Ancient Greece

Question 1

Epic Poem

Answer 1

A long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero.

Question 2

Arete

Answer 2

The accomplishment of a hero which is achieved through contests or struggles.

Question 3

Minoan Civilization

Answer 3

A Bronze Age civilization located in Crete that used metals to make weapons.

Question 4

Mycenae

Answer 4

The first Greek state made up of powerful monarchies that contained Indo European people. They were a warrior people who prided themselves on heroic deeds in battle.

Question 5

Homer

Answer 5

A famous Mycenaean poet who wrote epic poems. He wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad which were the first great epic poems of early Greece. His poems were inspired and based on heroes and warriors.

Question 6

Crete

Answer 6

Large island located southeast of Greek mainland. Crete was a major area in Greece and housed the Minoan Civilization.

Question 7

Ionia

Answer 7

A strip of territory in the Western shores of Asia Minor. During the Dark Ages, many people left Greek mainland and sailed to Ionia.

Question 8

How did the geography of Greece affect Greek history?

Answer 8

Greece consists of mountainous peninsula and numerous islands. The mountains and sea impacted history because it isolated Greeks from one another, causing different independent Greek communities, leading to individual governments, but also tension between communities.

Question 9

Polis

Answer 9

A Greek city-state that became the central focus of Greek life.

Question 10

Acropolis

Answer 10

The fortified area on the top of a hill in the polis used for gathering. The acropolis was used as a place of refuge during an attack and could also be a religious center.

Question 11

Agora

Answer 11

An open area below the acropolis that served as a place where people could assemble and as a market.

Question 12

Hoplites

Answer 12

Heavily armed infantry soldiers (foot soldiers) who the military system was based on. Each soldier carried a round shield, a short sword, and a thrusting spear.

Question 13

Phalanx

Answer 13

A rectangular military formation in which hoplites went into battle as a unit, marching shoulder to shoulder. This close formation created a wall of shields to protect each soldier.

Question 14

Democracy

Answer 14

Government by the people or rule by the many

Question 15

Oligarchy

Answer 15

Rule by a few leaders

Question 16

Helots

Answer 16

Messenian and Laconian people who were captured and became serfs and were made to work for the Spartans.

Question 17

Ephor

Answer 17

A group of five men who were elected each year and were responsible for the education of children and conduct of all citizens.

Question 18

Aristotle

Answer 18

A Greek philosopher. Aristotle taught Alexander the Great.

Question 19

Solon

Answer 19

A reform-minded aristocrat who was given full power over Athens in 594 B.C.

Question 20

Cleisthenes

Answer 20

A reformer who gained power over Athens with the backing of the Athenian people. He created a council of 500 men that supervised foreign affairs, oversaw the treasury, and proposed laws. His reforms created the foundations of Athenian democracy.

Question 21

Athens

Answer 21

A large city-state in Greece. Early Athens was ruled by a king, which switched to an oligarchy under the control of the aristocrats. Later, Athens became the foundation of democracy. Athens was centered around intellect and strategy and many philosophers came from it. Athens was a male dominated society.

Question 22

Byzantium

Answer 22

A city where Greeks settled along the shores of the Black Sea, on the Hellespont and Bosporus bodies of water (it became Constantinople).

Question 23

Sparta

Answer 23

A major city-state in Greece. sparta was governed by an oligarchy headed by 2 kings. They also had ephors and a council of elders who decided on the issues that would be presented to an assembly of male citizens. Sparta focused a lot on war and heroism. They trained their children to become warriors, and did not focus on education or other arts, only war.

Question 24

How were Athens and Sparta different?

Answer 24

Athens trained its children in literature and academics, while Sparta trained its children to become military warriors. Athens’ military was based on strategy and intellect, while Sparta’s military was based on physical strength and instilling fear in its opponents.

Question 25

Tyrant

Answer 25

Wealthy Greek rulers who seized power by force from the aristocrats.

Question 26

Age of Pericles

Answer 26

A period in Greek history in which Athens saw the height of its power and brilliance. They became very attached to their democratic system. Under Pericles, Athens became the center of Greek culture. Pericles set in motion a massive rebuilding program. Art, architecture, and philosophy flourished.

Question 27

Direct Democracy

Answer 27

A democracy in which people participate directly in government decision making through ass meetings. This democracy was used in Athens, where male citizens were in the governing assembly and voted on major issues.

Question 28

Ostracism

Answer 28

A method Athenians devised to protect themselves against harmful politicians. If members of the assembly deemed someone harmful to the city, if there were 6,000 signatures agreeing with this, he was banned from the city for 10 years.

Question 29

Darius

Answer 29

A Persian ruler who was defeated by the Athenians at Marathon.

Question 30

Xerxes

Answer 30

The Persian monarch who came to power after Darius. He launched an attack against Greek army and forced them to withdraw. Later, the Greeks compiled a massive army and defeated the Persians and Xerxes.

Question 31

Pericles

Answer 31

A prominent and influential Greek statesman/orator who led Greece in the Age of Pericles, the greatest time in Athenian history.

Question 32

Ritual

Answer 32

Ceremonies or rites.

Question 33

Oracle

Answer 33

A sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future through a priest or priestess. Most famous oracle was the oracle of Apollo at Delphi.

Question 34

Tragedies

Answer 34

The first Greek dramas that were presented in a trilogy built around a common theme. One of these trilogies still remains today, called the Oresteia, which was composed by Aeschylus.

Question 35

Philosophy

Answer 35

An organized system of thought.

Question 36

Sophist

Answer 36

A group of traveling teachers in ancient Greece who declared speculations such as that of Pythagoras as fooolish.

Question 37

Socratic Method

Answer 37

A method of teaching which uses a question and answer format to lead students to see things for themselves by using their own reason.

Question 38

Pythagoras

Answer 38

A philosopher who taught that the essence of the universe could be found in music and numbers.

Question 39

Socrates

Answer 39

A Greek sculptor who loved philosophy. He taught many students for no pay at all. He believed that the goal of education was only to improve the individual. He questioned authority, which led him to trial for corrupting the education of youth for leading them to question. He was sentenced to death by the government.

Question 40

Plato

Answer 40

A Greek philosopher, who was a student of Socrates. He wrote down many of his thoughts, and was fascinated with the question of reality.

Question 41

Aristotle

Answer 41

A Greek philosopher, who was a student of Plato. He did not accept Plato’s theory of ideal forms. He favored constitutional government as the best form for most people.

Question 42

Thucydides

Answer 42

The greatest historian of the ancient world. He was an Athenian general, but was defeated in battle and was sent into exile, giving him a lot of time to write his History of the Peloponnesian War. He was very factual, unlike Herodotus. He believed the study of history is of great value in understanding the present.

Question 43

Hellenistic Era

Answer 43

An age created by Alexander the Great. This age imitated Greek culture outside of Greece, taking their language and ideas and spreading it to the non-Greek world.

Question 44

Epicureanism

Answer 44

A philosophy founded by the philosopher Epicurus. Epicurus believed that humans were free to follow self-interest as a basic motivating force.

Question 45

Stoicism

Answer 45

A school of thought founded by a teacher named Zeno that became the most popular philosophy of the Hellenistic world and later flourished in the Roman Empire too. Many of these teachings contradicted Epicureanism.

Question 46

Phillip II

Answer 46

A Macedonian leader who built a powerful army and turned Macedonia into the chief power of the Greek world. He admired Greek culture very much, but Greeks feared him and attacked him, but the Macedonians crushed the Greeks, leading Phillip to gain control of all of Greece. He was assassinated, leaving the throne to his son, Alexander.

Question 47

Alexander the Great

Answer 47

A Macedonian leader who was only 20 when he became king. Alexander led one of the Greatest conquests the world had ever seen, stretching from Macedonia, down to Egypt, and across to the end of Persia. He was an incredible military leader, but when he returned home from his conquest, he died from exhaustion, wounds, fever, and too much alcohol.

Question 48

Eratosthenes

Answer 48

An astronomer who determined that the Earth was round and calculated Earth’s circumference.

Question 49

Archimedes

Answer 49

A man who had special work on the geometry of spheres and cylinders, as well as for establishing the value of pi.

Question 50

Euclid

Answer 50

A mathematician who wrote the Elements, a textbook on plane geometry.

Question 51

Alexandria

Answer 51

The Greek capital of Egypt, named for Alexander the Great when he conquered the city.