Research Paper On Greek Civilization

Greek civilization is very interesting. Being a small land, you’d expect it to generally have the same beliefs and systems in place under a single government, in which case, you’d be wrong. Thanks to the mountainous region and sea, they were largely separated and developed independently of each other. While they developed separately, each had some glaring similarities. In each of these small communities, political participation and cultural expression was a part of day to day life. These reasons, and several more, are why Greece was such a fascinating society.
While some of the general geography was similar, they still had many differences. They were alike in basic geography, Greece as a whole was a mountainous peninsula. To all of
Greece,
The differences in land is what largely decided the different communities that Greece was broken up into. Peloponnesus was mostly small valleys, and hills, with several mountains.
Attica, was set in between the mountains and the sea. There was also Boeotia, which consisted of the largest amount of plains within Greece, leading to very different geographical backgrounds for each of the groups.
Culture in Greece had a lot of variances, while also having striking similarities. In Crete, which is an island to the South of the mainland, they seemed largely market based, having trade networks with Egypt. They seemed largely mercantile with influence abroad but weren’t known for military force. The Mycenaean, who while also mercantile, were known above all else as a warrior people. What they had in common though, was that they all formed monarchies. Each city state developed independently into having kings and palaces. Coming together as a loose
Jason Stapleton 10/10/2016 confederacy, while still being independent. They all also built their palaces on hills and surrounded them by walls made of stone.
Being separate, independent city states, their economies were different, but had
The Mycenaeans of the mainland
Greece also dealt in pottery, with their pottery being sold across their extensive networks from
Egypt to Italy and across the entire Mediterranean basin. The society of Crete however, collapsed, due to natural disasters, while the mainland continued for a little bit time to see prosperity, thanks to military strength. There is even evidence that they pillaged the recovering
Cretan people, showing the difference in militaristic strength at the time.
This is why Greece and its civilization have an interesting culture. Early Greece showed promise and developed in an interesting fashion due to its geography. Both being separate and individualistic, but ending up being very similar in governments and ideals.
Sharing mountains with each other, but strongly maintain sense of self through their culture as they become city states linked in a loose confederacy. Even maintaining similar exports, such as decorative vases and pottery, though they had differing commercial networks, with the mainlands being more expansive. A country that was divided by mountains, early Greece had an riveting history, that still draws the attention of readers and historians alike