Crucible of Civilization

• Geography of Greece
• Mountainous peninsula
• Mountains cover 3/4
• Approx. 1,400 islands in the Aegean and lonian seas
• Location shaped its culture
• Skilled sailors
• Poor natural resources
• Difficult to unite the ancient Greeks because of the terrain
• Developed small independent communities
• Only about 20% were suitable for farming
• Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of the peninsula
• Because of geography the Greek diet consist of grains, grapes, olives
• Lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization
• Temperatures range from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer

• Mycenaeans
• Ancestors of Greek
• Began around 2000 B.C.
•  Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft thick wall
• Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 1600-1200 B.C.
• Controlled trade in the region
• 1400 B.C. Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language
• 1200 B.C.: sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace
• The Dorians moved into the war-torn region
• Far less advanced
• Economy collapsed
• Writing disappeared for 400 years

• Homer and Myths
• Only stories were kept and passed on by word of mouth
• Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
• Recorded stories of the Trojan War in the Iliad and the Odyssey
• Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans

• Greek Concepts
• Arete
• Virtue and excellence
• Epics
• Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
• Myths were created to explain creation
• Zeus: leader of the gods
• Hera: Zeus's wife
• Athena: goddess of wisdom