Religion

The ancient Greeks believed that there were gods and goddesses that contorted nature and peoples lives and the events in there lives. They believed that people had to go to a oracle to find out what there destiny was. Some of the gods were Zeus god of the sky's and leader of the gods, Poseidon god of that seas and earthquakes, and Hades the go of the underworld, and there are many more gods as well. Different people told different stories of what gods did and how it effected the people, these were called myths. Myths and Mythology was how ancient Greeks expresses there religion. The ancient Greeks believed so much in these gods that the most impressive buildings in there city's were temples where they worshiped the gods. They also believed that once people died they thought people would go to the underworld in the afterlife.

Geography and Cities

The early ancient Greek cities were usually located by shorelines or bodies of water, ancient Greece is considered a peninsula or a body of land surrounded by water on three sides. This location was important because the people would be able to become fishers, sailors, traders and other things. They could also make a living out of it by getting different materials and foods if you are a trader, trading the fish you catch with other people for things you need if you are a fishermen, or get a payment for giving passage on your ship if you were a sailor.

Writing System

When the Greeks began to exit the Dark Age things like farming and trade began again, and something that came from all of that was a new way of writing. The Greeks got the idea of there writing from the Phoenicians. There alphabet had 24 letters and they all stood for different sounds. With this new form of writing it made Reading, and Writing much easier.

Organized Government

There were many different types of governments in ancient Greece. One of then was a Direct Democracy which was that people would meet together and talk about the changes that needed to be made, a modern day example would be Switzerland. There was also the Representative Democracy this was where people elected other people to represent them in government, an example from today would be the United States. Another was a Tyranny this was when there was one ruler where what ever they said went, Cuba would be an example of this today. And also the Oligarchy this type was when a small group of people would lead, Venezuela would be an example from today. Each form of government had its own advantages and disadvantages. Some advantages of a direct democracy would be that instead of having someone represent you, you would represent yourself. But a disadvantage of this is if people did not attend the meetings they would not be able to speak there mind and represent themselves. Some advantages of a Tyranny would be with one ruler the creation of laws would be much faster then with a larger government. But a disadvantage would be the ruler could misuse there power, and they could have a oppressive rule. An Oligarchy's disadvantage would be that it makes the rich become more rich and powerful but does nothing to help the poor advance there life. The advantages of a Oligarchy only apply to the upper class citizens.

Art

The Greeks had different types of art from epics, which are long poems told about heroic deeds. Fables are shorter then epics but teach people a lesson. There is also Drama, drama is were actors who pretend to be a cretin character and speak, and show emotion like they are that character. And there is also tragedy, this is were a person or multiple people try to overcome difficulties but fail at doing so. Those are just some of the forms of Art in ancient Greece. But all of these different arts did not just stay in Greece, since Alexander The Great had taken over a vast amount of places there culture moved with them. There culture moved to places like Asia, and Africa and in turn they also brought some of Asia and Africa's culture to Greece. This time was known as the Hellenistic Era. With all of these cultures and arts it had to have a impact on Greece. It impacted them because it was used as a part of there everyday life such as there temples, pottery, and buildings.

Class Divisions

The Greeks Class Divisions were very different from other places like Egypt, or Mesopotamia. In those two examples the people were subjects of there rulers, but in Greece native-born males who owned land (or later native-born males who did not own land, excluding slaves) were considered citizens and could participate in government. But they had more rights then just that. They could also vote for government officials and vote on laws, and they also could defend themselves in court.