1. Ancient Greek Geography
Ms. Engelberth

2. Predict: How will the geography of Greece will be similar to or different than other civilizations we have studied so far?

3. Essential Questions
How can societies of the past influence the present?
What factors lead to a civilization’s rise and decline?

5. What are the main factors of the geography of Greece?
The Greek mainland is a peninsula--a body of land with water on three sides—surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea
The southern tip is a second peninsula called the Peloponnesus
Greece also includes thousands of islands (only some of them inhabited)

6. What are the main factors of the geography of Greece?
Mountains cover 70-80% of Greece, which divides the land into regions
Mount Olympus

8. The Pindus Mountains
The main mountain range is the Pindus Mountains

9. How did those geographic factors affect Greece?
The rugged landscape and lack of large rivers made transportation hard
It also made it difficult to unite Greece under a single government
Each city-state thought of itself as its own “country”

10. How did the sea affect Greek life?
Highways of water
The Mediterranean Sea branched into Ionian Sea to the west and the Aegean Sea to the east
The seas linked most parts of Greece and became transportation routes

11. A seafaring people Greeks were skilled sailors
Small ships could sail around the edges of the Ionian and Aegean seas
Fish were a big part of the diet, and could be traded fresh or dried
While there was not much grain produced, there was surplus olive oil, wine, wool, and pottery
Greek city-states traded goods with each other

12. Review
How did the geography of Greece lead to strongly independent Greek communities?
How did water play a role in the development of early Greek civilizations?
Decent short video:

13. Greek Mythology
The word myth comes from the Greek word mythos which refers to a story, a speech, or something new and created
Greek Myths were created to justify and explain anything they couldn’t understand
Although myths can be based on true events, or even people, they should not be read as history. When it comes to Greek myths, though, it’s hard to distinguish what is true and what is not; the stories told by Greeks feature so many real elements intertwined in the telling that you can hardly say that a place or person did not really exist.