Early History to the Dark Ages
NCSS Content Standards:
1a. Compare similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures meet human needs and concerns.
2b. Identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict, and complexity to explain, analyze, and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity.
2c. Identify and describe selected historical periods and patterns of change within and across cultures, such as the rise of civilizations, the development of transportation systems, the growth and breakdown of colonial systems, and others.
The Earliest People of Greece
The earliest Greeks were the Minoans and then later the Mycenaeans. Above is a map of the area the two civilizations controlled overtime. Both civilizations were ruled by powerful kings. Read the links about the two civilizations below and complete the venn diagram.
Trojan War
As we know the Mycenaeans were a great warrior culture and often engaged in conflict. The Trojan War was between the Mycenaeans and the Persians. The war has many myths and stories tied to it. However, the basic premise is that the Persians of Troy invaded the mainland of Greece and captured Princess Helen and took her back to Troy. Troy was a large, powerful, walled in city that was very difficult to invade. Legend has it, that for years the early Greeks tried to invade but were not able to. Watch the video below which explains more about this famous Greek legend.
The Dark Ages
While the Trojan War victory was a high point for the Mycenaeans, shortly after, the earliest Greeks fell into an era of despair known as the Dark Ages (1100 B.C. to 750 B.C.) The Dark Ages were a time when the Ancient Greeks lost all of their culture from art to language and more. To this day, the reason for this collapse is not completely known. Below is a link with information about the Dark Ages, read it and complete the activity below.
https://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/aegean/pre-greece/greekdarkages.html
The Greek Dark Ages: What Happened?