Ancient Greece, Geography and Agriculture

Geography

Mainland Greece is a peninsula on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in southeastern Europe below Albania and Macedonia. To the east is Aegean Sea, to the west in the Ionian Sea. Much of the mainland was mountainous, and this like the Red land for the Egyptians, provided protection from invading armies. Crete is an an island further south in the Mediterranean Sea, between Egypt and Greece.

Agriculture

The Ancient Greeks couldn’t grow much grain because the terrain was too hard and rugged. Most grain was imported. They didn’t have rich river silt land like Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley Civilization. However olives and grapes grew well. The Ancient Greeks ate them and also made the grapes into wine and the olives into oil. The oil was used for cooking, lamp fuel, and soap. Wine, oil, and pottery were traded with other civilizations. It should be noted that their mountainous terrain was also good for herding animals like sheep and goats. They ate their meat and made cheese from their mild. They also ate fish from the surrounding sea.