Greek Mythology Part 1

What was the geography like in Greece?

It was extremely mountainous with barely any farmland and surrounded by the sea, leading to a focus on maritime trade and coastal settlements. They also used the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the Black Sea. They were also a strong sea trading civilization.

Background - Greece 1

Indo-Europeans migrated to mainland Greece, the Mycenaeans. They developed fortified cities and became very powerful. The Myceneans invaded the minioans, but embraced their culture.

What was the Minoan culture?

Sea trade, Minoan writing, language, art and legends. Became the basis of Greek religion, politics, and literature.

What was the Trojan War?

The Trojan War started when a young man kidnapped Helen, the wife of a Greek king. The war was basically a struggle for trade domination of the Aegean Sea, but the Greeks eventually won.

Background info—Mycenaean civilization

They came under attack from sea warriors, then the Dorians moved in. The Dark Ages of Greece started to happen because there were no written records. They also composed the illiad and the Odyssey Iliad

What was Greek culture based off of?

Minoans, Mycenaeans, and Dorians.

Greek religion

It was a polytheistic religion; they also offered explanations of natural phenomena, human qualities, and life events.

Polis (Greek city-state)

had a mild climate, was the heart of citizens loyalty, and the each had an acropolis which served as the center government.

General information—Greece 2

Promoted contact for trading and ideas, they had olive oil, marble, wine, etc. Evidence for Greek culture and influence throughout the Mediterranean region. They also developed city-states and pushed people to colonize land outside Greece. They also depended heavily on maritime trading due to the lack of resources in Greece.

General Information—Types of government

Some city-states had monarchies (the monarchs were usually kings). Some had aristocracies, which means that they were elite landowning people. They had oligarchies, which were small groups of merchants, artisans, and soldiers from Sparta. During times of unrest, there were powerful individuals, called tyrants, who would go against the law

What was the Athens economy

Their economy was mainly trading; since they had bad farmland, they had to grow limited resources to trade. They mainly traded olive oil, silver, and pottery.

who was cleisthenes (important)

cleisthenes created a democracy; he created the council of 500, the people that were in the council were chosen by lot, the people chosen were mainly responsible for foreign affairs, and the council could only be made by free male citizens, and the council had the most authority in athena.

where is sparta located

at the Peloponnesus peninsula

what is MATD

Monarchy, Aristocracy, Tyranny, Democracy

What happened in Aristocracy?

Monarchy was replaced by aristocracy. Aristocracy was when aristocrats owned most of the land. Then farmers had to sell themselves into slavery because they couldn’t repay their family debts. Cylon tried to make Athens its first tyranny but failed since peasants wanted reforms.

What happened in tyranny after aristocracy?