Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Literature

Question 1

Why is “oral literature” a contradiction in terms?

Answer 1

because literature is by definition written language

Question 2

Why do people without literacy tend to love stock phrases, traditional sayings, and proverbs?

Answer 2

they are an essential to preserving cultural memory

Question 3

Before riding there was no such thing as an……..

Answer 3

Author

Question 4

Why would all storytelling be lost?

Answer 4

There is no writing or record to preserve the stories

Question 5

If writing was not originally intended to preserve literature , what was its purpose?

Answer 5

to preserve economic, political and legal information

Question 6

Where was writing first developed and when?

Answer 6

Mesopotamia in around 3300 to 2990 B.C.E.

Question 7

What is “wedge-shaped” writing called?

Answer 7

Cuneiform

Question 8

Why was cuneiform a script that could only be deciphered by experts?

Answer 8

you had to be familiar with a large number of signs. Also one sign could represent many sounds and a sound could be represented by many signs.

Question 9

What does the word “hieroglyphic” mean?

Answer 9

Sacred Carving

Question 10

Who improved upon cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing?

Answer 10

The Phoenicians

Question 11

Who added the needed vowels to the Phoenician script?

Answer 11

Greeks

Question 12

Who adapted the Greek alphabet for their own language and carved their inscriptions on stone in the same capital letters that we use today?

Answer 12

the romans

Question 13

What institution “should remind us not to idealize ancient cultures”?

Answer 13

Slavery

Question 14

What two regions of the Mediterranean basin were “particularly receptive to agriculture and animal husbandry”?

Answer 14

The valley of the Nile River, and the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers

Question 15

Hence, supported by the surplus the land produced, they became centers also for ______, _______, _____

Answer 15

government religion and culture

Question 16

Why does it make sense to consider the ancient Mediterranean and Near East as a single, albeit complex, unit?

Answer 16

It makes sense to consider them as one unit because there were large-scale cultural exchanges between the Mediterranean and near east as a result of trade, colonization and imperialism

Question 17

The Egyptian Hymn to Aten and the Hebrew Bible appear as exceptions to the polytheism of most ancient cultures. Which of these two, the Egyptian or the Hebrew, suggested that “other gods do not exist”?

Answer 17

Neither

Question 18

Which of these two was more important, orthopraxy or orthodoxy?

Answer 18

Orthopraxy was more important than orthodoxy.

Question 19

For the ancient cultures under discussion, the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, composing alternative stories about the gods was deemed heretical? True or False. Justify your answer:

Answer 19

False, composing alternative stories about the gods was not deemed heretical because cult practices were highly localized and there was no written record of the myths or creed.

Question 20

The Greeks of historic times were presumably a blend of ________ and ________

Answer 20

Native Tribes and Indo-European Invaders

Question 21

When did the ‘dark ages” of Greece end?

Answer 21

8th Century BCE

Question 22

Were the Greek city-states ruled by a centralized government?

Answer 22

No they were independent from eachother

Question 23

What major empire dominated the Near East and Mediterranean in the sixth century?

Answer 23

The Persian Empire

Question 24

Sparta was an oligarchy or a democracy?

Answer 24

Oligarchy

Question 25

Was Persia able to defeat the Greeks?

Answer 25

No, Greece won decisive battles at Marathon and Salamis and kept them free from invasion.

Question 26

Athens (Attica) was an oligarchy or a democracy?

Answer 26

Democracy

Question 27

Athens was a direct or a representational democracy?

Answer 27

A direct democracy

Question 28

After defeating the Persians, Athens and Sparta became friends or enemies?

Answer 28

Enemies

Question 29

Who was the first anthropological historian?

Answer 29

Herodotus

Question 30

Who was the first political historian?

Answer 30

Thucydides

Question 31

Besides history, what other genres of literature developed in 5th century Athens?

Answer 31

Medicine and philosophy also developed in the 5th century.

Question 32

Who was the most famous of the Sophists?

Answer 32

Socrates

Question 33

What is dialectics?

Answer 33

Dialectics is formal system of reasoning which uses questions and answers to investigate the truth of theories and opinions.

Question 34

Athens underwent an oligarchic revolution from 411-404 BCE only to return to its democracy. True or False

Answer 34

True, shortly after Athens was overtaken by Sparta it returned to a democracy.

Question 35

Who was executed as one of the first actions of the new democratic government

Answer 35

Socrates

Question 36

Who inherited a powerful army and the political control of all Greece and then went on to defeat the Persian empire?

Answer 36

Alexander, King Philip’s son

Question 37

The simple vernacular Greek is known as:

Answer 37

koine (“the common language”)

Question 38

Rome emerged as a world power in 201 BCE after its defeat of

Answer 38

Carthage

Question 39

Was Rome ever a democracy

Answer 39

No, from 509 B.C.E it was a republic.

Question 40

The Roman republic lasted until:

Answer 40

The Roman civil wars in the first century B.C.E

Question 41

Whereas Athenians prided themselves on adaptability, versatility, and grace, the Roman idea of personal and civic virtue was based on a sense of:

Answer 41

tradition, a myth of old Roman virtue and integrity

Question 42

List here the names of any Roman authors mentioned on this pages;

Answer 42

Cataullus, Virgil, Ovid, Marcus Aurelius

Question 43

List here the names of any Greek authors that these Roman authors may have borrowed from:

Answer 43

Sappho, Homer