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History Homework

Ancient Greece

Location

Greece is a country located in Southern Europe, its mainland located at the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula. Greece is surrounded on the north by Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia and Albania; to the west by the Ionian Sea; to the south by the Mediterranean Sea and to the east by the Aegean Sea and Turkey.

Climate

The climate in Greece is typical of the Mediterranean climate: mild and rainy winters, relatively warm and dry summers and, generally, extended periods of sunshine throughout most of the year.

Terrain

Much of Greece is mountainous and rocky terrain, with the occasional plain. The Pindus Mountains start in northern Greece and stretch south to the Gulf of Patra. In the southern part of Greece are the Peloponnesus Mountains. About 20% of Greece is made up of islands. Crete is a large island located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Ancient Greek Civilization

About 3000 BC, there lived on the island of Crete a people now called Minoans. The name comes from their King Minos. Minos and other Minoan kings grew rich from trade, and built fine palaces. The Minoan civilization ended about 1450 BC.

After the Minoans came the Myceneans. They were soldiers from mainland Greece, and were the Greeks who fought Troy in the 1200s BC. After the Mycenean age ended, about 1100 BC, Greece entered a "Dark Age". This lasted until the 800s BC when the Greeks set off by sea to explore and set up colonies.

Ancient Greece produced many philosophers and scholars, such as Socrates and

Plato. These Greeks contributed significantly to our current culture. They created the first democratic government, discovered many scientific principles, and created mathematics. The Greeks also contributed to the artistic community with Homer, who wrote the Iliad and The Odyssey, and other artisans creating sculptures, paintings, pottery, poetry and playwriting.

Competitive sports were a major part of Greek life. The first Olympic Games were held in Greece in 776 BC.

City States

Ancient Greece was not a country. It was a collection of city-states, each with its own personality and way of doing things. These city states were groups of villages that were banded together in part for protection and in part for more organized trade. There were hundreds of city-states in ancient Greece, some small and some really big ones with large populations. Five of the most powerful Greek city-states are Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Olympia and Argos. Although each city-state had its own form of government and its own army, sometimes its own navy, and certainly its own way of doing things, the city-states of ancient Greece had many things in common. They all spoke the same language, they all believed in the same gods, they all worshiped in the same way, and they all thought of themselves as Greeks. But they were loyal to their city-state.

How Greece states were governed

There was not one country called "Ancient Greece." Instead, there were small 'city-states'. Each city-state had its own government. Sometimes the city-states fought one another, sometimes they joined together against a bigger enemy, the Persian Empire. Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Olympia were four of these city-states, and you can find out more about them on this site. Only a very powerful ruler could control all Greece. One man did in the 300s BC. He was Alexander the Great, from Macedonia. Alexander led his army to conquer not just Greece but an empire that reached as far as Afghanistan and India.