The Importance Of Geography And Geography In Ancient Greece

The civilians of Ancient Greece had to be resourceful. Most civilizations had rivers to channel, irrigate, and predict. Ancient Greece is a series of islands. This means that the people of Ancient Greece had to learn to live on the ocean. They had to deal with being more vulnerable to land attacks as they were used to battling with ships. And they also had to deal with huge ocean storms. These storms could destroy a new society with no notice. (Acrobatic, 2014)

The Olympics can be traced back as far as 776 BC. The games were devoted to the Olympian gods and took place in Olympia, which according to Greek myths is on the island of “Pelops”. The first ever Olympics were also held every four years during a religious festival and they

The geography of Greece affected its development because of the various islands and mountainous ranges there could not have a central government like Rome. They had polis’ or city states. A strategic political organization tool to control the many islands. The Mediterranean sea, mountains, islands, and climate isolated divided Greece into city states, virtually This led to a personal form of government which was an early form of democracy. City states came in various sizes, ranging from a few thousand inhabitants to a size of Athens. Each Polis was each fiercely independent and jealous of each others leading to fighting. But on the other hand the whole greek civilization was created on the Aegean Sea with deep pitted coastlines creating natural harbors. Making trade that much easier. Greece couldn't trade overland so the need to import and export goods oversee was needed. Greece imported metals, woods, and food from all over Cyprus, Egypt, Sicily. etc. Greece

“Although the ancient Games were staged … from 776 BC through 393 AD, it took 1503 years for the Olympics to return” (The Games). The Olympic Games were very important to the Greeks just like the Games are a huge spectacle for the world now. The Games were always important to the Greeks because the Olympics tied into their religion. The Greeks used the Olympics to worship their gods by showing their strength and gifts that the gods had given them. Once the Greeks lost their empire, the Olympics died off. Modern day people did not warm up to the idea of the Olympics until the 1900s. Once they warmed up to the idea of the Olympics, they took off with it, and it is now a global spectacle. The Olympics has a rich history, significant purpose,

One way was the sea. Athens was located on the Attica peninsula so they were surrounded by water on three sides and Athens built its naval supremacy of Triremes. The Triremes gave Athens control of the Mediterranean Sea so they controlled trade and gained the name the “Big Olive.” A lot of the battles of the Persian war were fought with navies and the Trireme allowed for them to win the narrow straits of Salamis. The sea also greatly impacted economy. The Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Aegean Sea connected all of the land and islands of Ancient Greece so they could trade with one another. The Sea also allowed for travel and they could trade with other countries like Egypt. They could make a profit for their natural resources and benefit from obtaining resources that were not natural to Greece at the time. The biggest impact geography had on Greece was the land. The land was dry with only 20% arable land and it was extremely mountainous. The mountains ran from the northwest part of Greece to the southeast part along the Balkan Peninsula. Due to the dryness, the Greek city states were constantly looking to expand their land and the mountains caused each city state to be spread apart. This made them have decentralized governments. Also due to the mountainous geography, there were over 1000 Greek city states including Athens and Sparta. Land also was on Sparta’s side during the Peloponnesian

According to the Olympics Game timeline, the first ever Olympic Games was held in 776 BCE, in Olympia which is in Athens, Greece. They were held there at olympia for 13 years. We don't know how the games began according to Robert Woff, some stories say the Zeus started the game. According to this story, it started out with Zeus and his father, Kronos were wrestling in olympia, who knew it would turn into what it has become. Wrestling wasn’t the only sport in the ancient greek olympics, there were many more that were involved. Some of the original events according to “Ancient sports” are boxing, equestrian events (chariot racing & riding), pankration, pentathlon (discus, javelin, jump, running, wrestling).

To start off, the geography of Greece affected early settlements in many positive ways. One great example of the lands geography that made a positive impact on Greece was Mount Olympus, more importantly it’s height. Mount Olympus was and still is a very tall mountain. Since the mountain reached so far up into the sky, the top of it was

The Olympic Games, was once a significant athletic festival that originated in ancient Greece as a religious festival which was revived in the late 19th century as a secular competition to

The soil was so hard, rocky, and mountainous that there was a Greek legend that says that God when making the Earth put each country through a strainer and that the rocks left in the strainer became Greece. This layout of Ancient Greece made it extremely hard for the Greeks to travel by land which eventually led them to sailing. Another negative of the geography of Ancient Greece was the unpredictable volcano eruptions and earthquakes. As stated in Document 3 the volcano eruptions were common because Greece is right in the middle of a very active volcanic zone where the Europe and Africa tectonic plates meet. Volcanoes have been so bad that according to Document 3 in 1450 B.C half of Santorini Island was sunken into the sea after a volcano eruption that destroyed the whole island’s

The Olympic games were an athletic competition help in Greece around every four years from 776 B.C.E. In 776 B.C.E, the first olympics were held in Athens where many competitors clashed during the sporting events. The olympics then stopped in 393 C.E. due to Theodosius I’s orders on stopping the olympic events. Later during 1896, the modern olympics began to take place. The olympics were different from the ancient olympics in that the competition was shaped due to social, political, and economic reasons.

One positive effect that the geography has on Greece it that they can grow olives easily. The land conditions that are favorable for growing olives are hot and dry climates, which Greece has so it is a great spot to grow them in. In document 4 it says that, “the Greeks believed that the god Athena gave them the first olive tree as a gift and they thought it was so priceless they named their city after Athena.” Olives and olive oil became one of the most valuable items that Greece had and traded. Greeks

The geography of ancient Greece impacted their civilization in a variety of ways. The Greek peninsula is surrounded by the west by the Ionian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the east.

Greece is one of the four multicultural empires that occurred around 600 BCE to 600 CE. Ancient Greece had so many different geographical features that helped brand the outcomes of the empire. One of the key features was Greece’s rugged mountains with deep valleys. With the mountains and valleys being rugged, it produced poor rocky soils (Acrobatiq, 2014). Also, there were narrow coastal areas as well. With this being a living environment for the Greeks, the production of food crops was unfortunate because of those factors. The Greeks had to find other ways to gather foods to their city-states because of the low production of food crops. With this being a bittersweet situation, Greeks recognized more about trades. They eventually became more knowledgeable and respectable at it. Greeks would find other places that would trade with them for food crops and other resources. Greeks built colonies that were decent areas for finding foods and resources. Through this time, Greeks expanded with trading and traveling to enhance their empire.

The Olympics is one of the few activities that brings the world together. The Olympics first started in the ancient times, dating back to 776 BC. They were first dedicated to Olympian gods, but modern games are to give athletes an opportunity to show their skill, and for others to enjoy watching them (“History”). The first modern world wide olympics was held in Athens, Greece in 1896, having 14 countries participate, with over 200 total athletes.

The Ancient Olympic Games took place during a time of prosperity for the nation of Greece. In fact, they contributed to the success of the Greek Empire. The Olympic Games reinforced the power of ancient rulers, brought peace with the surrounding nations, and created a reliable way to track time. These ancient games have had such an influence, that they are still continued in our modern society.