Early Greece

Running head : A HISTORY OF GREECE

A History of Greece (Student 's Name (School 's Name (Professor 's Name (Course

A History of Greece

Western Civilization owes much of its development to Greek history because most of the current principles and knowledge of man was derived from this ancient culture . The foundations of mathematics , science medicine , philosophy , politics and even the different forms of art nowadays were first established long before Christ was born in these Mediterranean islands

The Bronze Age (3000 BCE to 1100 BCE

Bronze became a heavily

used metal in Greece during 3000 B .C . It was used to make different tools and ancient battle weapons that were all part of Greek daily life

The three great civilizations that are worth studying were born on different parts of Greece . The Minoans settled on Crete at around 2600 B .C . This community got its name from Minos , a legendary son of Zeus who ruled Crete and rid it of sea pirates (Minos , 2007 . By the year 2000 B .C , these people were able to establish a very dynamic community life marked by favorable trade activities that helped make its citizens rich . The people of Minoa became known for their palaces and socio-economic political organization . The first evidence of Greek writing called Linear A , came from this period . There remain specific evidences that Minoans held great but peaceful influence over the islands of the Aegean despite being naval conquerors . At around 1500 B .C , records seem to imply that a volcano on Santorini erupted which caused major earthquake and huge tidal waves that could have wiped out the Minoan civilization (Greeka , n .d

Mycaenaeans , another community evidenced to have come from the north in around 2000 B .C , settled on the main island and became the center of trade after the reign of the Minoans . The previous centuries ' records show that these two civilizations had a complex relationship in that it had strong business connections to each other but were also competing in their dominance of the Mediterranean . However , with the sudden disappearance of the Minoan civilization , the Mycenaeans became the trade hub during the 1400 B .C . to 1200 B .C . with much of the Minoan cultural tradition transferred to the main island (Mycenaean Civilization , 2007 . Some of their differences with the Minoans however , were shown through their use of armors in battles and better fortified territories . Mycenaeans are also noted for their beards . The people of Mycenaea chose to live in smaller units or kingdoms but were united by one dialect . The story of the Trojan War seems to be based on some facts between the Mycenaeans and the inhabitants of the Troad , or Troas , in Anatolia ' which is now Turkey (Trojan War , 2007 . There are indications that when Troad was afflicted by a terrible fire , the Mycenaeans wanted to conquer the city . The greatness of Mycenaean community ended at around 1200 B .C . when crops began to fail and famine ' gripped Greece (Ancient Greeks , n .d...