Geography and the Early Greeks

Geography and the Early Greeks

Main Ideas

Geography helped shape early Greek civilization. Trading cultures developed in the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations. The Greeks created city-states for protection and security. Greece’s geography and its nearness to the sea strongly influenced the development of trade and the growth of city-states.

Key Terms

polis

classical

acropolis

Suppose you were there...

You live on the rocky coast of a bright blue sea. Across the wateryou can see dozens of islands and points of land jutting out intothe sea. Rugged mountains rise steeply behind your village. It ishard to travel across the mountains in order to visit other villagesor towns. Near your home on the coast is a sheltered cove hereit’s easy to anchor a boat.

1. What could you do to make a living here?

BUILDING BACKGROUND The paragraph you just read could bedescribing many parts of Greece, a peninsula insouthern Europe.Greece’s mountain ranges run right up to the coast in many places,making travel and farming difficult. Although it does not seem like theeasiest place in the world to live, Greece was home to some of theancient world’s greatest civilizations.

Geography Shapes Greek Civilization

The Greeks lived on rocky, mountainouslands surrounded by water. The mainlandof Greece is a peninsula, an area of landthat is surrounded on three sides by water. But the Greek peninsula is very irregular. It’s one big peninsula made up of a seriesof smaller peninsulas. The land and seaintertwine like your hand and fingers in abowl of water. In addition, there are manyislands. Look at the map of Greece andnotice the rugged coastline.

In your mind, picture those peninsulasand islands dominated by mountainsthat run almost to the sea. Just a few smallvalleys and coastal plains provide flat landfor farming and villages. Now you have animage of Greece, a land where one of theworld’s greatest civilizations developed.

Mountains and Settlements

Because mountains cover much of Greece, there are few flat areas for farmland. Peoplesettled in those flat areas along the coast andin river valleys. They lived in villages andtowns separated by mountains and seas.

Travel across the mountains and seas was difficult, so communities were isolatedfrom one another. As a result, the peoplecreated their owngovernments and waysof life. Even though they spoke the samelanguage, Greek communities saw themselvesas separate countries.

Seas and Ships

Since travel inland across the rugged mountains was so difficult, the early Greeksturned to the seas. On the south was thehuge Mediterranean Sea, to the west wasthe Ionian (eye-OH-nee-uhn) Sea, and tothe east was the Aegean (ee-JEE-uhn) Sea.It’s not surprising that the early Greeksused the sea as a source for food and as away of trading with other communities.

The Greeks became skilled shipbuildersand sailors. Their ships sailed to AsiaMinor, to Egypt, and to the islands of theMediterranean and Aegean seas. As theytraveled around these seas, they foundsources of food and other products theyneeded. They also exchanged ideas withother cultures.

2. How did mountains affect the location of Greeksettlements?

3. On what geographic feature is Greece located?

4. What bodies of water surround Greece?

Trading Cultures Develop

Many cultures settled and developed inGreece. Two of the earliest were the Minoans(muh-NOH-uhnz) and the Mycenaens(my-suh-NEE-uhns). By 2000 BC theMinoans had built an advanced societyon the island of Crete. Crete lay south ofthe Aegean in the eastern Mediterranean.Later, the Mycenaeans built towns on theGreek mainland. These two civilizations

influenced the entire Aegean region andhelped shape later cultures in Greece.

The Minoans

Because they lived on an island, the Minoansspent much of their time at sea. Theywere among the best shipbuilders of theirtime. Minoan ships carried goods such aswood, olive oil, and pottery all around theeastern Mediterranean. They traded thesegoods for copper, gold, silver, and jewels.

Although Crete’s location was excellentfor Minoan traders, its geography had itsdangers. Sometime in the 1600s BC a hugevolcano erupted just north of Crete. Thiseruption created a giant wave that floodedmuch of Crete. In addition, the eruption threw up huge clouds of ash, ruining cropsand burying cities. This eruption may haveled to the end of Minoan civilization.

The Mycenaeans

Although they lived in what is now Greece and influenced Greek society, historiansdon’t consider the Minoans to be Greek. This is because the Minoans didn’t speak the Greek language. The first people tospeak Greek, and therefore the first to beconsidered Greek, were the Mycenaeans.

While the Minoans were sailing theMediterranean, the Mycenaeans werebuilding fortresses all over the Greek mainland.The largest and most powerful fortresswas Mycenae (my-SEE-nee), after which theMycenaeans were named.

By the mid-1400s, Minoan society haddeclined. That decline allowed the Mycenaeansto take over Crete and become themajor traders in the eastern Mediterranean.They set up colonies in northern Greeceand Italy from which they shipped goodsto markets around the Mediterranean andBlack seas.

The Mycenaeans didn’t think tradehad to be conducted peacefully. Theyoften attacked other kingdoms. Some historiansthink the Mycenaeans attacked thecity of Troy, possibly starting the legendaryTrojan War, which is featured in manyworks of literature.

Mycenaean society began to fall apart inthe 1200s BC when invaders from Europeswept into Greece. At the same time, earthquakesdestroyed many cities. As Mycenaeancivilization crumbled, Greece slid intoa period of warfare and disorder, a periodcalled the Dark Age.

READING CHECK Finding Main Ideas

5. To what regions did Minoan and Mycenaeantraders travel?

6. Where was theMinoan civilization located?

7. How was the decline of the Minoans and Mycenaeans similar?

8. Why did the Mycenaeans put such importance on building powerful fortresses?

9. Where is Knossos located?

10. In what direction would the Mycenaeans have had to travel to reach the Minoan civilization?

11. How might the Minoans’ location provide them with protection?

Greeks Create City-States

The Greeks of the Dark Age left no writtenrecords. All that we know about the period comes from archaeological findings.About 300 years after the Mycenaeancivilization crumbled, the Greeks startedto join together in small groups for protectionand stability. Over time, these groupsset up independent city-states. The Greekword for a city-state is polis (PAH-luhs).

The creation of city-states marks the beginningof what is known as Greece’s classicalage. A classical age is one that is marked bygreat achievements.

Life in a City-State

A Greek city was usually built around astrong fortress. This fortress often stoodon top of a high hill called the acropolis(uh-KRAH-puh-luhs). The town around theacropolis was surrounded by walls for addedprotection.

Not everyone who lived in the city-stateactually lived inside the city walls. Farmers,for example, usually lived near their fields outside the walls. In times of war,however, women, children, and elderlypeople all gathered inside the city walls forprotection. As a result, they remained safewhile the men of the polis formed an army to fight off its enemies.

Life in the city often focused on themarketplace, or agora (A-guh-ruh) in Greek.Farmers brought their crops to the marketto trade for goods made by craftsmen inthe town. Because it was a large open space,the market also served as a meeting place.People held both political and religious

assemblies in the market. It often containedshops as well.

The city-state became the foundationof Greek civilization. Besides providingsecurity for its people, the city gave theman identity. People thought of themselvesas residents of a city, not as Greeks. Becausethe city-state was so central to their lives,the Greeks expected people to participatein its affairs, especially in its economy andits government.

City-States and Colonization

Life in Greece eventually became more settled. People no longer had to fear raidersswooping down on their cities. As a result,they were free to think about things otherthan defense. Some Greeks began to dreamof becoming rich through trade. Othersbecame curious about neighboring landsaround the Mediterranean Sea. Some alsoworried about how to deal with Greece’sgrowing population. Despite their differentreasons, all these people eventually reached the same idea: the Greeks shouldestablish colonies.

Before long, groups from city-statesaround Greece began to set up colonies

in distant lands. After they were set up,Greek colonies became independent. Inother words, each colony became a newpolis. In fact, some cities that began ascolonies began to create colonies of theirown. Eventually Greek colonies spread allaround the Mediterranean and Black seas.Many big cities around the Mediterraneantoday began as Greek colonies. Amongthem are Istanbul (is-tahn-BOOL) in Turkey,Marseille (mahr-SAY) in France, and Naplesin Italy.

12. What is a classical age?

13. Why did Greeks decide to establish colonies?

14. How did city walls and acropolises benefit Greek city-states?

15. Greek city-states and colonies were spread around the Mediterranean Sea and which other large sea?

Patterns of Trade

Although the colonies were independent,they often traded with city-states on themainland. The colonies sent metals such ascopper and iron back to mainland Greece.In return, the Greek city-states sent wine,olive oil, and other products.Trade made the city-states much richer.Because of their locations, some city-statesbecame great trading centers. By 550 BCthe Greeks had become the greatest tradersin the whole Aegean region. Greekships sailed to Egypt and cities around theBlack Sea.

16. Why did theGreeks develop city-states?

SUMMARY AND PREVIEW In this sectionyou learned about the creation ofcity-states and how they affected Greeksociety. In the next section you will readabout how the government of one city-statechanged as people became moreinterested in how they were ruled.

17. a. What kinds of landforms are found in Greece?

b. How did the sea help shape early Greeksociety?

c. How might the difficulty of mountain travelhave been a benefit to the Greeks?

18. a. What was the first major civilization to developin Greece?

b. How were the Minoans and Mycenaeanssimilar?

19. a. What is a polis?

b. Why do you think the Greeks built their citiesaround a high acropolis?

20. Summarize Draw a diagram to identifythree functions of the polis inearly Greek society.