How have Greeces geographic features influenced its history?
In the segment on “Courage,” students read that Greece’s island and mountain features made “its small, isolated communities immune to forcible change,” and thus more able to protect their traditions during the period when Greece was dominated by empire builders. When discussing such influences and when examining Greece’s position in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula you might want to point out, however, that Greeks were not resistant to all change. They were, for example, among the world’s very first Christians. Students should also be able to infer from the reference to early Greek colonies (and from any map see the Greece Map Page), that Greeks were/are seagoers. Indeed, Greek shipowners today have amassed the largest merchant fleet in the world. 2. What does Greek history teach us about the pursuit of democracy? One lesson it teaches us is that the freedom to practice democracy can be lost! Another: the lasting power of a great idea. A third: that democracy cannot flourish w
