Egypt Textbook Questions

1. Mycenaen- Some of the Indo-Europeans migrating from the Eurasian steppes who settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C.

    Trojan War- A ten-year war fought against the Mycenaeans and Troy, an independent trading city located in Anatolia, during the 1200's B.C. For many years, historians thought the stories that were told of the Trojan War were totally fictional.

    Dorian- A group of people who moved into the war-torn countryside of Greece. They spoke a    dialect of Greek and may have been distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks.

    Homer- According to tradition, Homer was the greatest storyteller who was blind.

    epic- Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds.

    myth- Traditional stories about Greek gods.

3. Nearness to the sea was crucial for the development of Ancient Greece. The major Greek rivers included the Aegean Sea, the Ionian Sea, and the neighboring Black Sea. They proved to be important transportation routes for Greek people. They rarely had to travel more than 85 miles to reach the coastline, so it was very convenient for them. These seas also connected parts of Greece, and eventually, Greeks became skilled sailors. Sea travel and trade were also important because Greece lacked natural resources, such as time, precious metals, and usable farmland.

4. The Mycenaeans adapted the Minoan writing system to the Greek language and decorated vases with Minoan design.

5. The epics were important to the Greeks of the Dorian period because the Greeks temporarily lost the art of writing at this time, so Greeks of this time learned their history through the spoken word (epics told by people like Homer).