Early People of the Aegean

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Early People of the Aegean

• Chapter 4, Section 1

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I) Minoans and Mycenaeans shape early Greek
civilizations

• A) Minoans
• Lived on Crete
• Traded set up posts throughout Aegean
• Rulers lived in a palace at Knossos
• Vanished around 1400 B.C.
• Why? See page 115
• Volcano, earthquake, Mycenaeans

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• B) Mycenaeans (1400 BC-1200 BC)
• First Greek-speaking people
• Sea traders
• Lived in city states
• Fought in Trojan War against Troy

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II) The Trojan War

• Long thought to be legend
• Evidence of the war was found in 1870s dating to
  1250 BC
• Two epic poems by Homer enhance our understanding
  of the Trojan war
• Iliad tells of the Trojan War and the
  adventures of Achillles, the mightiest Greek
  Warrior
• Odyssey tells of Odysseus struggle as he tries
  to return home after war

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III) After the Mycenaean civilization

• Greece passed several centuries in obscurity
• People lived in small, isolated villages
• A NEW Greek civilization would emerge to dominate
  the region and influence the world.

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The Rise of Greek City States

• Chapter 4, Section 2

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I) Geography of Greece

• Mountains created valleys
• Hundreds of rocky islands off of coasts
• Independent city-states formed in these isolated
  islands and valleys
• Rivalries between city-states often led to war

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Map Activity Ancient Greece
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Greeks built cities on two levels, with an
acropolis on the top of a hill and a walled main
city below.

• The citizens, or free residents, of cities,
  shared responsibilities and debated ideas.
• Male landowners held all of the political power.

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Different forms of government evolved in Greece
between 750 B.C. and 500 B.C.
monarchy a hereditary ruler exercises central
power
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As forms of government evolved, new warfare
methods also emerged.
- Affordable iron weapons replaced bronze,
increasing the power of the middle class. -
Soldiers trained to fight in a phalanx, and this
training created unity.
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Phalanx warfare put defense of a city-state into
the hands of ordinary citizens. At the same
time, it led to two influential city-states
developing different ways of life.