World HistoryChapter 5A

Cultures of the Mountains and Sea

Geography Shapes Greek Life

• The sea shaped Greek life just as the rivers shaped the cultures of Mesopotamia and Egypt

• Greeks became skilled sailors• Sea travel and trade were important because

Greece was poor in natural resources

Greece

Continued

• The land was rugged and mountainous• Land transportation was difficult and there was

very little farmland• The Greek population was small and people

lived simply• The climate was cool in winter and warm in

summer which allowed much of life to take place out doors

Mycenaean Civilization Develops

• A large wave of people migrated to Greece and they were the Mycenaean's

• They developed city-states in southern Greece and these flourished from 1600 B.C. until 1200B.C.

• These city-states joined together to fight a war with a powerful city in Asia Minor (Turkey) called Troy

• Though the Mycenaean's won they would be invaded and defeated by the Dorian's

Troy

Mycenae

Greek Culture Declines Under the Dorian's

• The Dorian attack causes economic chaos and also social decline as the ability to write is lost

• With no means to record events Dorian Greeks developed the practice of passing on history through the spoken word

• A blind poet named Homer composed epics-narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds. They were called The Iliad and The Odyssey

Homer

TA5B

Read Pages 127-133

Copy & Define terms on Page 133

Copy & Answer Questions 11 & 12 on Page 150