The Geography of Greece
In this section, we have learned the following:
Greece is a peninsula made up of smaller peninsulas and many islands.
Mountains are the major landform of Greece.
The disconnected geography of Greece encouraged the growth of independent communities that shared a common culture.
The Rise of Greek Civilization
In this section, we have learned the following:
Early Greek civilization featured the Minoans and the Mycenaeans.
During the Bronze Age, the Minoans lived on the island of Crete where they built a trading network.
Crete, being surrounded by the waters of the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, was an ideal place for the Minoans to develop trade connections with people from other lands.
The focus of the Mycenaean power was on the mainland.
Although the Mycenaeans traded widely, they relied on conquest to spread their power.
Greek myth tells the story of the Trojan War, a long struggle between Greece and the city of Troy (in present-day Turkey).
Two epic poems about the Trojan War survive today —the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The dominance of the Minoans and then the Mycenaeans was followed by a sharp decline of Greek civilization.
The years from the early 1100s B.C. to about 750 B.C. are referred to as Greece’s Dark Ages.
The Dark Ages of Greece were characterized by widespread poverty, little trade, and the disappearance of writing.
