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Geography• The Land
– Mountainous, rugged terrain with few natural resources
– NOT ARABLE– Made it difficult to unite
under one government• The Sea
– Connected the Greeks– You could say, the Greeks
did not live on a land, but around a sea
• Powerful traders from the island of Crete on the Aegean Sea.
• Ruled by King Minos who was said to keep a minotaur in a labyrinth.
• Characterized by athletics and colorful paintings found at Knossos (capital city).
• Created much of what would become Greek mythology.
Minoans
Mycenaeans 1600-1200 B.C.• Indo-Europeans who
migrated and settled on the Greek mainland.
• Named after their leading city Mycenae.
• Ruled by warrior-kings who lived in fortified cities on a hill and who got their wealth by controlling local production and commercial trade.
• Conquered the Minoans but took on much of their culture including their religious practices.
Lion’s Gate: entrance to the city of Mycenae
Death Mask of Mycenaean warrior-king
• Believed to be a myth until 1870 when Heinrich Schliemann discovered the remains of the city.
• 10 year battle between Mycenae and Troy.
• Troy: independent trading city located in Anatolia (present day Turkey)
• Allegedly fought over Helen, a beautiful queen of Greece who was kidnapped by a Trojan (Troy) youth.
• Another theory suggests it was fought over control of a crucial waterway in the Aegean Sea.
Trojan War
Trojan War
The Mycenaeans destroyed the city of Troy.
Greek Dark Ages 1200-750 B.C.• Mycenaean civilization collapses
around 1200 B.C. after sea raiders attack and burn down cities
• Less advanced Dorians move in– No written language or record– Collapse of trade and
centralized economy
• Homer was a blind storyteller who composed the epics The Iliad and The Odyssey
• Epic: long narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
• These poems take place under the backdrop of the Trojan war
• What do the Greeks value?– Read excerpt from The Iliad
on p. 114
Epics of Homer
•From the Iliad (about the Trojan War) by Homer (movie version).
•Achilles – Greeks’ greatest warrior, part god part human, said to be semi-immortal (heel).
•Agamemnon – leader of Greek forces in the war against Troy. Is jealous of Achilles and the two do not get along.