Geography of Ancient Greece From The World by Scott Foresman

Sports and Culture  1600 BC  Inside palace walls, there is a large courtyard. Within that courtyard, a young teenage girl stands getting ready to participate in bull leaping.  The bull charges and the girl jumps on the bull’s back standing up and grabbing his horns.  She jumps into the arms of another teammate

Mountainous Land  Greece unlike other civilizations did not have fertile soil as a result of being located by a river.  The land was rocky and mountainous.  Mountains did not allow for farming and they separated people.  Greece was not united due to the landscape.  The Balkan Peninsula extends into the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Greece is on the southern part of the peninsula.

 Greek-speaking people lived on the islands in the Aegean Sea which separates Greece from the western edge of Asia known as Asia Minor.  The Ionian Sea on the west separates Greece from Italy.  To the south, the Mediterranean Sea links Greece with Asia, North Africa and the western part of Europe.  Greece is surrounded by many different cultures.  Surrounded by water and harbors

 “Like Frogs around a pool, we are settled down upon the shores of this sea.” –Plato  Sailors and traders  Main crops grapes, olives, grains  Trade allows for exchange of ideas  Greek alphabet, coins  Lowlands fertile good for farming, hills animals graze.

Independence  Difficult to unite everyone under one government  Same language and religion.  Mountains made travel from one region to another difficult.  Independent communities grew into cities.  Each city had its own way of doing things.

Climate  Climate allowed for outdoor activities  Markets or agoras: men shop women retrieve water from fountains  Open air theaters, religious services, political meetings  Sports and athletics (Olympics)

Two Early Civilizations  People settled in islands of Aegean Sea.  Crete island in the Mediterranean Sea  2500 BC had a written language  Weave cloth, made pottery and jewelry  First civilization was Minoans  Participated in bull jumping  Controlled trade within islands of Aegean Sea  Traded food, pottery with Egypt and Syria  By 1600 BC powerful in Aegean islands and peninsula of Peloponnesus  Minoans ships patrolled seas and protected from invaders  Grew weak, historians not sure why

Mycenae  About 2000 BC groups migrated to Greek mainland  Communities grew into cities  Cities grew into city-states  Each had their own lifestyle  Mycenae was most powerful  Replaced Crete as the center of civilization.  Defend against any attack  Walls were 20ft thick  Ships captured other cities  Plunder –valuables seized in wartime  Plunder probably led to famous war included in legends.

Geography Discussion Questions  Discuss how the geography of Greece influenced its civilization.  What was the Minoan civilization?  What are three seas that border Greece?  What effect did mountains have on the people of Greece?  Challenge Question: Describe the importance of the sea to the people of Greece.