Transcript Document

Geography & Early People of
Greece
Geography
Greece is located on the Balkan
Peninsula in Southern Europe
Land covered with mountains(Pindus
Range)
o
o
o
o
cover ¾ of Greek mainland
protected and isolated
limited contact between communities
effect: Greece never unites w/ one govt.
Geography
natural harbors
o no
place more than 50 miles from the
coast
o effect: many make living from the seas
Geography
•
some fertile land
o
effect: some farming(barley
wheat grapes and olives),
but Greeks will look for more
land and will set up colonies
•
people raised sheep
and goats
•
mild climate (not hot
like Egypt)
o
effect: people spend time
outside and socialize
Minoans
• lived on Crete, traded in Mediterranean
region between 2500 and 1500 BC
• British archaeologist Arthur Evans (1893)
• Believed to have come from western
Asia…not actually Greek
• Legend of King Minos
Minoans
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known for labyrinth
palace at Knossos
frescoes show
scenes of Minoan
life and religion
Relates to story of
Theseus and the
Minotar
The Throne Room in the Palace of
Knossos
Frescoes tell of the Minoan’s attachment
to the sea
Minoan fresco
Frescoes tell about the sport of bull
leaping
The Bull Chamber at
the Palace of
Knossos where a
bull leaping fresco
was found
Minoan fresco
Really???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1L-8xLI_5c&feature=fvw
Minoan fresco
Decline of Civilization
• Minoan trade dominated eastern Mediterranean
until about 1380 BC
• Something happened, maybe a volcanic eruption
or other natural disaster
• Culture was further weakened by Mycenaean
attacks and influences between 1400 and 1100
BC
Mycenaeans
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perhaps came from
central Asia
intermarried w/
natives on
mainland
set up kingdoms
around hilltop
fortresses
Mask of legendary
King Agamemnon
Mycenaeans
•
adopted Minoan
customs
said to have fought
in legendary Trojan
War
•
Heinrich Schliemann
– German
archaeologist who
discovered Troy
o The Lion’s Gate
o
Trojan Horse
Dorians
• invaded Greece from the north
• Mycenaeans weakened by infighting
• Dorians easily won using iron weapons
Dorians
• Dorian period known as a “dark age”
• refugees fled to Ionia (west coast of Asia
Minor)
• Ionians gradually come back, reintroduce
culture