Chapter 8- Greek Civilization Flashcards
Ritual-
Words or actions that are part of a religious ceremony
Myth-
A traditional story that explains a culture’s beliefs or the natural world
Oracle-
A priest or priestess who speaks for the gods and answes questions about the future
Fable-
A story that teaches a lesson
Oral Tradition-
The custom of passing stories from one generation to the next by telling the stories out loud
Drama-
A story that is told by the actions and spoken words of actors
Tragedy-
A drama in which characters struggle to overcome problems, but fail
Comedy-
A drama that tells a humorous story
What were the Greek gods and goddesses like?
The Greek gods and goddesses had great powers, but behaved like humans.
Where did the Greek gods and goddesses live?
The 12 most important ones lived on Mount Olympus.
Who was the king of the Greek gods?
Zeus
How did the people please the Greek gods?
They performed rituals, had feasts and festivals, prayed, and offered gifts to the gods. One festival was the Olympic Games.
What were the earliest Greek stories?
Epics
Who wrote the Iliad and what was it about?
The Iliad was written by Homer. The Iliad was the story of a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The Greeks won the war by disguising soldiers inside a hollow wooden horse. The Trojans thought that the wooden horse was a present. The Greek soldiers stormed out of the wooden horse and captured the city.
Who wrote the Odyssey and what was it about?
Homer wrote the Odyssey. The Odyssey is about Odysseus, a Greek general, and his long journey home from the Trojan war.
What is the difference between an epic and a fable?
An epic is a long poem about a hero and his adventures. A fable is a short story that uses animals showing human qualities to teach a moral or lesson.
What were the two types of Greek drama?
Tragedies and comedies. A tragedy is a play where the characters cannot overcome their problems, and it ends sadly. The first Greek plays were tragedies. A comedy is a drama that tells a humorous story.
What were the most important kinds of Greek buildings?
The temples. Temples were built to honor a specific god or goddess.
What were the 3 kinds of Greek columns?
The three kinds of columns were doric, ionic, and corinthian. Doric columns were the plainest, corinthian were the fanciest, and ionic were in the middle.
Who were the Sophists?
The Sophists were a group of traveling teachers. They mostly taught rhetoric, although they did teach other things. They did not believe in the gods influencing everyday life. They believed that there was no such thing as right and wrong. They were criticized because they were paid for their teaching.