece Information: Modern Day (DK password: onlineworld)
Greece Timeline (softschoosl.com)
Greek Names Pronunciation: Click "Homework Help" & "Pronunciation Guide" (mythman.com)
Map: Ancient Greece (http://glencoe.mcgraw-hill)
Map: Sightseeing Guide Interactive (Time for Kids)
Myths & Characters (factmonster.com)
Myths: Monsters in Greek Mythology (factmonster.com)
Mythology LOTS of information (http://www.theoi.com/)
Mythology Encyclopedia (ph.infoplease.com)
Odyssey Story (British Museum)
Odyssey Online: Lots of fun information (www.carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/GREECE/home.html)
Sparta: Story (British Museum)
Sparta: 8 Reasons It Wasn't Easy Being a Spartan (history.com)
Timeline of Ancient Civilizations (hyperhistory.com)
Greece Pictures
Athens City Life (National Geographic)
Getty Villa~Greek artifacts (See Rome page for Roman architecture at the Gettty Villa)
Greek Architecture (History Channel)
Santorini (National Geographic)
Greece Videos
Acropolis Deconstructed (History Channel)
Archimedes Screw: What the Ancients Knew (HSW)
Atlantis: Was Knossos Plato's Atlantis? (History Channel)
Atlantis Volcano Buried Egyptian City (National Geographic)
Battle of Marathon: Engineering an Empire (History Channel)
Battle of Marathon: Decisive Battles (YouTube)
Battle of Thermopylae: Last Stand of the 300 WHOLE MOVIE Rated PG (YouTube)
Getty Villa History (getty.edu)
Greek Gods: Overview (History Channel)
Odyssey: TED Ed Science behind the Odyssey (YouTube)
Olympia: Rick Steves (YouTube)
Parthenon: Secrets of the Parthenon PBS (YouTube)
Parthenon Marbles Battle (National Geographic)
Peloponnesian War Song (History Channel)
Persian Royal Road (History Channel)
Spartan Teacher Conference: Horrible Histories (YouTube)
*Spartan Boot Camp (History Channel)
*Spartans: Implements of Death (History Channel)
*Spartans Deconstructed (History Channel)
Theater Around the World (Artopia)
Theater as Medicine: What the Ancients Knew (HSW)
Trireme Replica Part 1: What the Ancients Knew (HSW)
Trireme Replica Part 2 Battering Ram: What the Ancients Knew (HSW)
Trojan War: Scene from Troy with Horse (YouTube)