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The Greek civilizations were very closely tied to the sea. During the Bronze Age, the Greek civilizations of the Myceneans and Minoans built palace complexes, developed their own systems of bureaucracy and writing, and created a merchant marine.
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After the decline of the Bronze Age, Greece was greatly impacted. Trade declined dramatically, and Greece was largely isolated during this time. The Greeks had to turn to local subsistence economies to survive which in turn cut them off from foreign ideas and cultural influences.
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Starting in 800 BCE, the Greeks began to emerge from their Dark Age. During the Archaic Age, the Greeks were able to re-establish trade with foreign cultures. The Greeks through trade and contact with foreign cultures were able to develop their own alphabet and better educate their citizens.
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The Olympics were competitive athletic events competed by Greeks from different Greek settlements. The Olympics are a tradition that our modern world still celebrates.
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The earliest surviving Greek Literature dates from around 800 BCE to 750 BCE as a result of the new Greek alphabet. Our English alphabet can even be traced back to the Greek alphabet. Homer's epic poems were recorded during this time and shared information about ancient Greek values, beliefs, and practices.
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Cleisthenes develops the first "real" form of democracy in Athens. Our modern democracy today in the United States is an evolved form of Cleisthenes's example of democracy in ancient Greece.
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The Greeks fight back against Persia and succeed. Following the Persian War, the Greeks exhibited the most remarkable flowering of their ideas and accomplishments, specifically in culture and learning.
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The Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta transformed Greece making it much less isolated. Both Athens and Sparta had to seek allies outside of Greece, changing the Greek idea of being superior to everyone else. The Peloponnesian War also changed Greece's ideas on political order.
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Although Greece was a fairly isolated civilization, beginning in 330 BCE, Alexander the Great began his conquests starting with the Persian empire. Alexander would later play a huge role in spreading Greek Culture throughout his vast empire.
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By 322 BCE, Greece had witnessed three of the greatest thinkers (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle) who were all linked together as teachers and students. These philosophers were some of the greatest military and political leaders who established ideas that remained much into the modern era.
