Greek Civilization

Question 1

Athenian democracy

Answer 1

Athens registered a remarkable progress in politics, laws, literature, art, science and philosophy. Athenians were found of trying political experiments. Monarchy and oligarchy did not suit their temperament. So they discarded them. With the contributions of law-givers viz, draco, salon and cleisthenes, democracy came into existence at Athens

Draco-
Draco a nobleman gave the Athens a written code of laws. The code of Draco provided safety to the people from the tyranny of dishonest and corrupt judges. But draco’s code did very little to help the poor farmers who were at the mercy of the rich.
Solon-
Solon, considered to be a wise man introduced constitutional reforms of democratic character. He prevented chaos. His laws or reforms liberated the enslaved farmers, declared debt-slavery as illegal and cancelled all mortgages on land. He helped merchants by introducing coins and encouraging the artisans to settle in Athens. He brought about a system where people as whole gained power in electing their magistrates and judging their work which further helped middle and poor class.
Cleisthenes-
Cleisthenes, was from an influential family and broke the power of ruling clans by granting citizenship rights to male adults. Thus poor people also got the right to vote. He recognized the state on democratic trend. He ended tribal nature of government and expanded the constitution. He also tried his best to break the power of nobility

Question 2

City states

Answer 2

The city states was the outstanding political achievement of the Greeks. Topographical features of the country and the tribal characteristics of the people were important factors in the development of city states. The polis originated as a fortified site but later was interpreted as a sovereign state. It included the fort, the city, and the surrounding countryside. Around 800 B.C.E a group of greek villages began forming larger units to form city states.
At the highest point in a city state, an acropolis or citadel was built for defence. Sparta, Athens, Macedonia, Corinth and Thebes were important city-states. Though the greek city states were independent, jealous and quarrelsome, all the Greeks believed they were all helenes. Other bonds which United them was language, literature and worship of gods.

Question 3

Which is the most ancient civilization of Europe?

Answer 3

Greek

Question 4

What is the meaning of the word helenes?

Answer 4

Greeks were called hellenes because they claimed descent from a common ancestor, hellenes

Question 5

In which civilization do we find city-state?

Answer 5

Greek

Question 6

In which city state of Greece did democracy develop?

Answer 6

Athens

Question 7

Whose period is popularly called as the ‘golden age’ of Athens

Answer 7

Athenian democracy reached its greatest height, under the leadership of pericles.

Question 8

Who is the father of medicine?

Answer 8

Hippocrates

Question 9

Between whom was the pelponnesian wars fought?

Answer 9

Athens and sparta

Question 10

Name the battle in which Alexander defeated porus.

Answer 10

Hydaspes

Question 11

Which Indian king defeated selecus?

Answer 11

Chandragupta maurya

Question 12

Who was euripides?

Answer 12

A great tragic poet

Question 13

Who is the author of the Pelponnesian Wars?

Answer 13

Thucydides

Question 14

Who wrote the book ‘The republic ‘ ?

Answer 14

Plato

Question 15

In which year did the Olympic games begin?

Answer 15

776 B.C.E

Question 16

Name any two city states of ancient Greece

Answer 16

Athens and Macedonia

Question 17

Name any two reforms introduced by Solon

Answer 17

Declared debt-slavery as illegal, cancelled all mortgages on the land and liberated the enslaved farmers

Question 18

Name any two reforms brought by cleisthenes

Answer 18

Broke the power of ruling clans by granting citizenship rights to male adults and ended tribal nature of government and expanded constitution

Question 19

Where is Parthenon temple located and who built it?

Answer 19

The parthenon temple is located in Athens, Greece. Actinus is the famous artist behind this. It was built by King pericles

Question 20

Name any two dramatists of periclian age

Answer 20

Aeschylus and sophocles

Question 21

Name any two important historians of periclian age

Answer 21

Herodotus and thucydides

Question 22

Name any two battles in which Alexander defeated the Persians

Answer 22

Battles of granicus, Issus and Arable.

Question 23

Which are the two works of homer?

Answer 23

Illiad and Odyssey

Question 24

Who are the two lyric poets of greek civilization?

Answer 24

Pindar and sappo

Question 25

Name any two works of aeschylus

Answer 25

Prometheus bound and agamemnon

Question 26

Mention any two works of sophocles

Answer 26

Odipus rex and electea

Question 27

Who were the mathematicians of ancient Greece?

Answer 27

Euclid and pythogorous

Question 28

Mention any two styles of ancient Greek architecture

Answer 28

Doric and ionic

Question 29

Mention any two important philosophers of ancient Greece

Answer 29

Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Question 30

Mention the two works of plato

Answer 30

The republic and the laws

Question 31

Mention any two important works of Aristotle

Answer 31

The politics and the history of animals

Question 32

Why is periclian age called the golden age?

Answer 32

Athenian democracy reached its greatest level under the leadership of pericles. He was a great radical in politics. He was the great grandson of cleisthenes. It was he who completed the work of layering the foundation for democracy in Athens. He deprived the legislative body of its political powers and transferred the same to council of 500. This body suggested measures to the Aclesia- the assembly. A board of 10 generals elected by the assembly acted as a kind of cabinet. Pericles was the president of this board for 15 years.
Another important feature of the periclian age was the jury system. Every year about 5000 jurors were elected for a term of one year. Being a great lover of democracy he wanted to poorest citizen to take interest in politics which is what we practice as direct democracy today.
Athens which was destroyed during the persian wars was rebuilt by pericles. Athens became a centre of progress in art and architecture. The famous Parthenon temple was built of coloured marble stones. To protect his beutiful city from invaders he built long walls connecting the city with the port Piraeus.
The age of pericles produced great philosophers like Socrates and his pupil Plato. It was the golden age of greek plays. Aeschylus, sophocles and Euphridies were great dramatists who wrote tragic plays. Herodotus (father of history) thucydides (father of scientific history) and Hippocrates (father of medicine) were a few historians during periclian age. Sappho and pindar were great lyric poets during this era. Therefore periclian age of Athens is regarded as the “school of hellas” and “the golden age”

Question 33

What are the contributions of the Greeks to literature?

Answer 33

In the field of literature, Greeks contributed to epics, poetry, drama and history. Homer was a great poet who wrote two epics illiad and Odyssey. These epics give us insight about the political, social and economical conditions in the ancient Greek. The shorter greek poems were called lyrics, because they were sung to the music of lyre. They were composed to express the emotions of man. Pindo and sappho were the greatest of lyrics poets.
The drama is the most familiar of greek form of literature. The remains of greek theatres can be still seen all over the aegeon region. The founder of greek tragedy was aeschylus author of “promethu” and “aegmemnon”. Sophocles wrote “odipus rex” , “antigone” and “electra”. These plays are admired all over the world even today.
Greece produced world’s first great historian herodotus. Another historian thucydides described the war b/w Sparta and athens in his book “the Pelponnesian Wars”.
Oratory was the art of public speaking. The most famous oratory was demosthenes.

Question 34

Explain the contributions of greeks to science.

Answer 34

Greek philosophers furnished the beginning of the study of science. Aristotle laid the foundation for the study of natural sciences. Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle established botony as a recognised science. The periclian age produced great men. Hippocrates laid the foundation of modern medicine. He taught that diseases have a natural origin and not caused by evil spirits as many believed in those days.
Herophilus is known as the father of anatomy.
Ptolemy believed that earth is the centre of the universe but Aristarchus propounded the theory that the earth and the other planets revolve around the sun.
Pythogorous and Euclid made many contributions to mathematics, especially to geometry, Archimedes was also a famous scientist of ancient Greece.

Question 35

What was the contributions of art and architecture in Greece.

Answer 35

In the early times, the greek used wood and later used sun dried bricks and colourful marbles to build temples. The greek architecture consists of three styles : doric, ionic and corthinian styles. The parthenon is said to be the most beautiful coloured marble stones. We find talk marble statue of the goddess Athena carved by phidas inside the temple.
The temple consists of 46 doric columns all of 34 feet high. Actinus is the architecture behind these 3 styles to make this temple an ancient wonder. The majestic and beautiful temple is now in ruins
Alexander ‘s conquest initiated several cultural exchanges in central Asia and Greece. The gandhara art in ancient India is developed due to the greek influence.
Greeks excelled in painting vases. The Greeks expressed human values like beauty and courage in their sculptures. They portrayed gods as humans. Naked, well built and muscular bodies were portrayed as well.