Geography of Ancient Greece

1. Geography of Ancient Greece Chapter 8, Lesson 1

2. “The good Odysseus gladly spread his sail: seated, he steered…. Seventeen days he sailed across the sea; on the eighteenth he saw that he’d drawn close to shadowed peaks: he now was near the coast of [an] island; in the mist that land took on the likeness of a shield.” About 2,700 years ago Greeks first began listening to the exciting tales, like the one above, of a poet named Homer. Homer’s stories about Odysseus helped the ancient Greeks imagine a distant age much different from their own. They also expressed the strong connection the people of ancient Greece felt with the sea.

3. The Big Picture Around 1500 BC, along the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean sea, the civilization of Ancient Greece was growing. It had been developing for more than 1,000 years. Unlike many ancient civilizations, ancient Greece did NOT have a silt filled river that flowed through it, instead it was located in a rocky landscape surrounded by the sea.

4. Mountains and Sea Greece is made up of the southern part of Europe, along with over 400 islands. The largest of the islands is Crete. To the east of Crete is Rhodes, an island near present day Turkey. Rhodes is the perfect rest stop between Greece and Asia. 9 out of every 10 acres are mountains and hills. Western Greece is the most mountainous. It is difficult to travel and there is very little farmable land. Wild plants live on the hillsides, which provide herds of goats and sheep with food.

5. Land Along the Coast The eastern coast of Greece provides large plains that are suitable for farming. The plain of Attica is a wedge shaped peninsula that goes into the Mediterranean Sea. It contains excellent natural harbors for ships. Peloponnesus is southwest of Attica. It looks like a giant hand reaching towards Crete. It contains several rivers, which dry up in the summer time. Peninsula: an area of land nearly surrounded by water. Harbor: sheltered place along a coast.

6. Early Economy in Greece

7. Agriculture in Ancient Greece Summers in Greece are hot and dry. Fields can become parched in the summer but soaked with rain in the winter. The winters are wet and fiercely windy.

8. Agriculture in Ancient Greece • Farmers grew wheat and barley to make bread, and olives and grapes. Both grew well in the rocky and hilly areas. • Timing was important to the Greek farmers. • Take careful note of the time when you hear the voice of the crane uttering high in the clouds her yearly trumpeting cry [in the fall]. She announces the signal for plowing and points to the time of water and rain. –Hesiod • Hesiod warned the farmers that if they waited for winter to plow the land, they would only gather a small handful of grain in the spring.

9. Crossing the Seas Sailing was an important part of life in Greece. Sailors would travel all over to trade. Phoenicia (today Lebanon) was Greek’s competitor in trading. Phoenician sailors were just as skilled as the Greeks and traveled to ports all along the Mediterranean. Olive oil was one of the most prized Greek exports. The sale of this allowed Greeks to buy much-needed grain for their markets at home. People used the olive oil for food, lamp fuel, and body lotion.

10. Main Ideas Unlike the Nile or Huang River valleys, Greece has land that is hilly and rocky, making farming difficult in most areas. Ancient Greeks used the Mediterranean Sea as a “highway” to trade for goods they could not produce themselves. Olive oil- a product of a crop that grows very well in Greece’s rocky soil– became valuable to trade for grain.