The Geography of Greece

Throughout this module, we will pay special attention to maps and how we can use maps to learn about ancient Greek geography. A map is a visual representation of a physical area. It can be helpful to look at a variety of maps because each type of map highlights different aspects of the environment. For example, if we’re going on a road trip, we will want to make sure our map shows highways, rest stops, and road names. If we want to go rock climbing, we will want a map that shows elevation, terrain, and trails. Different maps have different purposes.

Below are two kinds of maps that are helpful for learning about geographical features. On the left is a topographical map, which shows representations of landforms like mountains and rivers. On the right is a map made with satellite imagery. Satellite imagery gives us a picture of the earth taken from a satellite in space.

Try it: Find Greece on the maps below. Look for mountains, water features, road and place names, and settlement patterns. Which features are easier to read in the topographical map? For what purposes would you rather use the satellite imagery map for?

The Greeks told stories about gods who lived high on Mount Olympus and heroes who sailed across the Mediterranean Sea. These two geographical features, the mountains and the sea, are perhaps the most representative aspects of the Greek landscape.

The physical environment of Greece influenced where communities settled and how the cultures of individual cities developed. Greek communities grew in the valleys between mountains, where the land was fertile enough to grow crops. Ancient Greece was not a unified nation like a modern country. Instead, it was made up of city-states. A city-state is a political unit made up of a city and its surrounding territory. Each city-state operated independently, but city-states would often form an alliance with other city-states.

The boundaries of each city-state were often based on geography. Mountains created natural barriers for traveling, as did water features and the natural ragged shape of mainland Greece. Some historians believe that ancient Greek city-states remained independent partly because travel between areas was so difficult. This also meant that each city-state developed unique characteristics including customs, language dialect, and economic specialization.

Try it: The map on the left shows the political geography of ancient Greece and highlights important city-states. Find Attica, Boeotia, Laconia, Crete, and Ionia. What are the major city-states in each of these areas?

The inhabitants of ancient Greece were never far from the mountains or the sea. Yet each city-state had its own history and customs. There were seaside cities, like Athens, that developed busy ports, a large navy, and a sea trading empire. In northern areas, like Thessaly, some communities lived on plains and traveled on horseback more than by boat. Some city-states had neighbours on all sides and had to keep peace through treaties. Other city-states had a whole island to themselves. These geographical differences impacted the customs of each community and what they had to trade with others. Geography influenced the strengths and weakness of each city-state. In this way, geography was a very important influence on Greek history and culture.

A great example of how geography impacted Greek history and culture is the Isthmus of Corinth. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land with sea on either side, which forms a link between two larger pieces of land. This isthmus is in the area of Korinthia, and it is often known as the Korinthian Isthmus or the Isthmus of Corinth. It connects the Korinthian Gulf (in the west) and the Saronic gulf (in the east). Greek sailors who wanted to go from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea would have to go all the way around the Peloponnese.

In the late 7th century BCE, the tyrant of Corinth, Periander, sponsored a way to get boats across the Isthmus. He hired workers to carve a groove in the land from one end of the Ishtmus to the other. Then, they used wagons to haul boats from one end to the other. They called this the Diolkos. In ancient times, various leaders promised to cut through the isthmus, but this was never actually done. Finally, in 1893, the Korinthian Canal was cut right through the rock at the Isthmus. Still, the isthmus remains difficult to navigate and these days it is mostly used by recreational boats.

The history of the Isthmus goes back much further than Periander. By the 8th century BC, almost a hundred years before Periander constructed the Diolkos, a settlement called Isthmia had already grown near the Isthmus. The area was often under the political control of Corinth, the largest city in Korinthia. The area of Korinthia also has some of the most fertile land in southern Greece, plus access to timber. These are some of the reasons that Corinth emerged as an early power in Greece and remained so throughout antiquity.

In the 7th century BCE, a temple of the sea god Poseidon was constructed at the Isthmus. By the 6th century BCE, a pan-hellenic festival began at Isthmia. These prestigious games were similar to the Olympics that took place at Olympia, a sanctuary in the Peloponnese. We call these games pan-hellenic because all Greeks, regardless of their city-state, were invited to participate. The games were held every 2 years, but at other times, too, visitors and travellers stopped at Isthmia to explore the sanctuary and pay their respects to the god of the sea.

Isthmia became a site associated with unity among the Greeks. In the classical period, Greeks from many city-states gathered at Isthmia to discuss their battle plans against the Persians. They even began plans to fortify the Isthmus in case the Persians were able to push that far into Greece, but in the end that was not needed. Throughout later Greek history, Isthmia continued to host games and serve as a symbolic meeting place for people from all over the Greek world. In the 3rd century BCE, when Alexander the Great arranged a meeting to discuss how the Greeks could take on the great King of Persia, they met at Isthmia. Because of its strategic location, Isthmia remained an important site throughout the Roman period. In modern times, many travellers pass through Isthmia on their way from Attika into Korinthia and the Peloponnese each day.

Be sure to check out the next Storymap, where we'll look at how the geography of Greece fit into the wider context of the Mediterranean Basin.

 Click here  to learn more about the Isthmia, and the Isthmus of Corinth from Ohio State.

 Click here  to learn more about the excavations at Corinth from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.