The Greeks were the descendants of a number of Indo-European tribes which turned southward, after reaching the pasture lands along the Danube River, and found their way into Greece.
Gradually Greeks pressed southward into Greece and settled in the countryside around the Aegean towns in very much the way the Hebrews distributed themselves among the Canaanites of Palestine.
Before 1500 BC at least one Greek tribe, the Achaeans, had penetrated the Peloponnesus. Around 1500 BC a more aggressive group of Greeks called Dorians reached this region.
Between 1300 and 1000 BC the Greeks spread over the entire Aegean area.
The land of Greece is mountainous. Many small valleys are open to the sea but are closed in on the land side by those mountains. Each valley became the home of a small group or tribe of settlers.
It was easier for the Greeks to travel upon the sea than to make their way inland across the mountains. And the Aegean is dotted with more than five hundred islands, which was a very important factor in the early expansion of Greeks.
Life in all households was very much the same. Everyone worked including the queen. The womenfolk did the cooking and washing, cared for the children, spun yarns, wove cloth, and made the family clothing. The men cared for the fields and flocks, built and repaired the house, made the furniture, and fought in wars. The slaves did pretty much the same work as everyone else, although no doubt the less pleasant tasks more often fell to their lot.…
