Name: _________________________________
History: Chapter 8: The Early Greeks
Date: __________________________
Period: _________________________
I. The Land of Greece
A. Present-day Greece is located in south-eastern Europe on the _________________
_________________. A _________________ is a stretch of land that is almost completely
surrounded by water.
B. Greece’s southernmost tip reaches into the _________________ ____________. To the
west life the ____________ ____________ and the _______________ ________________
while to the east is the _______________ ____________.
C. The ____________ _________________ curves south and east toward a part of Asia called
________ ______________ or “Little Asia.” Today, Asia Minor is part of the country of
_____________.
D. The ____________ and ____________ Seas almost separate the southern part of Greece
from the rest of the mainland. Only a small strip of land called an _____________ connects
them. The southern part of Greece is called the ____________________.
E. ___________________ cover nearly three-fourths of mainland Greece. The heavily forested
________________ _____________________run north and south through the center of
Greece. Between the mountains lie narrow _____________ and small _____________.
Because the region is so __________________, much of the soil is thin and rocky.
F. The jagged __________________ of Greece is cut by many _____________ and is
surrounded by as many as _________________ islands. These islands are also part of presentday Greece. The largest of the islands is ______________, located southeast of the
Peloponnesus, in the Mediterranean. The early people of Greece also settled on these small
islands, as well as along the coasts of ____________________ ______________, ___________
_______________, and what are now parts of ____________ and ______________.
II. Life Among Mountains
A. The ancient Greeks settled in the narrow ____________ among the ________________. As
a result, the mountains separated _________________, and each _________________
developed on its own. For many centuries, the __________________ kept the people of
Greece from uniting under one government.
B. The rugged mountains made inland _____________ and ____________ difficult. To travel
by land from one community to another, people had to __________ through the mountains on
____________ ____________. The rivers of Greece were of no use for travel because they
often dried up.
C. The mountainous land also affected ________________. Only about 20 percent of the land
is good for agriculture. Greece’s soil, for the most part, is ___________ and _____________,
and its climate is ________. There is little flat land available for farming or raising large
animals, such as _____________ and _______________.
D. The ancient Greeks found ways to adapt to their ___________ environment. They raised
animals, such as _________, ___________, and _________, which are fairly small and do not
need large areas for grazing. From _____________ and ___________, the Greeks obtained
__________, __________, and _______________. They ate very little _________, but when
they did, they preferred __________.
E. The early farmers made the most of the region’s dry ________________ and poor
_________ by planting crops well-suited to the area, such as ____________, ______________,
____________, and _______________. They ground the barley and the wheat into flour for
baking _____________ and ______________, which they sweetened with honey.
G. They ate olives and crushed them to make olive oil for:
1.
2.
3.
4.
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
H. They also ate _________________ and pressed them together to make _____________.
III. Life by the Seas
A. The _______________ surrounding Greece provided an abundance of ___________ and an
easier way to ________________ than hiking across mountains. For these reasons, the ancient
Greeks started most of their settlements near the ______________.
B. The Greeks developed into a seafaring culture of:
1. ___________________
2. ___________________
3. ___________________
C. Greece has many fine natural ________________, or sheltered places with deep water close
to shore. The ancient Greeks sailed close to the ____________________, from one
_______________ to another.
D. Through sea travel, people in coastal settlements had ______________ with one another.
Over time, some people ___________________ from one _________________
_________________ to another, and others moved from the ________________ to the
surrounding _______________.
E. In the process, the early Greeks exchanged ______________ and religious ______________.
F. The early fishers knew well the sea’s ________________ ________________. Sailing was
______________________, especially in the ___________________, when the winds were
____________________ and the waters ___________________.
G. According to the ancient Greeks, the god _______________ ruled the seas and watched
over______________ and their ______________. The ancient Greeks believed that Poseidon
expressed his moods through the ________________. A terrible storm rocking the sea was a
sign that Poseidon was ________________.
H. Despite the dangers of the sea, the Greeks depended on it for _____________ and
______________________. Sea travel also connected the Greeks with other
________________ around the ________________________, resulting in an exchange of ideas
and goods across great _____________________.
IV. Exchange and Trade
A. The success of early Greek ____________________ made _______________ and
________________ possible.
B. Their discovery that _______________, ______________, and _______________ could be
grown in the dry _______________ and rocky _____________ of Greece was a powerful one.
C. Not only could they produce a steady __________ supply, they could provide a
_________________. The abundance of food supported a growing ____________________ in
________________ lands.
D. In time, _________________ improved their ____________ and _____________________.
E. Not everyone was busy working in the _________________ or helping herd
_______________, __________________, and _______________. Some people began to
specialize in new ______________.
F. Craftworkers fashioned
1.
2.
3.
4.
______________________
______________________
______________________
______________________
G. They crafted these from natural resources such as
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
______________
H. ____________________, ______________________, and ___________________ did not
grow their own food. Instead, they exchanged their goods with farmers for food.
I. Olives and grapes could also be made into valuable products as _____________
________________ and _____________. Both products required new storage _____________.
Potters devoted much of their time to making storage jars from clay.
J. To get the goods and resources they lacked or desired, the ancient Greeks began to trade
with other groups of people in the ________________________. For example, Greek farmers
could grow _________________ and ________________, but they had less success in growing
wheat, which made ______________ bread. Over time, this led the ancient Greeks to import
wheat from other places.
K. In exchange, the early Greeks ________________ their own goods. These goods included
_____________, _____________ ___________, ______________, and _____________.
L. Trade resulted in an exchange of _______________, too. The sharing of ideas between
cultures was an important means of ___________________ and ________________ change.
For instance, using a process they learned from civilizations in southwestern Asia, the people of
early Greece mixed copper and tin to make _________________.
M. They then made _____________________, ______________________, and
_________________ from their new metal.