Chapter 7 Section 1
The Geography of
Ancient Greece
Homer
• Legendary ancient
Greek poet
• Traditionally said to be
the author of the epic
poems the Iliad and the
Odyssey.
Epic
• A long adventure poem.
The Odyssey
• Story of Greek hero
Odysseus (or Ulysses,
as he was known in
Roman myths) and his
long journey home
following the fall of Troy.
The Odyssey
• It takes Odysseus ten years to
reach Ithaca after the ten-year
Trojan War, twenty years in total.
Mythology
• Comes from the Greek
word for story telling.
• Myths were the stories
people told to explain
the world around them.
The Geography of Ancient
Greece
• Most of Greece is a
peninsula, surrounded on
three sides by the
Mediterranean Sea.
• The land is very rugged
and difficult to travel
across.
The Geography of Ancient
Greece
• Only about ¼ of the land is
suitable for farming.
• Ancient Greeks grew olives for oil
and grapes for wine.
Greek Trade
• The lack of land to grow crops on
forced the Greeks to trade with
other civilizations in order to get
the things they needed.
Colonies
• Foreign settlements in distant
lands ruled originally from home.
Greek Trade
• As the Greeks traded more
extensively they established more
and more colonies throughout the
Mediterranean region.
Aegean Sea
• A bay of the Mediterranean Sea
located between the mainland of
Greece and Turkey.
The Minoans (mih NOH uhns)
• Were the ancestors
of the Greeks who
ruled the island of
Crete from about
3000 B.C. until
1400 B.C.
The Minoans (mih NOH uhns)
• The Minoans had a maritime, or
sea based, culture.
The Mycenaeans
(my suh NEE uhns)
• The inhabitants of
southern Greece during
the time of the Minoans.
• They learned seafaring
skills from the Minoans
before conquering them.