- Life in Greece
- Fertile valleys cover 1/4 of the Greek peninsula.
- Of it, only 20% is arable (farmable) land.
- The Greek diet consisted of grapes, grains, olives, and fish.
- The lack of resources in Greece is likely what led Greeks to start colonizing.
- The temperature ranged from the mid-'40s during the Winter and low 80's during the Summer.
- Led to people being out all the time (creating the Olympics and later, the birth of democracy).
- Mycenaeans began influencing the world around them in 2,000 BC.
- Mycenae was located on a rocky ridge on Peloponnesus protected by a 20-foot thick wall.
- Kings dominated Greece from 1,600 BC to 1,100 BC.
- They controlled the trade in the region.
- Around 1,400 BC, Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed the Minoan culture.
- e.g. writing system, language, art, politics, literature, and religion.
- Trojan War
- The Greeks have fought in many wars over time.
- The Trojan War was fought at around 1,200 BC.
- Until the nineteenth century, most historians had thought that, like many other parts of Greek history, the Trojan War was a myth.
- That is because gods and goddesses were involved in the war.
- Goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given the "apple of discord" and even though they were all good friends, they argued plenty.
- Paris judged Aphrodite as the fairest.
- Aphrodite then made Helen (who was married) fall in love with Paris, who took her back to Troy.
- The "Sea People"
- Around 1,200 BC, mysterious "sea people" began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace.
- Then, the Dorians moved into the war-torn region, dominating from 1,150 to 750 BC.
- They were far less advanced,
- The trade-based economy had collapsed, and
- Writing disappeared during the 400-year period.
- So, oral tradition started to emerge.
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