05 The Greek City-States

Question 1

Western civilization

Answer 1

the society, culture, and way of life that developed in Europe and spread to the Americas

Question 2

fresco

Answer 2

painting made on wet plaster walls

Question 3

polis

Answer 3

Greek city-state

Question 4

acropolis

Answer 4

a hill or mountain

Question 5

agora

Answer 5

marketplace; also a public meeting place for Greek citizens

Question 6

Minoans

Answer 6

sea-faring civilization well established on Crete by about 2000 BC; weakened around 1500 BC

Question 7

Mycenaeans

Answer 7

warlike people who entered Greece around 2000 BC and who came to dominate the mainland until around 1200 BC

Question 8

Dorians

Answer 8

illiterate people who moved into the region after the collapse of the Mycenaean society

Question 9

Aegean Sea

Answer 9

sea between Greece and Asia Minor

Question 10

Balkan Peninsula

Answer 10

land between the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea

Question 11

Crete

Answer 11

island in the Mediterranean Sea to the south of Greece

Question 12

epics

Answer 12

long poems describing heroes and great events

Question 13

myths

Answer 13

traditional stories about the deeds and misdeeds of gods, goddesses, and heroes

Question 14

oracles

Answer 14

special sanctuaries where the gods spoke through priests or priestesses

Question 15

import

Answer 15

good or service bought from another country

Question 16

export

Answer 16

good or service sold to another country

Question 17

aristocracies

Answer 17

nobles who ruled Greek city-states

Question 18

hoplite

Answer 18

heavy infantryman

Question 19

tyrants

Answer 19

leaders who seized power illegally but who were supported by the people

Question 20

popular government

Answer 20

idea that people should rule themselves rather than be ruled by others

Question 21

democracy

Answer 21

a government in which all citizens take part

Question 22

Homer

Answer 22

blind poet who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey

Question 23

Zeus

Answer 23

king of the gods

Question 24

Athena

Answer 24

goddess of wisdom, womanly virtue, and technical skill

Question 25

helots

Answer 25

people of Sparta who were conquered and enslaved by Dorian invaders

Question 26

ephors

Answer 26

overseers who were elected to the Spartan assembly

Question 27

metics

Answer 27

people born outside Athens, who did not have the same rights as citizens

Question 28

archons

Answer 28

rulers elected by the assembly to appoint officials and make laws

Question 29

direct democracy

Answer 29

government in which citizens participate directly in making decisions

Question 30

representative democracy

Answer 30

government in which citizens elect representatives to run the government

Question 31

Draco

Answer 31

strict Athenian archon who first wrote down Athen’s law code

Question 32

terracing

Answer 32

creating plots of land by building walls on hillsides and filling the space between them with soil

Question 33

pedagogue

Answer 33

a male slave who taught an Athenian boy manners and accompanied him everywhere

Question 34

rhetoric

Answer 34

the study of oratory and debating

Question 35

Darius

Answer 35

Persian ruler who tightened rule over the Greeks and led his empire in the Persian War against them in 492 and 490 BC

Question 36

Xerxes

Answer 36

Darius’ son who destroyed Athens but was defeated by the Greeks at Salamis

Question 37

Themistocles

Answer 37

Athenian leader who led the defeat of Xerxes

Question 38

Pericles

Answer 38

leader of Athens who led the city-state during its time of greatest power, prosperity, and democracy