ancient greece test Flashcards
2/12/2024
greece is covered 3/4 in ____
mountains
how can greek geography be described simply?
mountainous peninsula (balkan) in the Aegean Sea
are there many islands off of mainland greece?
yes, around 2,000 or 6,000 when including the Aegean and Ionian islands
did they live near the coast?
yes
what are the 3 main seas near mainland greece?
aegean, ionian, black seas
what were the greeks skilled in?
sailing and trading
what made the greek city-states be created instead of being one greek state/nation?
the mountains in the areas
was transportation difficult on land?
yes because of the mountains
was there a lot of arable land?
no, the land only supported small scaled farming and a small population
what is a monarchy?
1 king runs the government
did they have a lot of outdoor activities?
yes, the greeks lived a very outdoors lifestyle (town meetings, discussions, politics)
what is aristocracy?
a form of government in which power is held by the nobility
who were the myceneans?
the first greek-speaking people
indo-europeans that migrated to greece around 2000 bce
what is a oligarchy?
a small group of people having control of a country
what is a democracy?
the whole population or all the eligible members of a state run government
what is mycenae?
main city
when did the mycenaeans dominate greece?
from 1600-1100 bce
what was the city mycenae like?
located in southern greece, extremely fortified city, warrior-king ruled, other strong cities are tiryns and athens
what were the myceneans like?
lived in separate city-states with strong, warrior-kings
sea traders
when and what happened with the mycenaeans and minoans meet?
came into contact around 1500 bce
learned value of sea trade and ship building
adopted minoan writing system, as well as politics, art, literature and religion
may have conquered crete?
what was the trojan war?
1200’s bce the mycenaeans fought a TEN year war with troy (trading city located in anatolia)
troy controlled important straits (dardaanelles and bosporus) connecting the med sea to the black sea
what are main events of the trojan war?
the trojan prince, paris, kidnapped helen, beautiful wife of the greek king leading to the mycenaeans to go to troy to save her and fight 10 years
the greeks trick the trojans with a wooden horse
was the trojan war always viewed as true?
no, historians originally thought that the war was fictional
who and when was the city of troy uncovered?
in the 1870’s, heinrich schliemann uncovered troy and argued that the trojan war actually took place
is the trojan war now believed to be true?
modern studies show that the war did happen although the actual events of the war are still unclear
who were the dorians?
after the trojan war, the mycenaean civilization collapsed. in 1200 bce, it was invaded by the sea raiders dorians who then moved into greece
what were the dorians like?
spoke a greek dialect
less advanced then the mycenaeans
economy collapsed and trade stopped
temporarily lost the art of writing under the dorians (no record 1150-750 bce)
the dark ages of greece
who was homer
homer was the greatest bard (story teller)
legends say he was blind
sometimes between 750-700 bce
created the epics the Iliad and the Odyssey
learned history through spoken words
what are epics?
narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
who are bards?
traveling poets and storytellers
what are myths?
fictional stories that provided a sense of national identity
what is oral tradition?
teaching and spreading culture through stories (languages!)
by 750 bce, the ______ was the political unit of greece
city-state
what does polis mean?
city state
what were city-states made up of?
a city and surrounding villages
what were agoras?
greek marketplace
what was a acropolis?
fortified hilltop
what were temples in greek city-states made in honor of?
the greek gods and goddesses
what were the greek city-states population like
less than 10,000