Chapter 3 Vocab Flashcards
The first great Greek historian
Herodotus
Herodotus wrote in these where he described wars and the origins of them
The Histories
Ancient Greek Poet
Homer
One of the two major ancient Greek poems created by Homer, about the Greek warrior Achilles, along with his rage and the destruction it causes
Iliad
Another one of the two major ancient Greek poems created by Homer, about the story of Odysseus, king of Ithica, who wanders for 10 years (the story only talks about the final 6 weeks) trying to get home after the Trojan War
Odyssey
A student of Socrates who kept his teacher’s ideas alive
Plato
A dialogue written by Plato about an ideal society ruled by a government that rested upon a concept of justice and ethical values/ he also envisioned a society composed of workers, warriors, and “philosopher kings”
The Republic
One of Plato’s students, became a famous Athenian philosopher
Aristotle
Set down definitions of tragedy and comedy in the theater, as well as definitions of epic and lyric poetry (An additional contribution by Aristotle)
Poetics
A collection of written texts based on Zarathustra’s beliefs which helped spread the religion
Avestas
The most prolific author of comedies, plays in which a character triumphs over hardship, who wrote 40 plays
Aristophanes
He wrote tragedies, dramas that deal with death, war, justice, and the relationships between gods and ordinary people
Aeschylus
This describes how Athenians slaughtered people they captured in the Trojan War
The Trojan Women
A Greek playwright that used the myths of the gods as convenient literary devices for their plays
Euripides
Another Greek playwright that used the myths of the gods as convenient literary devices for their plays
Sophocles
A great temple in Athens that had been destroyed in war with Persia and was rebuilt
Parthenon
The capital city under Darius, located in what is now Iran, became a celebrated city, featuring an impressive royal palace and celebrating the artistic traditions of several groups in the empire
Persepolis
A major center of the Minoan civilization, it was a combination of a religious and administrative center rather than a royal residence, earliest parts were built around 1900 B.C
Knossos Palace
An influential Greek thinker
Socrates
Socrates’ emphasis on continually asking questions to systematically clarify another person’s ideas and to identify the core of them
Socratic Method
A school that taught students to question the nature of ideas such as good, evil, justice, and beauty, Plato opened this school
Academy
An emphasis on moderation that Aristotle created
Golden Mean
The concepts, principles, and systems of logical argumentation
Logic
The theory that all knowledge is derived from sense experience
Empiricism
The combination of ideas from different sources
Syncretic
Belief in one god, Ahura Mazda, or the “wise lord”, also believed in a god of darkness and other lesser gods - which were not worshipped, taught concepts of heaven and hell, priests were called magi, based on Zarathustra’s beliefs, little texts called Avestas were produced
Zoroastrianism
Persian prophet from 660 B.C.E - 583 B.C.E, who began teaching a new faith called Zoroastrianism
Zarathustra
Underground canals, used to reduce the evaporation of water as it traveled to the fields, common in the arid Iranian Plateau of central Persia
Quanet
Leader who ruled in 559-529 B.C.E, was succeeded by his son, Cambyses
Cyrus the Great
Because of the victory from the Battle of Thermopylae, the Persians captured and burned Athens, this caused the Athenians and their allies to form the Delian League
Delian League
The son of Cyrus the Great, conquered Egypt and parts of Southeast Europe
Cambyses
A leader who ruled 522-486 B.C.E, created a new position called a satrap, added an efficient courier service with postal stations along the Royal Road, instituted regular tax payments
Darius 1
Successor of Darius from 519-465 B.C.E, built a Gate of All Nations (Gateway of Xerxes) at an entrance in Persepolis to show that he was honoring all his subjects
Xerxes
Sparta and Greek allies created this league so that Sparta could defeat Athens and become the dominant power in Greece
Peloponnesian League
When Persia weakened and the Greeks divided, Philip resolved to conquer and unite the Greek city-states and then conquer Asia Minor, he quickly conquered all of the Greek city-states except Sparta
Philip 2
When Philip was assassinated in 336 B.C.E, he was succeded by his son, Alexander, he immediately began the conquests that would earn him the name Alexander the Great and extend Greek influence all the way to India
Alexander the Great
A reform-minded aristocrat who lived in the sixth century B.C.E, he became known as a wise ruler who improved life in Athens, he is credited with setting free many Athenians enslaved for debt and limiting the amount of land any one man could own
Solon
A Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens, started an ambitious project that generated most of the surviving structures on the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, this project beautified and protected the city
Pericles
Chief among the generals/rulers were the Ptolemies in Egypt
Ptolemies
City-states; singular = Polis
Poleis (Polis)
Where a king ruled the state
Monarchies
Where nobles ruled
Aristocracy
Where a few wealthy landowners and merchants ruled
Oligarchy
Leaders who seized power with the people’s support, by 650 B.C.E, tyrants had overthrown the aristocrats in most city-states
Tyrants
Where all citizens participated
Democracy
A government in which all citizens could vote directly on laws and other issues in a large assembly
Direct Democracy
A government in which citizens elect leaders to represent them and give those leaders powers to make laws and govern
Representative Democracy
An island in the Aegean Sea where the Minoans lived
Crete
A beautiful city on Crete, for a while the wealthiest city on the Aegean
Knossos
The Bronze Age civilization of Crete that flourished from about 3000 B.C.E. to about 1100 B.C.E, the name derives from Minos, either a dynastic title or the name of a particular ruler of Crete who has a place in Greek legend
Minoan Civilization
A city located on the mainland of Greece that was probably never conquered by the Minoan, however, contained artifacts showing a number of Minoan influences
Mycenae
One of the largest colonies that was located on the island of Sicily
Syracuse
Another one of the largest colonies that was located on the island of Sicily
Agrigentum
Conquered Greek area rebelled in campaigns around 499 B.C.E
Persian Wars
City in mainland Greece, where an outnumbered Athenian army defeated the Persian forces of Darius, who then withdrew from Greece
Marathon
When Xerxes tried to push westward, he organized a force of thousands and attacked Greece, defeating a few hundred Spartans and their allies at this battle
Battle of Thermopylae
Naval battle fought in 480 B.C, between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles, and the Achaemenid under King Xerxes
Battle of Salamis
They conquered most of the lands from the Aegean Sea (west of Turkey) to the borders of India
Persians
The Empire under Cambyses, sometimes called the First Persian Empire, united three of the earliest centers of civilization - Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India - into one powerful empire, covering a territory almost the size of the United States, it was the largest most diverse empire in the world (70 distinct ethnic groups)
Achaemenid Empire
Cheif among the generals/rulers were the Seleucids in Asia, who ruled Persia from 305 to 83 B.C.E, encouraged Greeks and Macedonians to settle there as colonists, lost control of their eastern lands to Parthians and were finally replaced by the Romans
Seleucids
Ruled over what is now Iraq, Iran, and much of the land bordering western India, beginning in 247 B.C.E, their capital city was Ctesiphone, kept the Achaemenid’s satrap system of governing, in the first century they prevented the Roman Empire’s army from marching east beyond Syria
Parthians
During 224-651 C.E, the Sassanid dynasty ruled, they defeated the Parthians, promoted Zoroastrianism and persecuted Christians, large empire but not as large as the Parthian Empire was
Sassanids
One of the most powerful poleis
Athens
Another one of the most powerful poleis
Sparta
Alexander the Great founded the great city of Alexandria in Egypt which would become a center of Hellenistic culture and a major seaport
Alexendria
The period between the death of the king Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E, takes its name from the Greek word, Hellenes, meaning “Greeks.”
Hellenistic Period
Infantry members
Hoplites
Nine top officials
Archons
Slaves that did agricultural labor to feed everyone
Helots
A ruler of a province who was responsible to the emperor, not to local leaders
Satraps
Greek elites, ruled by hereditary right and enjoyed a life of leisure thanks to their riches, it is said that in the archaic age, only these aristocrats possessed full citizenship rights, allowing them to rule their cities
Aristocrats
A person who buys and sells goods/commodities for profit; dealer; trader
Merchants
Women who ran their households with greater freedom than other Greek women, they could receive an education, could own property, and were not secluded in their homes
Spartan Women
Darius instituted the construction of this, which were combination inns and markets for people traveling for the Royal Road by cancel caravan
Caravanserai
The empire instituted this and it was accepted across the empire, this made trade simpler thereby uniting the empire and promoting prosperity
Common Currency
A road that spanned some 1,500 miles across the empire, was the most famous of the network of roads built to encourage trade
Royal Road
Portrayed statues of how people should look like rather than how they looked like in real life
Myron
Athena, in charge of Parthenon’s statues, the statue of Athena is the most famous, Athena is described in a warlike aspect, carrying her shield, spear, and helmet
Phidias
100 years after the Golden Age, statues reflected the change Greeks had suffered through the Peloponnesian Wars, favored life-size statues, emphasized grace rather than power, statues of ordinary people
Praxiteles
582-500 B.C, the universe could only be understood through numbers, the sun, moon, and the earth revolved around a central fire, each planet produces a tone, famous for the Pythagorean Theorem: a^2 + b^2 = c^2
Pythagoras
460-377 B.C, founded a school of medicine, rejected that sickness comes from the gods, careful observations of symptoms: acute + chronic, “holistic” healing: hygiene, diet, curative powers of nature, the Hippocratic Oath
Hippocrates
