Greece

Cultural Influences

Discussing the in-between cultural area to which some say Greece belongs, geographer T.R.B. Dicks observed: "Many would argue that the Greeks are a curious mixture of eastern and western. . . . It is in the towns and cities that western influence is most marked, but even in Athens the colors of the Orient are strongly represented."

Which statement about Greece's relationship with the sea is NOT true?

Access to seaports has little effect on Greece's economy.

Which statement about the economy of Greece is true?

Agriculture is an important part of the Greek economy.

Which statement about the Minoan civilization is NOT true?

Archaeologists all agree on the reason for its fall.

Introduction

Greece does not fit neatly into any single regional group. There are several reasons to consider Greece to be part of Mediterranean Europe. First, Greece has strong geographical and historical ties to the Mediterranean. Second, Greece is now a member of both the EU and NATO. Third, Greece is the birthplace of a culture that reached full expression in Western Europe. Greece bears the imprint of other regions, too. As the map shows, Greece shares its northern border with the region of Eastern Europe occupied by Albania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia. On the east it meets the Southwest Asian nation of Turkey.

Economic Activities

Greece is a country covered by mountains and rocky soil. Its tallest peak, Mount Olympus, rises 9,570 feet (2,900 m), and many areas have elevations over 3,000 feet (900 m). Parallel ranges make travel difficult in many places. Narrow coastal plains, however, provide flat areas on which wheat and other grains are grown. Here, olive and citrus groves also abound. Agriculture is an important economic activity for Greece, despite problems such as poor soil, sparse rainfall, and outdated farming methods. With financial assistance from their government and from the European Union, Greek farmers are growing new products for export. On the more rugged slopes, farmers graze sheep and goats. As in other Mediterranean nations, however, these animals have destroyed natural forests, leaving a scrubby vegetation that does little to prevent soil erosion.

How was a theory of volcano eruption destroying Crete shown to be incorrect?

By using scientific methods to date key events.

Cultural Convergence

Greece may be considered a Western nation, in part, because Western culture has so many of its roots in ancient Greece. Some Western ideas about democratic government, for example, are based on Greek ideals. The Iliad and the Odyssey, Homer's epic poems about the Trojan War and the fall of Troy, remain popular centuries after they were composed. To ancient Greeks the poems provided a guide for moral behavior and were the cornerstone of a proper education.c

Which statement about the conquest of Greece is NOT true?

Greece was conquered only by Rome.

People and Environment

The land area of Greece includes some 2,000 islands. Its northern mountains are extensions of the Dinaric Alps, which form the mountainous backbone of the Balkan nations. Southern Greece is the product of tectonic forces—it is where the Eurasian tectonic plate meets the African Plate. Major faults here thrust some lands higher and caused others to sink. Grabens, areas of land that have dropped down between faults, were flooded. The Aegean Sea to the east of the Greek mainland occupies one such graben. Another graben was flooded to form the Gulf of Corinth. As shown on the map, this thin inlet separates most of Greece from the Peloponnese (pel uh puh NEES), a large peninsula of rugged mountains.

Shipping

Just 5 miles (8 km) to the south, Athens merges with Greece's largest port, Piraeus (py REE us). The harbor there grew steadily in importance during the twentieth century. As one might expect in a nation where no point is more than 85 miles (137 km) from the sea, Greece relies heavily on trade over water. It has one of the world's largest commercial shipping fleets, and shipbuilding is an important industry. Other industries also have located near the docks of Piraeus. In this way, they can take advantage of low transportation costs for imported raw materials and exported manufactured goods. The sea also enables Greece to maintain contact with its many islands. Many of these are in the Aegean Sea, although the largest, Crete, is south of the mainland in the Mediterranean Sea. Fewer than two hundred of these islands are inhabitable—that is, able to support permanent residents. Many people make a living from fishing, but tourism continues to grow as a major economic activity. Visitors from around the world seek the sun, sparkling water, and gleaming beaches of the Greek islands.

Which statement about the Minoan culture is NOT true?

Minoan culture was not tied to the sea.

Cooperation and Conflict

While the influence of ancient Greek culture spread through Western Europe, other cultures put their stamp on Greece, usually through military conquest. From the second century BC to the fifth century AD, Greece was part of the Roman Empire. As the Roman Empire declined, Greece became an important part of the Byzantine Empire. For the next thousand years, Greece was invaded from all directions, over land and water. Slavs, Albanians, and Bulgarians came from the north. Arabs swept in from the south. Normans and Venetians attacked from the west. In 1453, Turks conquered Constantinople, now the city of Istanbul, and ruled Greece for almost four centuries. Finally, after a ten-year rebellion, the modern state of Greece gained its independence from Turkey in 1829.

Athens

Greece's capital, Athens, is located in a part of Greece known as Sterea Hellas. Modern Athens has matured mainly within the last hundred years. It is one of the youngest capital cities in Europe. But the monuments of Athens have stood on the hill known as the Acropolis for thousands of years. Over one third of Greece's 10.5 million inhabitants live in and around this crowded city. Modern apartments and houses line crowded city streets, as do new office buildings and an array of stores, taverns, and restaurants. One hallmark of this modern city is its daily traffic jams. The downtown streets are so choked by traffic that walking is faster than driving. As one visitor noted, "There is only one proven solution to Athens' traffic problems: live television coverage of an important international soccer match. Whenever that happens, the streets are deserted."

How have Greece's physical characteristics affected its economic activities?

Greece's proximity to the sea has enabled it to develop successful tourism, fishing, shipping, and ship-building industries. Because of the generally rugged terrain, most farming takes place on narrow coastal plains.

Greece could be considered a Western nation because __________.

Important Western values originated in ancient Greece.

Which statement about Athens is true?

It has a high population density.

Understanding the Past

Part of Greece's appeal to visitors lies in its rich history. One historical mystery surrounding the island of Crete puzzles archaeologists to this day. About thirty-five hundred years ago, the Mediterranean island of Crete was the center of Greece's flourishing Bronze Age culture. This culture is called Minoan after Minos, a legendary king of Crete. Expert shipbuilders, the Minoans traveled and traded throughout the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Then, around 1500 BC, Minoan culture fell into a rapid decline. Some scholars believed that people from the Greek mainland attacked and destroyed Crete. Others thought that an earthquake demolished the island. But Greek archaeologist Spyridon Marinatos believed these explanations were incomplete. Excavating near an ancient port in Crete, Marinatos discovered a piece of pumice from Thera, an island located 70 miles (113 km) from Crete. From that rock and others, he proposed a theory. He described destruction caused by a blanket of ash from a volcanic eruption, giant sea waves called tsunamis (tsoo NAH mees), and earthquakes that caused oil lamps to overturn and set fires. Investigations by other scientists appear to show that Marinatos's theory was incorrect. Evidence gathered elsewhere from ice-core samples and tree rings of ancient trees dates the eruption on Thera to more than one hundred years before the collapse of the Minoan civilization. The fate of the Minoan civilization has again been cast into doubt. Archaeologists must reconsider the evidence to determine what happened to this once vital civilization.

For the people of ancient Greece, the Iliad and the Odyssey __________.

Presented community standards.