Blog Week 7 – 3

Greece

·      Ancient Greece consisted mainly of a mountainous peninsula jutting out into the Mediterranean sea.

·       The sea shaped Greek civilization 

o   They became skilled sailors.

o   Sea travel and trade because they lacked natural resources.

o   Their climate often varied.

·      City-states were independent cities.

·      Ancient Greece was the word

·      Rivers were key to great civilization-

o   Mesopotamia – Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

o   Egypt – Nile River

o   India – Indus River

o   China – Huang He River

·      Surroundings were important.

·      Difficult for Greece because of the terrain.

·     Greeks have fought in many wars over time

·      Trojan War - fought around 1200 BCE

·      part of Greek mythology - until the 19th cent. most historians thought it was fictional because gods and goddesses got involved

·      the goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given the “apple of discord”

·      Paris judged Aphrodite as “the fairest”

·      Aphrodite made Helen (who was married) fall in love with Paris, who took her back to Troy

·     Dorians were far less advanced

·     the trade-based economy collapsed

·     writing disappeared for 400 years

·     although fertile valleys cover one quarter of the peninsula, only about 20% is arable(suitable for farming)

·     Greek Diet consists of grains, grapes, olives & fish

·     lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization

·     back then, temperatures usually ranged from mid 40s in the winter to low 80s in the summer - although it could get hot in the summer