Blog Day Eleven: Questions about Greece

Today in class we were told to answer these questions.
1. For each term or nme, write the significance. 
Mycenaean: Indo- Europeans who settled on Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.
Trojan War: Attack on Troy, once thought to be a myth, by the Mycenaean civilization. Now confirmed true.
Dorian: After the Trojan War, these people settled into the war- torn countryside. May have been distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks.
Homer: A blind man, who was a great storyteller, and wrote many epics.
Epic: Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds.
Myth: traditional stories, about Greek gods.
3. What impact did nearness to the sea have on the development of Greece? 

• Greeks lived off the sea, never farther than 85 miles away from one. 
• Being near the Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, and Black Sea meant they had easy access to transportation. 
• Travel equals trade
• Greeks didn't have many natural resources like timber, precious metals, and farmland. They could travel and trade to get what they needed. 

4. What aspects of culture did the Mycenaeans adopt from the Minoans? 

• When Mycenaeans met the Minoans, saw opportunity for greater seaborne trade. 
• Mycenaeans traders started to sail through different places like Syria, Egypt, Crete, and Italy to trade for needed things. 
• Mycenaeans adapted the Minoans writing into Greek so that they could use it. 
• Minoan culture also changed religious practices, politics, art, and literature in Greece as well. 

5. Why were the epics of importance to the Greeks of the Dorian period?

• Greeks at this time learned right from wrong by the spoken word. 
• Epic told about the stories, and about heroic people doing the right thing. 
• Epics were used to teach arete which in Greek meant virtue and excellence.
• Greeks believed in having good moral and epics taught and encouraged that at this time. 

These questions were from page 126 in our textbook.