Greece Notes – St. John's Catholic School – National Blue Ribbon School

Greece

Hellas- Land (Geography)
1. Includes the Greeks Peninsulas, Greek Islands, and the land surrounding the Aegean Sea
  1. Peninsula- area of land mostly surrounded by water and connected by a small strip of land
    1. Greek mainland is made up of many of these that jut out into the Aegean Sea and Ionian Sea
  2. Little islands fill the Aegean Sea
    1. These make travel around the Aegean easy
2. Mountainous
  1. Greece is made up of many rocky hills and mountains
    1. Shallow, rocky soil
      1. Make farming difficult
    2. Difficult to travel
      1. Few roads, most were paths with ridges cut for chariots
      2. Isolated people
        Caused the creation of many similar but distinct cultures and societies
3. Agriculture
  1. Due to the mountains farming was very difficult
  2. Grew many grapes and olives
    1. Grapes for eating and making wine
    2. Olives for eating and olive oil
      1. Can be used to fuel lamps and preserve food
  3. Sheep and goats live well in mountains
  4. Wheat could be grown in smaller pockets of rich soil
  5. Fishing was a major supply of meat
Minoans and Mycenaeans (1650-1100BC)
1. The Greek civilization begins with with two civilization; Minoans and Mycenaeans
2. Minoans
  1. Dwelt on the island of Crete
    1. Crete was located on the south point of the Aegean in the center of the mediterranean, close to egypt and the Levant
  2. Archaeology
    1. Most of what we know comes from archaeology, not writing
    2. Minoans wrote in Linear Form A which we have not translated
  3. Culture and Society
    1. The center of society was the palace
      1. The most important of these was at Knossos
        Also the location of the Labyrinth with the minotaur
      2. These palaces were decorated with vibrant blue and red frescoes
        Frescoe is a method of painting on wet plaster

Written by Jonathan DeMauro