3.1 Meet the Greeks

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 1

AGE 2. The Time of Greeks and Romans

3.1 Meet the Greeks

What is this lesson about?

Because of the high mountains and rocky grounds in Greece, people used ships to trade and to find new fertile land. These colonies would be independent city-states, or poleis. They would be set up like most Greek cities, with a market (agora) and temple district (Acropolis).

What you can explain /  do after this lesson

• What a polis is
• Why trade was important for the Greeks
• Why the Greeks created colonies
• How to organise Greek history into different ages
• What a Greek polis looked like

Word Duty

Colony: a new city that was started overseas

Polis (plural: poleis): Greek city-state

Agora: the main marketplace in a polis

Acropolis: the inner keep of the city where most of the temples were

Dark ages: time historians cannot “see”, because there is no information about it

Oral Tradition: stories are not written down, but passed on from person to person by telling

Link to WRTS wordlist for all the other difficult words: WRTS HISTORY

KEY WORDS

TIMELINE of this CHAPTER

1a. Read "Geography of Greece".
What was NOT typical for the Greek landscape?

1. high mountains
2. much farmland
3. rocky ground
4. many islands

1b. What problems did this cause for the Greeks?

1c. How did the Greeks solve these problems?

1. They bought their food from the Egyptians
2. They started colonies where they could farm and traded by sea.
3. They conquered lands and took their food
4. They changed the landscape so it would be more fit for farming

2a. Read "The Greek city states ". What was a polis?

2b. What does a polis have that makes it more than just a city?

2c. What did a polis NOT have?

1. its own government
2. its own army
3. its own coins
4. its own language

3. Read "Greek gods in the city". Why do you think the Greek poleis stored their gold in the temple of their favourite god? Discuss with a partner.

4a. Look at the map.
Why was Piraeus important for Athens?

4b. Look at the map.
Why do you think did the Athenians build the
“long walls” you see on the source?

5. Why was trade important for the Greeks? Give two reasons.

6. Is it correct to say that a polis needed wood for trade? Explain.

7. There were many different poleis in Greece that all had their own acropolis and city wall. What does that say about their relationship?

Dates:

Criteria:

Name:

8. Read "Greek History" and complete this overview.

Classical Period

Hellenistic Period

Mycenaean Period

Dark Ages

We know little about this period

Language (Linear B), art (statues looked straight ahead)

Greek empires dominated the 

Near East

architecture (big temples etc.) and long wars

323 - 146 BC

1100 - 750 BC

500 - 323 BC

1600 - 1100 BC

disuniting factors

uniting factors

9. Some historians say that Greece was disunited: it was not one country, but a collection of different countries (city-states).

Other historians say that Greece, despite the different city-states, was still one united country.

Let’s look at both views:

they spoke the same language

they lived in poleis

poleis often fought each other

they worshipped the same gods

poleis had their own armies and laws 

poleis fought together against a foreign enemy

Write down one question about something from this lesson that you find difficult.

congratulations

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