1. Ancient Greek Civilizations
Lesson 1: The Ancient Greeks

2. 1. Map of Ancient Greece
This map shows an area of the world called ancient Greece. A long time ago, about two thousand and eight hundred years ago, there was a civilization of people called the ancient Greeks. We call the area where the ancient Greeks lived the country of Greece. However, long, long ago the ancient Greeks lived on a much larger area of land. The boundaries of ancient Greece spread to the east where the Aegean Sea is, to the west where the Mediterranean Sea is, and to the north where the Black Sea is.

3. 2. Map of Ancient Greece
Hundreds of islands in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas were also a part of ancient Greece. But its biggest island is in the Mediterranean Sea. This island is still known today as Crete.

4. 3. Kings from Ancient Civilizations
The ancient Greeks were similar to—or almost the same as—other ancient civilizations. The ancient Greeks had cities, different kinds of jobs, leaders and laws, writing systems, and religions.

5. 4. Mountains and Valley
The ancient Greeks, however, were also unique—they were different and special— from other ancient civilizations. Unlike the Egyptians and Mesopotamians, the Greeks did not live around a great river, like the Nile in Egypt or the Indus River in ancient India. High, rugged mountains split Greece into lots of little areas of land called valleys, so it was difficult for the Greeks to move from place to place.

6. 5. Mountains and Valley
The ancient Greeks lived in the same community for their whole lives. Each city was in its own valley—or little area between the mountains. Eventually these cities became their own little nation. We call these areas city-states. Each city-state had its own unique government and its own unique laws. The ancient Greeks thought of themselves as belonging to their particular city-state and not to Greece as a whole.

7. 6. Mountains and Valley
Each city-state lived and did things independently of one another. This means that city-states did not do things together or rely on one another. The city- states only worked together in an emergency— or dangerous situation that needs a quick reaction. But after each emergency the city-states would go back to independently minding their own business.

8. 7. Rugged Greek landscape with olive tree
The ancient Greeks had different kinds of jobs. Greece’s rugged mountains made farming hard to do. But there is a unique tree—the olive tree—that can grow in rugged areas. So some Greeks grew olive trees in their community. In addition to being farmers, some Greeks were also shepherds who took care of sheep on this rugged land.

9. 8. Fishing boat and harbor
Some Greeks built harbors near the Black, Aegean, and Mediterranean seas. Some Greeks became good seafarers—a seafarer is someone whose job is to sail out to sea and catch fish. Greek seafarers used boats like the one in this image.

10. 9. Kings from Ancient Civilizations
The ancient Greeks looked at the world around them in a very unique way. Do you remember what unique means? We have a lot of exciting adventures ahead of us as we learn about how the ancient Greeks lived. We will also learn about several interesting contributions from ancient Greece that have been passed down to us today. We still have and use these contributions from ancient Greece. We will learn about how their contributions are a part of our lives today.