Arp--it is impossible to say how ethnically diverse ancient Greece was because Greek-language speakers, who arrived in Greece maybe in 1500 BCE (maybe), arrived in a place where people already lived. These groups may have been native to Greece or may have emigrated from places like Anatolia (ancient Turkey) or the eastern Mediterranean coast (Semitic peoples), but as far as we know they did not speak Greek. Once Greek-language speakers were in place in Greece, they were in close contact with peoples all around the Mediterranean, from Sicily to Egypt to Syria and all over. We really do not know to what extent "ancient Greeks" are Greek, which is to say a group of people whose native language was Greek. We just know that by historical times (700 BCE) there were enough native Greek-language speakers in Greece for there to be an idea of a Greek people, a Greek religion, and Greek myths.
The historical appearance of Greeks is fascinating (since I've been misled since my youth by D'Aulaires & Clash of the Titans). Were they intermarrying more with people in the Middle East? Africa?
Arp--it is impossible to say how ethnically diverse ancient Greece was because Greek-language speakers, who arrived in Greece maybe in 1500 BCE (maybe), arrived in a place where people already lived. These groups may have been native to Greece or may have emigrated from places like Anatolia (ancient Turkey) or the eastern Mediterranean coast (Semitic peoples), but as far as we know they did not speak Greek. Once Greek-language speakers were in place in Greece, they were in close contact with peoples all around the Mediterranean, from Sicily to Egypt to Syria and all over. We really do not know to what extent "ancient Greeks" are Greek, which is to say a group of people whose native language was Greek. We just know that by historical times (700 BCE) there were enough native Greek-language speakers in Greece for there to be an idea of a Greek people, a Greek religion, and Greek myths.
The historical appearance of Greeks is fascinating (since I've been misled since my youth by D'Aulaires & Clash of the Titans). Were they intermarrying more with people in the Middle East? Africa?