The Rise of Greek Civilization

Chapter 7, Lesson 1 (pg. 174)EQ: How does the geography of How does the geography of place influence the way people place influence the way people

live? live?

Academic Vocabulary:

Chapter 7, Lesson 1 • Peninsula • Colony• Polis• Agora• Acropolis (pg. 180)

Geography of Greece

• Greece is located in Europe.

• Near the Mediterranean Sea.

• Greece is a peninsula.• Peninsula is a body

of land surrounded by water on three sides.

• The rest of Greece is made up of islands.

Activity

• Geography Activity – Complete the Map– Complete the “Cause and Effect”

Geography Chart

An Island Civilization:

Minoans Minoans

• Civilization developed in island of Create from 2500 BC to 1450 BC.

• Minos was the king• Main settlement

Knossos.• Minoan civilization

collapsed—no on knows why, but some think the Mycenaeans invaded Crete!

The palace at Knossos included a large outdoor theater. Colorful wall paintings decorated the palace, both inside and outside. 

Arthur Evens (1900)

Mainland Civilization: Mycenaean

Mycenaean Kingdom • Palace of Mycenae • Kings lived in palace,

nobles lived outside palace walls

• King collected taxes • Traded with different

islands • Polytheistic religion • Conquered the

Minoans

Mycenaean Decline • Civil war and

earthquake • By 1100 BC the

civilization collapsed

• The Dorians (Greek-speaking people) move into the area and conquered the Mycenaean Mycenaean artifacts (student

account)

Dark Age: The Dorians

• Warlike people • Dark Age—lasted 300 years• Trade decreased, poverty,

starvation • They bring iron weapons to Greece • Many Greeks flee to Anatolia

Peninsula

The Hellenes• By 750 BC those who had left Greece

returned—named themselves Hellenes • Brought back new ideas, crafts, and skills • Trade increases, thus a need for writing

developed • Greek alphabet (24 letters), record

keeping becomes easier

Review Questions • 1. How did physical geography influence the

lives of the early Greeks? • How did the seas influence the way many

ancient Greeks lived? • 3. How did civilizations of the Minoans

develop? • 4. What did the discovery at Knossos reveal

about the Minoans • 5. How did the Dorian invasion help spread

Greek culture?

Home Learning

• Packet of Chapter 7, Lesson 1 “Rise of the Greek Civilaztaion”

Greek Colonies • Greeks established

many coloniescolonies along the Mediterranean Sea between 750 BC and 550 BC.

• Colonies traded with the parent cities in the mainland Greece.

Greek Polis• Because Greece is made up

of many islands, and has many tall mountains, the Greeks began to build city-states instead of one country.

• A city-state is a city with its own laws, rulers, and money.

• City-states known as popollisis.• Some small others large,

such as Athens which had 300,000 people.

Greek Polis: Government

• Most city-states were monarchies—ruled by a king.

• Some of the city-states were oligarchies—ruled by powerful elite members of society

• Athens was a democracy—a government in which all citizens can vote and have equal say in what happens.

•

Acropolis: Acropolis: a fort built on top of a hill

AgoraAgora: a gathering place (marketplace) outside the acropolis