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- 2. Section 1 Early People of Greece
- 3. Mountains & the Sea • Greece is nearly ¾ covered with mountains ▫ Early farmers grew olives, grapes, & grain foods in the thin, rocky, & dry climate ▫ Raised sheep, goats, pigs, & cattle to get skins for clothing ▫ Rugged land made travel hard & impossible in some areas Mountain people survived on the food they raised Each village formed their own governments & became independent of each other
- 4. • Greeks living near the sea became fishers, sailors, & merchants ▫ Little natural resources led Greek to look outside Greece for trade • Greece’s location made it a great trading center • Traders on the Mediterranean were eager to exchange their goods for olive oil, wool, & wine • 3000 & 1550 B.C. the Mediterranean’s 1st great trading center grew on the island of Crete
- 5. The Minoans • 1990 B.C. people of Crete built huge palaces ▫ Palaces were like small cities ▫ Were centers of government & religion Largest was Knossos (stood 3 stories high) Other buildings for storing food & decorative paintings • Minoans built Knossos & other cities of Crete ▫ Were seafaring traders ▫ Traded with people in Africa, Asia, & Europe Egypt & Syria were main trading partners ▫ Trading ships carried olive oil, wine, wool, pottery, & other goods to oversea ports Returned with copper, tin, & gold Mixed copper & tin to form bronze ▫ Developed a writing system to keep track of their trade • Minoan kingdom destroyed by fire or earthquake in 1450 B.C.
- 7. The Mycenaeans • Seemed to be warlike people • Measured wealth by number of weapons they owned • Learned many Minoan customs through trade with them ▫ Adapted Minoan art & pottery styles ▫ Changed writing system to fit their language & borrowed some religious beliefs • 1450 B.C. Mycenaeans invaded Crete ▫ Controlled Crete & Peloponnesus from 1450 to 1100 B.C.
- 8. Ancient Stories & Legends • Stories of Homer tell us history of Mycenaeans ▫ Long stories were called epics ▫ Storytellers retold these epics Iliad: epic which tells about people’s actions during a great war Odyssey: describes the adventure of the hero Odysseus on his journey home from the war ▫ War described by Homer was fought between the Greeks & the people of Troy Trojan War