Greek geography and history

The study of ancient Greece can be rather confusing because of the tiny geographical size of the country, along with the historical importance of so many spots. Thus it is useful to organize the geographical areas of Greece in one's mind—for instance, by remembering that the focus of Greek history shifted from the south to the north over thousands of years. That history began on the southernmost part of the Greek isles, in Crete (rhymes with “neat”), about 25 miles (40 kilometers) off the Greek mainland. Later on, the city-states of the southern mainland would hold center stage; and in the last phase of Greek history, Macedon (MAS-uh-dahn) in the far north dominated the region.

Greece is shaped like the leg of an eagle or some other great bird. Its “thigh” comes down from Macedon in a southeasterly direction, narrowing to a strip of land that eventually reaches a sort of knee—or rather think of the “joint” as an “elbow,” given its angle. Southwest of the “elbow” is an even narrower strip of land, which leads to a giant “claw” at the far southern tip of the Greek mainland. This “claw” is a peninsula called the Peloponnese (peh-luh-puh-NEEZ).

Many of the most important cities of Greek history, including Sparta, Mycenae, and Olympia, were located on the Peloponnese. The upper portion of the Peloponnese, Achaea (uh-KEE-ah), included another important city, Corinth (KOHR-inth). North of Corinth is the Gulf of Corinth, a body of water that forms the western boundary of the “elbow.”

The “elbow,” bounded by the Aegean Sea (eh-JEE-uhn) on the east, contains the region of Attica (AT-i-kuh). The principal city of Attica was Athens, the birthplace of Western civilization. North of Attica, on the upper part of the eagle's leg, was Boeotia (bee-OH-shuh), a region that contained the city of Thebes. To the northwest of Thebes was the important religious center of Delphi.

The “thigh” included a number of important regions: Aetolia (ee-TOH-lee-ah), Epirus (ee-PIE-ruhs), and Illyris (i-LEER-ee-ah; modern-day Albania) on the western coast; Thessaly (THEH-suh-lee) on the eastern coast; and Macedon at the far north.

Beyond Greece to the northeast, where the nation of Bulgaria is now located, was the area of Thrace (rhymes with “space”). Across a narrow sea passageway called the Hellespont was Asia Minor. Northwestern Asia Minor included the city of Troy. The southwestern coast was the region of Ionia (ie-OHN-ee-uh), which contained a number of important Greek settlements.