Chapter 7 Section 1

The Geography of Ancient

Greece

Homer• Legendary ancient

Greek poet• Traditionally said to be

the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Epic• A long adventure poem.

The Odyssey• Story of Greek hero

Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy.

The Odyssey

• It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War, twenty years in total.

Mythology• Comes from the Greek

word for story telling. • Myths were the stories

people told to explain the world around them.

The Geography of Ancient Greece

• Most of Greece is a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the Mediterranean Sea.

• The land is very rugged and difficult to travel across.

The Geography of Ancient Greece

• Only about ¼ of the land is suitable for farming.

• Ancient Greeks grew olives for oil and grapes for wine.

Greek Trade• The lack of land to grow crops on

forced the Greeks to trade with other civilizations in order to get the things they needed.

Colonies• Foreign settlements in distant

lands ruled originally from home.

Greek Trade• As the Greeks traded more

extensively they established more and more colonies throughout the Mediterranean region.

Aegean Sea

• A bay of the Mediterranean Sea located between the mainland of Greece and Turkey.

The Minoans (mih NOH uhns)

• Were the ancestors of the Greeks who ruled the island of Crete from about 3000 B.C. until 1400 B.C.

The Minoans (mih NOH uhns)

• The Minoans had a maritime, or sea based, culture.

The Mycenaeans (my suh NEE uhns)

• The inhabitants of southern Greece during the time of the Minoans.

• They learned seafaring skills from the Minoans before conquering them.