Ancient Greek society became the foundation for western civilization. Its philosophers, art, math concepts, and literature still permeate through modern culture today.
Greece is situated on a peninsula surrounded by many islands and bodies of water including the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Greece is usually studied divided into three regions. Northern Greece is further subdivided into two section called Epirus and Thessaly. Thessaly is nearly surrounded by mountains such as Mount Olympus, yet boasts the largest plains in Greece. The Central region is even more mountainous than the Northern region and is famous for its marble and honey. The Southern region is known as the Peloponnese. If that sounds familiar, it is also the name of the famous Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta that the famous Greek philosopher Thucydides wrote about.
Ancient Greece was an important trading route in the Mediterranean area. Commodities such as wheat, dates, barley, grapes, olives and honey were used a little like today's travel insurance. Traders were assured that they could return to the sea with their wares as long as they gave trade in return. Sometimes the trade was unintentional: the Phoenician sea traders stimulated the creation of the Greek alphabet, which is heavily used in math and science today.
Greece went through many different periods of cultural growth and civilization: the Sub-Mycenaean, Geometric, Early Archaic, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic eras. Below is a timeline:
Sub-Mycenaean: 1180-1050 B.C.
Geometric: 900-700 B.C.
Early Archaic: 660-580 B.C.
Archaic: 700-480 B.C.
Classical: 480-323 B.C.
Hellenistic: 323-146 B.C.
The Sub-Mycenaean period fell toward the end of the Bronze Age with its grand palaces. City-states and politicos began in the Geometric period, which is also known as the Dark Age. The Olympics, Draco's Code of Law, and coin currency was introduced in the Archaic period of Greek history. The Classical period was tainted by war, then peace with the Persians; and, the Peloponnesian War. The Hellenistic Age was still immersed in many wars and officially ended the era of Ancient Greece with the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C.
Each period grew culturally advanced as time wore on. Philosophers such as Socrates and Plato orated in front of anyone who would listen to them. Their philosophy is much studied today. The art of ancient Greece told much about daily life, which was much more difficult for women than for men--even in the more liberal city-states of the time. Female babies often were left out to die in the streets or were adopted as slaves by the rich or by the state. Males sought education outside the home, although females were educated informally within the home.
How you lived and how you dressed was dependent on where you lived in Greece. What men and women wore in Sparta differed from what men and women wore in Athens. Little physically remains of ancient Greek pottery, but what does remain tells significant stories about Greek life, what kind of furniture you had, how you dressed, what you ate, what station of life you lived.
Although the first Bibles arguably came from Greece, ancient Greece was first a pagan and then a polytheistic society which believed in more than one "god." Out of Greek mythology came many heroes and heroines, some of whom such cities such as Athens, for the greek goddess of beauty, Athena, were named. It wasn't until the end of the Classical era that the notion of a soul and perhaps blissful immortality awaited the dead.
Ancient Greece Timeline for Kids
The Comprehensive Ancient Greek World
Ancient Greek Civilization PBS
Ancient Greek Literature Online