Chapter 8 – Greece STUDY GUIDE Mr. Davis & Mrs. Burnette WEMS 7 th Grade World History Test: Friday, February 7

The Geography of Greece (Questions 1 & 2) As you can see from this map, Greece is a peninsula with many mountains and natural harbors. (Question 3) Since traveling by land was difficult, the Greeks turned to the seas for travel and trade. They became expert shipbuilders.

The Minoans and Myceneans (Question 4) The Minoans built and advanced society on the island of Crete. (Question 5) Historians don’t consider the Minoans to be Greek because they didn’t speak the Greek language.

The Minoans and Mycenaeans (Question 6) The Minoan civilization declined after many natural disasters: a volcano erupted, covering the sky and ground in ash that ruined crops and buried cities. Because of the eruption, a giant wave came up from the sea and flooded much of the island of Crete.

The Minoans and Myceneans (Question 7) After the decline of the Minoans and Mycenaeans, Greece fell into an era of warfare and disorder. Historians call this the Greek Dark Ages.

Polis (Question 8) A polis is the Greek word for city-state. (Question 9) Each Greek polis and all of the colonies were similar because they were centers for government and trade.

Pericles (Question 10) Democracy worked best under Pericles. He encouraged people to take pride in their city, participate in government, and paid people for their public service. He also encouraged people of Athens to introduce democracy into other parts of Greece.

Representative Democracy (Question 11) A representative democracy is the type of government of the United States. Citizens elect representatives to debate and vote on issues for them. There is a separation of powers: legislative (create laws), executive (enforce laws), and judicial (judges interpret the laws). All citizens can participate/vote (both men and women).

Government in Athens (Question 12) Juries in Athens had an odd number of members to prevent ties in votes. (Question 13) An oligarchy is a type of government where only a few people have power—usually a council of wealthy landowners. (Question 14) The Athenians held meetings outdoors because they wanted to be sure everybody that wanted to attend would be able.

Government in Athens (Question 15) Citizens in Athens had a variety of rights… but to be a citizen in Athens, you had to be a male that owned land. All citizens had the right to vote in assembly. They all had the right to speak and debate on issues. All voting was done by a show of hands or by secret ballot. (Question 16) Athens was the first city-state to introduce democracy, rule of the people, as a form of government.

Greek Mythology (Question 17) Greek myths were stories about the gods that tried to explain how the world worked. (Question 18) One story in Greek mythology explains how the seasons change: Demeter is separated from her daughter Persephone for six months out of the year. Her sadness for missing her daughter makes the earth cold and gray, creating fall and winter.

Greek Mythology (Question 19) We see Greek mythology in our culture in a number of different ways. Colleges and professional sports teams are named for characters in Greek mythology. The Olympics are held every four years. We have expressions such as “titanic” to describe something that is very large.

Questions 20 & 21 – Explaining the difference between Greek and American democracy In Athenian Direct Democracy… All citizens meet as a group to debate and vote directly on every issue There is no separation of powers… citizens work together to create laws, enforce laws, and act as judges. Only free male citizens could vote. Women and slaves could not. In American Representative Democracy… * Citizens elect representatives to debate and vote on issues for them. There is a separation of powers. Three branches of government: LEGISLATIVE (creates laws), EXECUTIVE (passes and enforces laws), JUDICIAL (interprets the laws—judges elected or appointed). Not all people serve in these roles collectively. All legal adult residents are citizens regardless of gender, race, or status and have the right to vote in elections.