Greek Literature Cards Set I Flashcards
What Greek author wrote the Iliad and Odyssey?
Homer
How many books long are both Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey?
24
Which work of Homer tells the story of the wrath of Achilles?
Iliad
In what meter are both Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey?
Dactylic Hexameter
What Greek author, said to be blind, wrote namesake hymns to Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, and Dionysus?
Homer
What Greek poet wrote the Theogony and Works and Days?
Hesiod
Which work of Hesiod, a poem in dactylic hexameter, tells of the births of the gods and the beginning of the universe?
Theogony
To whom was Hesiod’s Works and Days addressed?
(His brother) Perses
Which work of Hesiod talks about farming and mentions the five ages of man?
Works and Days
According to Hesiod’s Works and Days, what are the five ages of man?
Gold, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, Iron
What Greek author, a slave from either Egypt or Thrace, is most well-known for his fables?
Aesop
What Greek poet, born on the island of Lesbos, wrote lyrical songs about politics, love, hymns to the gods, etc.
Alcaeus
What Greek author from Mytilene had a feud with the tyrant Pittacus, fled to Egypt, then returned home after reconciling with Pittacus?
Alcaeus
What Greek author from Sparta was mainly known for his parthenia, songs sung by a chorus of maidens at religious festivals?
Alcman
What Greek lyric poet, born in Teos, moved to Samos under the Tyrant Polycrates before moving to Athens?
Anacreon
What Greek author is known to be the first to have written a book in prose?
Anaximander
What Greek pre-Socratic philosopher is said to have constructed the first map of the Earth?
Anaximander
What contemporary of Anaximander believed that the primary substance was air?
Anaximenes
What Greek poet from Paros famously details his abandonment of his shield in battle to save himself?
Archilochus
What Greek poet is the first to use the term iambic for his poems?
Archilochus
What legendary lyric poet, born on Lesbos, was a pupil of Alcman and lived in Corinth at the court of Periander?
Arion
What kind of animal, charmed by Arion’s singing, rescued Arion after he was thrown overboard by pirates?
Dolphin
What Greek author is credited with inventing the dithyramb, a form of choral lyric poetry?
Arion
What lyric poet from Ceos was the nephew of the poet Simonides?
Bacchylides
What nephew of Simonides wrote odes for victors at games in a similar style to Pindar?
Bachylides
What man, considered by Aristotle to be a forerunner to tragedy, is more famous for his Pindarian style odes for victors at games?
Bacchylides
What presocratic philosopher believed that the universe consisted of four elements: air, fire, water, and earth?
Empedocles
Most famous for his beliefs on the four elements, what Greek philosopher also composed two poems, On Nature and Purifications?
Empedocles
What Ephesian philosopher was known as the ‘weeping philosopher’?
Heraclitus
What Greek philosopher, who (like Empedocles) wrote On Nature, believed fire to be the primary element?
Heraclitus
Referred to as the “Father of History” by Cicero, what Asian born Greek author wrote histories on the Persian Wars?
Herodotus
What Greek author wrote a 9 book History of the Persian Wars?
Herodotus
What Greek author was allegedly avenged by a flock of cranes after he was killed by a group of robbers?
Ibycus
What presocratic philosopher from Elea founded the Eleatic school of philosophy named after his hometown?
Parmenides
The Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian odes were all written by what Theban lyric poet?
Pindar
What Greek poet, instructed by Corinna, is considered by many to be the greatest Greek lyric poet?
Pindar
Whose house in Thebes was the only one to be spared by Alexander the Great?
Pindar’s
An ode to Hieron I of Syracuse in Doric Greek are among the works of what Greek poet famed for his odes to victors of games?
Pindar
What presocratic philosopher, who let no writings, famously believed in the transmigration of souls?
Pythagoras
From what island is Sappho?
Lesbos
What lyric poet is known as the “tenth muse”?
Sappho
Poem 51 of Catullus is a translation of what lyric poet’s work concerning her love of a girl at first sight?
Sappho’s
What lyric and elegiac poet from Ceos is the uncle of Bacchylides?
Simonides
Although most famous for his epigrams, what Greek poet wrote epitaphs for the Athenian dead at Marathon and the Spartan dead at Thermopylae?
Simonides
What Greek poet, born in Matauros in Italy, apparently changed his name from Teisias?
Stesichorus
What Greek lyric poet, who lived in Himera in Sicily, is most famous for slandering Helen in one of his poems for which he was struck blind?
Stesichorus
What elegiac poet from Megara wrote love poems addressed to a young boy named Cyrnus?
Theognis
What Spartan elegiac poet wrote five books on war, exhorting the Spartans to conquer Messenia?
Tyrtaeus
What name is given to Bias, Chilon, Cleobulus, Periander, Pittacus, Solon, and Thales?
Seven Sages
Which of the Seven Sages brought Corinth to its greatest prosperity under his tyranny?
Periander
Which of the Seven Sages feuded with Alcaeus and became dictator in Mytilene on Lesbos?
Pittacus
Which of the Seven Sages was an Athenian lawgiver, archon, and poet?
Solon
Which of the Seven Sages enacted the seisactheia in Athens which ended enslavement for debt and all current debt?
Solon
To what man did Solon say “no man may count himself lucky until he is dead”?
Croesus
What man went into voluntary exile after enacting his laws, the most important of which was the seisactheia?
Solon
Which of the Seven Sages is known as the earliest Greek scientist?
Thales
Which of the Seven Sages allegedly predicated an eclipse of the sun in 585 BC?
Thales
Which of the Seven Sages believed the primary element was water?
Thales
At what festival in Athens was theater performed to honor the god of wine and revelry?
Great Dionysia
In the theater, what term was given to the dancing floor which later would be granted to the chorus?
orchestra
In the theater, what term was given to the altar to Dionysus?
thymele
In the theater, what term was given to the ‘watching-place’ for spectators?
theatron
In the theater, what term is given to the entrance, literally a ‘way in’?
parados
In the theater, what term is given to the dressing rooms, literally a ‘tent’ or ‘hut’?
skene
What Attican, whose name is the root of modern actors, is credited with inventing the play and the mask?
Thespis
What type of poetry may have been the precursor to the play?
Dithyrambic poetry
What Greek author is the earliest tragedian whose work survives?
Aeschylus
What Greek author was killed when an eagle dropped a tortoise on his head while visiting Hieron I of Syracuse?
Aeschylus
What play of Aeschylus, the only surviving Greek tragedy with a historical theme, focuses on Xerxes and his downfall?
Persians
What play of Aeschylus explores the story of Eteocles and Polyneices, the sons of Oedipus, and their inability to share the throne?
Seven Against Thebes
What play of Aeschylus focuses on the Danaids and their attempt to flee their forced marriages?
Suppliants
What play of Aeschylus, the first of the Oresteia trilogy, details the titular character’s return from Troy and subsequent murder at the hands of his wife Clytemnestra?
Agamemnon
What play of Aeschylus, the second of the Oresteia trilogy, tells of Orestes avenging his father Agamemnon by killing his mother Clytemnestra?
Choephoroe (Libation Bearers)
What play of Aeschylus, the third of the Oresteia trilogy, focuses on the Furies’ hunt for Orestes and his trial for matricide?
Eumenides
What play of Aeschylus focuses on the titular Titan who received punishment from Zeus for giving fire to mankind?
Prometheus Bound
Although Thespis added the first actor to the chorus, what Greek tragedian added the second actor to the play?
Aeschylus
What Greek tragedian never placed lower than second in every contest and earned first 80% of the time?
Sophocles
Which play of Sophocles focuses on the titular Greek warrior’s descent into madness and suicide?
Ajax
Which play of Sophocles tells the story of Deianeira and her attempt to reclaim the love of Heracles?
Trachinian Women/Women of Trachis
Which play of Sophocles details a Theban king’s discovery of patricide and marriage to his mother?
Oedipus Rex
Which play of Sophocles highlights the final days of a Theban king’s life in exile with Theseus?
Oedipus at Colonus
Which play of Sophocles focuses on the daughter of Oedipus refusing king Creon’s orders not to bury her brother Polyneices?
Antigone
Which play of Sophocles centers on Orestes and his titular sister seeking vengeance for Agamemnon’s murder by Clytemnestra?
Electra
Which play of Sophocles tells the story of the titular Greek who was abandoned by the Greek forces at Troy on account of his smelly wound?
Philoctetes
What Greek tragedian is said to have written his plays in a cave on Salamis?
Euripides
What Greek tragedian is known to use Deus ex machina the most of any Greek author?
Euripides
19 plays of what Greek tragedian still survive, the most of any Greek dramatist?
Euripides
What Greek tragedian was torn apart by the dogs of Archelaus, the king of Macedon?
Euripides
What play of Euripides focuses on a queen who sacrifices herself to save her husband Admetus?
Alcestis
What play of Euripides tells the story of Dionysus avenging himself on city of Thebes for rejecting his worship?
Bacchae
What play of Euripides centers on Orestes and his titular sister seeking vengeance for Agamemnon’s murder by Clytemnestra?
Electra
What play of Euripides highlights the suffering of the Trojan queen following the fall of Troy?
Hecuba
What play of Euripides details the titular character’s false accusation of raping his stepmother, Phaedra?
Hippolytus
What play of Euripides tells the tale of the illegitimate son of Apollo and Creusa?
Ion
