1. Ancient Greece: Geography

2. Where is Greece?
Sunny Greece is located 1,500 miles southeast of England.
It’s capital city is Athens
It is famous for its beautiful beaches and sea!

3. How has the geography of Cranbury impacted your lives?
Driving
Vacation
School
Clothing
Recreation
Geography had the same impacts on Ancient Greeks

4. The Climate The climate is Mediterranean.
The Mediterranean Sea cools the air in summer and provides warmth in winter.

5. The Climate - Summer The Greek summer is hot and dry.
On average the sun shines for 3,000 hours per year.
leads to drought
grapes and olives are one of the few plants that can survive the summer droughts

6. The Climate - winter
The Greek winter is moderate. It can be rainy on costal regions and snowy in the mountains.
allows for limited farming
grapes and olives

7. Physical Geography There are mountains, valleys and coasts.
The high mountains are separated by deep valleys through which rivers flow.
75% of Greece is covered by mountains
Difficult to farm

8. Ancient Greece - terrain
No part of Greece is more than about forty miles from the coast (a couple of days walking).
There are lots of islands surrounding Greece.
Surrounded by seas
Made trade easier
Could get what they could not grow
Also brought ideas back with them
Because of the mountainous terrain, it is said that “all Greeks are islanders”, separated from each other by water or land boundaries.

9. Soil and Plants Vegetation is dependent on geographical regions.
In Ancient Greece, farmers grew olives, figs, grain, fruit and grapes in the fertile valleys.

10. Soil and Plants
However, other parts of Ancient Greece had drier soil and less vegetation, particularly around the cities (only 1/5 land could be farmed).
Although surrounded by sea water, they found it difficult to find fresh water away from the valleys.
The high mountains also prevented large-scale farming, so the Greeks were forced to look beyond their own country for fertile land. They became great sailors and traded with far off lands.

11. Volcanoes!
Another important aspect of the Greek environment is that it is very unstable.
Greece is in the middle of a very volcanic zone, between the European and African tectonic plates.
There are several active volcanoes and earthquakes are common.

12. Where on Earth is Greece?
Greece is located on a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea.
As you can see in the map above, Greece is almost completely surrounded by water.
Many islands can be found around the peninsula.
The large island at the bottom of the map is Crete.

13. Ancient Greek Culture
Because they were cut off by mountains and the seas…
…they were isolated
Led to the formation of city-states
Limited interaction and unity of Ancient Greece
Created fierce rivalries
…the sea became a vital link
Hundreds of bays to provide safe harbor for ships
Skilled sailors
Traded olive oil, wine, and marble
Returned with grains, metals, and ideas
Adapted the Phoenician alphabet
Became basis for all Western alphabets

14. Ancient Greek Culture What Ancient Greeks did…
Went to war (each city-state was VERY patriotic and willing to fight!!)
Peloponnesian, Trojan, and Persian Wars
Developed great thinkers
Homer, Socrates, Plato
Herodotus- Father of history
Archimedes- Archimedes Screw
Built temples to the gods and goddesses

15. Ancient Greek Culture Wrote poetry and drama Tragedy Comedies
Sophocles
Euripides
Comedies
Aristophanes
Performed outside with little or no scenery
Stadium seating

16. How did the Geography of Greece impact Ancient Greeks?
Created
Great thinkers
Great architecture
Skilled traders
War mongers
Technology