Expert: Maria - 11/13/2005

Question
How did Greek geography affect its cultural history?

Answer
Hello,

First of all I have to point out that this question too is broad  and would need a long answer.
Anyway here are some suggestions you must work out.

The influence of geography on Ancient Greece's  economic, social and historical events is obvious as well as it is obvious that Greek civilization was moulded by the land, the sea and the weather of the Mediterranean area.

In fact  the mountains that split the Greek lands have contributed to localism and have been a  barrier to Greece unity as a nation, while the struggle of communication by land and the significant presence of the sea have made mariners out of Greeks for numerous generations.

This in general.

I must however point out that  Greek particularism, i.e.  the unwillingness of Greek communities to see beyond their local horizons,  which gave rise to ‘poleis', i.e. the city-states, independent political units consisting of a city and surrounding countryside, like Athens, Sparta, Thebes etc., depends not only on geography, but especially on the inherent Greek tendency toward individualism.
Therefore from the beginning of Greek history to its climax in the 5th and 4th century BC, the Greeks were organized into city-states which frequently were at war with each other.
This later left Greece open to foreign attack by large centralized states to which it eventually submitted (e.g. Macedonian conquest in 338 BC and then Roman conquest in 146 BC).

Paricularism however had also positive developments, particularly with respect to the Rise of Democracy in Ancient Greece.

This in short, as it is your business to develop these suggestions.

Good work!
Maria