WORLD HISTORY PACKET #3 ACTIVITY INTRODUCTION/DIRECTIONS The Geography of Ancient Greece #21 #22 Greek City-States, Colonies, Tyranny Rival City States of Sparta and Athens #23 Classical Greece, Persian, Peloponnesian War #24 #25 Greek Culture/Lasting Contributions #26 Alexander the Great and Hellenistic Culture/ The End of Greece #27 Geography of Rome/ Rise of Rome #28 Acquiring, Consolidating and Maintaining Roman Power #29 Rome’s Golden Age/ Lasting Contributions to the West #30 Effects of Christianity and the Fall of the Roman Empire Remote Day 21 Part 1 Geography and Ancient Greece Essential Question: Where were Greek civilizations located? Objective: Describe the locations of the Greek civilizations and how geography impacted the Ancient Greeks. Directions: Examine the maps below and answer the questions that follow. 1. On which continent was Greek 2. Which sea is to the east of 3. Which sea is south of the Greek civilization located? Greek civilization civilization 4. What do you know about the area of the world where Ancient Greece was located? Identify any historical or modern-day civilizations or countries in that region or events that have taken place. Greek civilizAtion BegAn in 1750 BCE north of the MediterrAneAn SeA in Europe. Greece is in southeastern Europe and consists of a mainland and an archipelago [chain of islands]. Mainland Greece is a large peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea (branching into the Ionian Sea the west and the Aegean Sea in the east). The geography of Greece greatly influenced the culture in that, with few natural resources and surrounded by water, the people eventually took to the sea for their livelihood. Mountains cover eighty percent of Greece which provides little opportunity for agriculture. As a result, the early Greeks colonized neighboring islands and founded settlements along the coast of Anatolia (also known as Asia Minor, modern day Turkey). The Greeks became skilled ship builders, sailors, and traders to acquire resources they did not have. One benefit of Greece’s trade with other nations was that they encountered the Phoenician alphabet, which they adapted and became the basis for Latin and many other languages including English. The mountains that covered Greece and the seas between islands also isolated the people of Greece. As a result, Greeks developed individual polis, also known as city-states. City-states were cities with surrounding land and villages. Each city-state was independent and located in an isolated valley. While the Greeks spoke the same language, they had different cultures and government and social structures because they were divided. The mountains separating the city-states were barriers to cultural diffusion and unity. In addition, a lack of resources and differences between the city-states led to rivalry and antagonism that led to wars. The two most well-known city-states were Sparta and Athens. Source: “Ancient Greece.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. http://www.ancient.eu/greece/ 1. Identify two geographic features that separated the 2. DescriBe two ways that mountains in Greece affected the Greek city-states. Ancient Greeks. 3. DescriBe two ways that water surrounding Greece affected the Ancient Greeks. Mycenae: The First Greek State The term Mycenaean comes from Mycenae (my • SEE • nee), a fortified site on the Greek mainland that was first discovered by the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann. Mycenae was part of a Mycenaean Greek civilization that flourished between 1600 b.c. and 1100 b.c. The Mycenaean Greeks were part of the Indo-European family of peoples who spread into Europe and Asia. One of these groups entered Greece around 1900 b.c. and gradually gained control of the Greek mainland. Mycenaean civilization, which reached its high point between 1400 b.c. and 1200 b.c., was made of powerful monarchies. Each resided in a fortified palace center. Like Mycenae, these centers were built on hills and surrounded by gigantic stone walls. The monarchies in these various centers of power probably formed a loose alliance of independent states. While the royal families lived within the walls of these complexes, the civilian populations lived scattered outside the walls. Among the noticeable features of these Mycenaean centers were the beehive-shaped tombs in which members of the royal families were buried. The Mycenaeans were, above all, a warrior people who prided themselves on their heroic deeds in battle. Mycenaean wall murals often show war and hunting scenes. Archaeological evidence also indicates that the Mycenaean monarchies developed an extensive commercial network. Mycenaean pottery has been found throughout the Mediterranean area, in Syria and Egypt to the east, and Sicily and southern Italy to the west. However, some historians believe that the Mycenaeans, led by Mycenae itself, also spread outward militarily, conquering Minoan Crete and making it part of the Mycenaean world. The most famous of all their supposed military adventures is recounted in the poetry of Homer. According to Homer, Mycenaean Greeks, led by Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, sacked (plundered) the city of Troy on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor around 1250 b.c. Did this event really occur? Ever since the excavations of Schliemann, begun in 1870, scholars have debated this question. Many believe that Homer’s account of the attack on Troy is based on fact. By the late thirteenth century b.c., Mycenaean Greece was showing signs of serious trouble. Mycenaean states fought one another, and major earthquakes caused widespread damage. In the twelfth century b.c., new waves of Greek-speaking invaders moved into Greece from the north. By 1100 b.c., Mycenaean civilization had collapsed. What characterized the first Greek civilization of the Mycenaeans? Greeks in the Dark Age After the collapse of Mycenaean civilization, Greece entered a difficult period in which the population declined and food production dropped. Historians call the period from approximately 1100 b.c. to 750 b.c. the Dark Age because few records of what happened exist. Not until 850 b.c. did the basis for a new Greece begin to form. Changes of the Dark Age During the Dark Age, many Greeks left the mainland and sailed across the Aegean Sea to various islands. Many went to the western shores of Asia Minor, a strip of territory that came to be called Ionia (or Ionian Greece), in modern-day Turkey. Two other major groups of Greeks settled in established parts of Greece. The Aeolian Greeks of northern and central Greece colonized the large island of Lesbos and the territory near the mainland. The Dorians established themselves in southwestern Greece, especially in the Peloponnese, as well as on some of the southern Aegean islands. There was a revival of some agriculture, trade, and economic activity during the Dark Age. The use of iron was central to this revival. Iron replaced bronze in weaponry, making weapons affordable for more people. Furthermore, iron farming tools helped reverse the decline in food production. At some point in the eighth century b.c., the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet to give themselves a new system of writing. By reducing all words to a combination of 24 letters, the Greeks made learning to read and write simpler. The work of Homer, one of the great poets of all time, appeared near the end of the Dark Age. 1. What events occurred in ancient Greece during the Dark Age? Homer and the Dark Ages Homer one of the earliest and greatest known poets of the classical period, is generally regarded as the creator of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Exactly when he was born or died, and the details of his life are generally unknown. Tradition and ancient legends have it that he was a blind poet and rhapsode (an ancient actor) who lived in the late eighth and early seventh centuries B.C.E. on an island called Chios off the western coast of Asia Minor (what is now Turkey). While there is no complete agreement on the details of Homer’s life, some have said that he was born to Menes and Cretheis the nymph, his given name was Melisigenes, he worked in Chios, and died on Ios, a Greek island in the Aegean. Sea This information is suspect at best and is part of what has become the Homeric Question- the doubts and consequent debates over the existence and identity of Homer, and the real story of who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. Though the Iliad and the Odyssey are set in the Greek Bronze Age in about the twelft century BCE, most scholars, analyzing the linguistic and other historical evidence, claim that the poems were composed between 750 and 650 BCE, when rather than telling stories orally, people started writing things down. Other scholars argue that the poems were written later, perhaps in the sixth century BCE in Athens, when the first written version of the poems appeared. Many scholars believe that these epics represent the work of many generations of poets, with Homer acting as organizer and editor. While the Iliad, which was written first, is packed with relentless slaughter and the tragedy, the Odyssey is a tale of wandering and homecoming, and some argue that these difference reveal the possibility of more than one author. Others argue that the Iliad is a work of a young, mischievous, and adventuresome Homer, while the Odyssey is the work of a wise, more mature Homer. The Iliad and the Odyssey were the first great epic poems of early Greece and would serve as major cultural influences throughout history. An epic poem is a long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero. The Iliad and the Odyssey were based on stories that had been passed down from generation to generation.