CHAPTER 8: THE ANCIENT

GREEKS

Section 1: The Rise of City-States

Picture depicts life in some of the Greek city-states. Image taken from: bbc.co.uk.

Geography of the Greek World

Greece occupies a large peninsula. Most people settled

on mainland Greece, which is an open area that is part

of a continent. The mainland of Greece is divided by

mountain ranges. Between these ranges lie narrow

valleys and small plains. The landscape made it difficult

to farm, but it was ideal for raising sheep.

The sea was seen as being a positive for the Greeks,

because it allowed them to become skillful merchants

and sailors. It also allowed them to become exposed to

religions and cultures that were much older and

established than they were.

Geography of the Greek World

continued….

The Mediterranean climate’s negative attributes were

that it was an area that lacked rain and thus it was

difficult to grow shallow-rooted crops such as grains.

The positive attributes were that the climate was ideal

for growing olive and grape vines, which became the

staple of their trading goods and brought wealth to

Greece.

Minoans

The Minoan civilization was highly advanced. The

Minoans developed a writing system and built huge

stone palaces. There culture developed on Crete and

eventually spread across the Aegean islands.

Picture depicts a Minoan city.

Image taken from:

gizzisgoodies.wikispaces.com

Mycenaeans

The Mycenaeans developed around 1600 B.C. and it was

governed by a monarchy.

They lived in stone fortresses on hilltops. They made

fine bronze, weapons, and pottery.

They traded these items for gold, copper, ivory, and

other luxury goods. Due to the fact that they traded

such mediocre items for luxury items, they often raided

other people for gold and other goods.

Dark Ages

The Dark Ages were a time in which the Greek culture

declined.

The Greek people lost their ability to read and write.

As a result of this horrible time, the Greeks migrated

across the Aegean Sea and settled the islands along the

west coast of Asia Minor.

The Trojan War’s Ending and

Homer’s Literary Works

The Greeks gave a large wooden horse (filled with Greek soldiers) to the Trojans in hopes that they would accept it as a good gesture gift.

The Trojans fell for the trick and when they went to sleep that night, the Greek soldiers crept out and opened the city gates. The Greek army entered and burned Troy to the ground.

Homer’s Odyssey and The Iliad taught the Greek people ideals of bravery, strength, and honor. The Greek people wanted to live up to these stories, thus they did everything with strength, honor, and bravery.

Emergence of City-States

The polis was considered to be the most important feature of Greek culture, because it was a community with its own government. The people of the government, known as citizens would meet and make decisions about laws that would affect their polis. Due to their small population, every citizen had a say in the decision making process regarding laws.

A polis consisted of two parts. The first part was an acropolis that stood on a high hill. The acropolis held public buildings and marble temples. On the lower ground, below the hill, lay people’s homes, shops, and farms.

Each polis had their own government, thus some had monarchies and some had governments that were ruled by the citizens.