Geography. Physically, Greece is a land of rough mountains, narrow valleys, and no navigable rivers....
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Transcript of Geography. Physically, Greece is a land of rough mountains, narrow valleys, and no navigable rivers....
Physically, Greece is a land of rough mountains, narrow valleys, and no navigable rivers. However, it has a long coastline with many inlets and bays. The combination of physical features had several effects on Greek character and history.
The Aegean Sea and the neighboring Ionian and Black seas united the Greek people. The “watery ways.” As the Greek poet Homer called them, were the links between most parts of Greece.
Sea travel was also a link with other societies. Even in small ships and without compasses, Greek sailors could go from one island to another to reach the older, rich civilizations of Asia and Egypt. Sea travel and trade were important because Greece itself was poor in resources
About three fourths of Greece is covered with mountains, the highest of which is Mount Olympus, the towering, snow-capped “home of the gods.”
Rugged terrain made transportation difficult. For example, the city state of Sparta was only about 60 miles from Olympia, the site of the Olympic Games. Yet it took Spartans nearly a week to travel the distance.
The mountains significantly influenced Greek political life. It was very difficult to unite the country under one government. Therefore the Greeks were content to live in a collection of small independent communities.
Greece was never able to feed a large population. It is estimated that no more than 2 million people lived in ancient Greece at one time.
Fruits and vegetables could grown in only a few places. Meat was rare because the country lacked grasslands to feed large herds of cattle or flocks of sheep. The three principal Greek crops were grains, grapes and olives.
Ancient Greek Diet
Breakfast:
Bread Dipped in
WineLunch: Bread
Dipped in Wine
with olives, figs,
cheese or dried
fishSupper: Vegetables, fruit,
fish, honey cakes
Note: Beef was very Expensive and Rare
Wine was the main
drink. Milk was not
drank that was
considered barbaric
Ancient Egypt Diet
Main Drinks: Beer
Wine
Ate a lot of
vegetables such
as; lentils,
lettuce, peas,
cucumbers,
onions and
radishes
Variety of breads
Variety of meats including; cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs
Variety of fruits
including; dates,
melons,
pomegranates,
apricots
Wealthy had a greater variety of food choices, the poor had little choice
The Greek way of life, at least for men, was an outdoor life. Men spent almost all their leisure time at the agora, or marketplace, at the gymnasium, in political meetings, and the theater, and at civic and religious celebrations. All these public events took place outdoors.