Greece cont.

Geography 

-lots of mountains
-about 1,400 islands
-skilled sailors
-poor natural resources
-difficult to unite Greeks because of the terrain; they developed small, independent communities
-20% of the land was suitable for farming
-fertile valleys cover 1/4 of the peninsula
-diet: grains, grapes, and olives
-temperatures ranged from 48 in the winter to 80 in the summer
-lack of resources led to colonization

Mycenaean

-2000 BC
-located on a rocky ridge protected by a 20 foot thick wall
-dominated the area 1600-1200 BC and controlled trade in the region
-Mediterranean means middle earth
-1400 BC they invaded Crete and absorbed their culture and language
-Around 1200 BC "sea people" invaded Mycenae and burnt palace after palace  
Dorians moved into the region
     -they were far less advanced
     -economy collapsed
     -writing disappeared for 400 years known as the dark ages

Homer and Myths

-stories were passed down orally
-lived at the end of the dark ages
-recorded stories of the Trojan war in the Iliad and the Odyssey
     -Iliad- epic poem
     - Odyssey- 12,110 lines long