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The history of Ancient Greece starts with the Minoan Civilization on the island of Crete, just south of the Greek mainland. The Minoans are often credited as the first civilization in Europe. They’re known for their palaces that were centers of the community, along with their writing system, Linear A that has yet to be deciphered. -
The Mycenaeans were considered the first Greeks because they actually spoke Greek. Mycenaeans had settled in cities like, Mycenae, Sparta, and Thebes. They had magnificent palaces that were used by the people to store goods. Their writing system was Linear B, and this has been deciphered. -
The Trojan War is a Greek myth that may have some truth to it, as archaeologists and historians continue to work on discovering more about it. Regardless, this myth tells the story of the Achaeans fighting against the Trojans across the Aegean Sea, after Paris of Troy took the Queen of Sparta. Ultimately, the Greeks win and recall this as a proud moment in their history.
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Shortly after the Trojan War, the Mycenaean civilization collapsed and we don’t know exactly why. It could be due to a number of factors, such as drought, war, trade routes being erased, and more. Regardless, the Greek Dark Ages saw. For a period of time, people even forgot how to write! The Greeks were nomadic as they’d rather flee their villages than fight off invaders.
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During the dark ages, people were living in small villages and were sometimes nomadic. Those that chose to stay in the small villages eventually saw their village grow bigger and bigger. To manage an ever growing city, the inhabitants set up a government, implemented laws, raised armies, and fortified their city. This was the beginning of Greek City-States. -
After the Greek Dark Ages, some Greeks slowly began to go back to the glory days of Greece, when they were the big power players in the Aegean. Eventually, international trade sprung up again and the Greeks military grew stronger. This is the age of the great Greek poets like Homer, and the Olympic Games were introduced, as well as the reintroduction of writing.
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The Olympics of the Ancient Greeks looked quite different from the Olympics we watch on TV today. Held in Olympia, (where it gets its name) athletes all over Greece would come to compete in honor of the God Zeus. Initially, there were only foot races that took place with the contestants naked. A thousand years later, a Roman Emperor banned the Olympics to suppress Paganism. -
These two epic poems tell us the story of the Trojan War and life in Ancient Greece. While the author of these two poems are often accredited to Homer, we now know that they may have been stories told for generations and were finally written down. Therefore, the stories we know today have most likely been altered after generations of oral transmission. -
The first known democracy in the world came about in Athens after Cleisthenes passes a series of political reforms. Athenian democracy was made up of three institutions, and only male citizens over the age of 18 could vote. Although, Athenian Democracy was short-lived, its legacy lives on.