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.
Rhetoric-
The art of public speaking and debate
Socratic Method-
A method of questioning invented by Socrates
Hippocratic Oath-
A set of promises doctors make about patient care when they become doctors. Written by Hippocrates.
Who was Socrates?
Socrates was a trained sculptor, but also a philosopher. Socrates believed in absolute right and wrong, and that all knowledge is in everyone. He invented the Socratic method. Socrates was arrested in 399 B.C. and sentenced to death for treason.
How did Socrates die?
He was convicted of treason in 399 B.C. and sentenced to death, but was given the option of being banished from Athens instead. Socrates gave one last speech to his students, friends, and family. Then he drank poison and died.
Who was Plato?
Plato was one of Socrates’ students. He wrote a work called the Republic, which was a plan for society. Plato opened and taught at a school called the Academy. Plato’s best student was Aristotle.
What was Plato’s plan for society in the Republic?
Wise philosopher kings would rule. Brave warriors would protect the society. Ordinary people (too dumb to be a king, not brave enough to be a warrior) would grow food, make clothing, build buildings, and do all the other jobs necessary for society to function.
What were some of Plato’s views?
Plato did not support democracy because he believed that people were too easily influenced to make the wrong decision. Plato believed that women should have equal rights to men, which was not a common view at the time.
What did Aristotle teach?
Aristotle taught at his school, called the Lyceum. He taught the idea of the golden mean, or that the middle was perfect. Aristotle wrote over 200 works about government, science, and astronomy.
What did Aristotle say in his work called Politics? Who was influenced by this?
Aristotle wrote about his idea of a perfect government. He researched many existing governments, and split governments into 3 kinds (Monarchy, oligarchy, democracy). Aristotle decided that the perfect government was a mix of all 3. This influenced the writers of the Constitution.
Who was Herodotus?
Herodotus was the first historian. He wrote a history of the Persian wars, and was the first to do careful research. He believed that the gods influenced history.
Who was Thucydides?
Thucydides was a former general of the Peloponnesian War, and decided to write a history about it. Thucydides acted like a modern researcher. Thucydides believed that the gods did not influence history.
Who was Thales?
Thales was a Greek scientist. He made discoveries and theories by observing and thinking.
Who was Pythagoras?
Pythagoras was another Greek scientist. He taught that everything could be explained with the laws of numbers. He discovered the Pythagorean theorem, which is still used today in geometry.
Who was Hippocrates?
Hippocrates is considered the father of medicine. He was the first to believe that diseases and their cures came from nature, not spirits and gods. He developed his own treatments and helped sick people. He wrote the Hippocratic Oath, which is still used today.
Cavalry-
Soldiers who fight while riding horses.
Hellenistic Era-
The time after Alexander died when Greek culture spread to everywhere in his empire
Who was Phillip ll?
Phillip ll was a king of Macedonia, and the father of Alexander. Phillip ll conquered the Greek city-states one by one. His dream was to conquer Persia, but he was killed before he could do that. His son Alexander took over.
Who did Alexander conquer?
Alexander started battling with Persia in 334 B.C., but after their king fled, he conquered Egypt in 331 B.C., and took over the Persian empire that year. In 327 B.C., he marched into India, but his soldiers wanted to go home. They finally returned to Babylon in 323 B.C., and died soon after of injuries and fever.
Who took over Alexander’s empire after he died?
Alexander’s generals split it into 4 parts.
Epicureanism-
The philosophy of Epicurus, which says that the purpose of life is to find happiness and peace, above all else
Stoicism-
The philosophy of the Stoics, invented by Zeno, which says that people should use reason instead of emotion, and the purpose of life is to do your duty
Circumference-
The outer border of a circle or the measurement of that border
Who was Appolonius?
Appolonius was a playwriter and the author of the epic Argonautica.
Who was Theocritus?
Theocritus wrote short poems about nature’s beauty.
Who was Menander?
Menander was a playwriter who wrote plays about ordinary people.
Who was Aristarchus?
Aristarchus was a scientist who discovered that the earth went around the sun.
Who was Erastosthenes?
Erastosthenes was a scientist who discovered that the earth was round. He also came within 185 miles of correctly calculating the circumference of the earth
Who was Archimedes?
Archimedes was a scientist who figured out the value of pi, invented the catapult and discovered water displacement.
Who was Euclid?
Euclid was a mathematician who wrote works about geometry.
How did the Greeks try to stop the Romans? Were they successful?
The Greeks tried to stop the Romans by supporting all of Rome’s enemies. That failed, and they could not unite quickly enough to fight the Romans, and were conquered in the late 200s B.C.
