Who Are the Greeks?

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The Greek called their country Hellas and themselves , Hellenes . With the arrival of the Romans , they called themselves Gracias .
The Greeks were not the natives of Hellas , and there were other people who were called the (Protogreeks) . They had dark skin and black or brown hair with brown or black eyes . Their origin is not known but they immigrated to Greece in 2200 BC and they lived there for several centuries until they made a civilization called the Mycenaean civilization in 1400 BC .
The Mycenaean Civilization had many centers (such as Macedonia , Argos and Daphne) . Their civilization lasted for 200 years , until a sudden death in 1200BC . At this point , the history of the Greeks begins with the Sea People (Dorians) invasion . The Dorian might have come from Central Europe .
Dates in the Greek history:
1-The Greek Dark Ages extended from 1200BC to 800/750 BC . We did not find any thing dating back to this period .
2-The Archaic period took place from 800 /759 to 550 /500 BC . the Greek history began when they invented the writing and the basics of their civilization .
3-The Hellenic Period extended from 550/500 to 334/323/305BC . In 334 BC , Alexander , the Great left Macedonia to go eastwards with the aim of fighting the Persians . In 323 BC , Alexander , the Great died . The year 305 BC is known in history as the year of kings as when Alexander , the Great died leaving his empire to his generals without an heir , his generals or leaders divided his empire between them and Egypt was taken by Ptolemy I) .
4-The Hellenistic Period extended from 334/323/305 to 31 BC . It began with the Roman leader , Octavious , defeating Cleopatra and joining Egypt to his empire , the Roman Empire , in 27 BC (the time of Alexander the Great , to 31 BC , the time of the Roman conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean) .
The Sea People:
Between 1000 and 500B . C , people living around the Mediterranean Sea became civilized . They organized themselves into city-states .
Three of these people came to have particular significance , namely the Carthaginians , the Etruscans and the Hellenes .
Each of the Sea People developed independently , with individual characteristics of living that grew out of their geographical and historical circumstances .
The Hellenes were particularly fortune as they were close enough to the civilized East to be in touch with it .
The Hellenes:
The Hellenes were a mixed people descending from two main groups of ancestors who differed physically and culturally . One branch came from the Bronze Age Sea People , including people of Crete , Cyprus and Phoenicia , most of whom had a delicate small bone structure , coppery skin that easily took on brownish-red tones when exposed to the Sun and wide dark eyes . The other ancestral group was the IndoEuropean people including the Dorians and the Ionians .
1-The Dorians: they were the original invaders who refused to mix with the native people (the Protogreeks) and kept their race . They were blond with blue eyes . They were good warriors and their most famous city was Sparta .
2-The Ionians: they were the Dorians who married from the Protogreeks . They were dark-skinned with black or brown eyes and hair . Compared with the Dorians , they were more and their most famous city was Athens .
Greece is divided into two distinct parts separated by a narrow strip of land known as Isthmus of Corinth . The southern portion was known as Pelephesseus and the Northern as Attica . Greece was not a united country but it consisted of several cities called 'Polis' which means 'a city-state' . The number of citizens in the polis should not be less than 5000 to 10000 persons , with the exception of Athens the population of which reached 20000 citizens .