Notes and The Odyssey

Today we went over some notes about Greece:
Geography of Greece:
mountainous peninsula
mountains - 3/4
approximately 1,400 islands in Aegean and Ionian Seas.
location shaped its culture
skilled sailors
poor natural resources
had many city-states that hated each other (example: Sparta and Athens)
in one of the Persian Wars, the Spartans teamed up against Athens
approximately 20% suitable for farming
fertile valleys cover 1/4 of peninsula
because of the geography, the Greek diet consists of grains, grapes, and olives.
lack of resources most likely led to Greek colonization.
temperatures range 48 degrees in the winter to 80 degrees in the summer.
MYCENAEANS

began around 2000 BC
Mycenae is located on a rocky ridge and protected by a 20 ft. thick wall.
Mycenaean kings dominated Greece from 16000-1200 BC
-controlled trade in the region
Mediterranean - middle of the earth
1400 BC Mycenaeans invaded Crete and absorbed Minoan culture and language.
CULTUREIN DECLINE
around 1200- BC sea people began to invade Mycenae and burnt palace after palace.
the Dorians moved into the war-torn region
-far less advanced
-economy collapsed
-writing disappeared for 400 years (dark ages)
HOMER AND MYTHS

stories were passed on by word of mouth
Homer lived at the end of the "Greek Dark Ages"
recorded stories of the Trojan War in the Iliad and the Odyssey (written 750-700 BC)
Trojan war was probably one of the last conquests of the Mycenaeans
Odyssey was 12,110 lines of dactylic hexameter.