Geography of Ancient Greece

Essential Question: Why do people live and move where they do?

What will I be able to do?:

You will be able to identify various locations and physical features (like mountains, bodies of water) on

a map of ancient Greece.

You will also be able to describe how geography affected settlement in ancient Greece.

What idea, topic, or subject is important for me to learn and understand so that I can do this?:

You will learn about the locations and physical features of ancient Greece affected the history and

culture of the ancient Greeks.

What I will do to to show that I know this?:

You will show what you know by labeling a map of ancient Greece and answering the critical thinking

questions that go along with the video.

Mapping Activity

Work cooperatively

Label the following places on the Map of Ancient Greece using the resources located within your

textbook:

Bodies of Water:

Adriatic Sea

Aegean Sea

Gulf of Corinth

Ionian Sea

Mediterranean Sea

Ancient Cities:

Athens

Ithaca

Knossos

Marathon

Mycenae

Sparta

Thebes

Troy

Physical Features:

Asia Minor

Island of Crete

Mount Olympus

Peloponnesian Penninsula

Battle Sites: Straits of Salamis

Thermopylae

Kingdom: Macedonia

Name: __________________ Period: _________

Closure: In summary format, respond to the following question:

How did the geography of Ancient Greece contribute to the development of Ancient Greece?

The Roots of Greek Civilization

Crete is an island of 3,189 square miles located in

the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between mainland

Greece and Asia Minor (AKA Anatolia or

modern-day Turkey). According to legend, Crete

is the birthplace of Zeus, the King of the Greek

Gods. Mycenae (pronounced my-SEE-nee) is a

city in the northeast of the Peloponnesian

Peninsula on the Greek mainland. Legend states

that Mycenae was founded by the Greek hero

Perseus after he killed the monster Medusa.

Minoan culture developed on the island of Crete in

approximately 3,000 B.C.E. Minoan palace murals and

painted pottery show us a bountiful maritime culture,

fueled by fishing, farming, and local arts. The Minoans

were master seafarers and set up long-distance trade routes

with Spain, Egypt, Canaan, and Asia Minor. Socially, the

Minoans were an egalitarian culture, with both men and

women holding respected positions in the fields of

religion, agriculture, and craftwork. Recreation enjoyed by

the Minoans included dancing to music and song, "bull-

leaping" - a boxing, complete with boxing gloves and

mouth guards. The remarkable peace-loving character of

the Minoan civilization is suggested by the lack of

fortresses, war equipment, and painted battle scenes

among the remains of their settlements. The Minoan

civilization is historically important to Greece because it

was the cultural model of the Myceneaean (pronounced

my-sih-NEE-in) civilization - considered the earliest

developed culture on mainland Greece.

Mycenae was settled in 2,700 B.C.E. Most of the

myths about ancient Greek heroes and their

famous battles come to us from the Mycenaeans.

Later Greek poets such as Homer used these tales

in their writings. The Mycenaeans spoke an early

form of the Greek language, and developed an

agricultural economy based on grains, grapes, and

olives. Like the Minoans, they traded by sea with

Egypt and Asia Minor. Unlike the Minoans, the

Mycenaeans devoted most of their energies to

developing a strong military. The circular royal

tombs of Mycenae reveal collections of decorated

uniforms, elaborate helmets, chariots, daggers, and

axes. Horses were also extremely important to the

Mycenaeans, as they were the vehicles of war.

Mycenaean documents suggest that their society

was hierarchical, with kings and soldiers in

positions of power, and prisoners of war enslaved

to serve them. Apart from artwork depicting

religious festivals and musical performances, very

few indications of recreational entertainment were

left by the Mycenaeans.

Minoan Society

Mycenaean Society

The End of Minoan and Mycenaean Civilizations

The Minoan civilizations of ancient Crete flourished for approximately 600 years, between 2000 and 1400

B.C.E. Cretan palaces and their surrounding villages were almost destroyed in 1700 B.C.E., when a series of

severe earthquakes rocked the island. However, the Minoans rebuilt their cities and renewed production of their

trade goods in a relatively short time. Within the next hundred years, the Minoans established settlements - for

trade rather than imperialistic purposes - on neighboring islands of Thera, Kythera, Melos, and Rhodes. Minoan

and neighboring island cultures were mutually tolerant and supportive, and the Minoans benefited from trade,

and continued to create glorious artwork and architecture.

Mycenaean invaders from the Greek mainland disrupted this placid existence. It is unclear to scholars why the

Mycenaeans began launching invasive expeditions in the mid fifteenth century B.C.E. It is possible that they

wished to replenish supplies of copper and other ores - which Mycenaean mines had stopped yielding - needed

for their production of weaponry. It is also possible that violent land-ownership disputes and trade-route

conflicts caused a massive Mycenaean exodus to Asia Minor, leaving the Mycenaean economy in a weakened

state. A third possibility is that the Mycenaeans could no longer fend off hostility from encroaching cultures on

mainland Greece, and sought safer settlements on Crete. Whatever the case, Linear B documents recovered

from Mycenae record an invasion of Crete in 1450 B.C.E., and the peaceable Minoan civilization soon came to

an end. Captive Minoan architects and artists were sent to Mycenae to serve the Mycenaean kings. Meanwhile,

the Cretan palace of Knossos was occupied by militaristic Mycenaean rulers. They introduced weapons,

chariots, and battles into Cretan mural painting, and added the burial of weapons alongside military dead to

Cretan funeral customs.

Approximately 350 years later, in 1100 B.C.E., the Dorian Greeks - united tribes from northwestern Greece and

Asia Minor - invaded the settlements in the Peloponnesus, the southern Aegean islands, and Crete. Their

successful campaigns ended Mycenaean rule. However, through the Dorians, elements of Minoan and

Mycenaean cultures were incorporated into the art, architecture, and literature of Classical Greece.

Closure:

Respond to the following questions

1. What did the Minoan and the Mycenaean civilizations have in common?

2. In what ways were the Minoan and the Mycenaean civilizations different?

3. Why do you think so many aspects of Minoan civilization are found at Mycenae?

4. What other geographical areas, besides Mycenae, might Minoan civilization have influenced?

5. What aspects of Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations would you expect to have survived in later periods of

Greek history?

Tracing the Development of Democracy in Ancient Greece

Name: __________________ Period:_____

Closure

Complete the Development of Democracy Chart

Definition

Origins or

Etymology

Etymology - The roots or history for a word. Example: Democracy - demos (meaning "people" in Greek) + kratos

(meaning "power" in Greek - kratos evolves to "cracy")

The Persian War

Learning Stations

Use your split note-taking literacy skills

Station 1

Station 2

Station 3

Station4

Station 5

Greece After the Persian Wars: "Golden Age" of Greece

The Persian Wars were immensely important in the history of ancient Greece.

Working together to defeat a common foe reminded the Greek city-states that they

shared a common language, culture, and religion. After the wars ended, Spartans,

Athenians, and residents of other Greek city-states referred to themselves

collectively as "Greeks" more than they had in the past. Additionally, victory over

the mighty Persian Empire filled the Greeks with a new level of confidence. At

times, this confidence expressed itself as sheer arrogance. For example, in

Herodotus's history of the Persian Wars, he repeatedly referred to the Persians as

"barbarians." However, this newfound confidence led to the development of

stunning cultural achievements, especially in the city-state of Athens. The

Athenians were determined to rebuild their city and make it one of the most

spectacular in the ancient world. During the 40 years following the Persian Wars,

the achievements of the Athenians - in theater, philosophy, sculpture, architecture,

and government - were so numerous that many have referred to the period as the

"Golden Age" of Athens.

Name: ____________________ Period: ______

The Persian War

Assessment

Choose one of the following summarizing assignments

Circle your choice and attach this sheet to your response

1. Pretend you were a news reporter for a Greek or Persian newspaper during the time of the Persian Wars.

Write a 50-100 word news update for the Greek or Persian people back home about each of the 5 events.

Remember your audience‼‼

2. Draw a cartoon history of each of the 5 events summarizing visually and with captions.

3. Other? (Think of another way to summarize these events in a creative way and approve it with your teacher.)