Important Terms/ Definitions - Midterm Flashcards
What is the Aegean Sea?
A body of water between Greece and Asia Minor, central to Greek maritime trade.
What does agriculture refer to?
The domestication of plants and animals, enabling settled life and complex societies.
Where is Asia Minor located?
The western region of modern-day Turkey, home to Greek cities like Miletus and Troy.
What is Attica known for?
The region of Greece surrounding Athens, known for its fertile land and naval power.
What is the Black Sea’s significance?
A major trade route connecting Greece to the Caucasus, Scythians, and Thracians.
What characterizes the Bronze Age?
A period (~3,000-1,200 BC) characterized by the use of bronze tools and the rise of palace economies.
What are complex societies?
Large, stratified communities with specialized labor, governance, and urbanization.
What are the Cyclades?
A group of islands in the Aegean, including Delos, that played a key role in trade and culture.
What is domestication?
The process of taming plants and animals for human use, crucial for early Greek settlements.
What is the Fertile Crescent?
A region in the Near East where agriculture first developed, influencing Greek farming.
What is Franchthi Cave known for?
A site in southeastern Greece with evidence of continuous human habitation from 20,000 BC.
Who are the Indo-Europeans?
A linguistic group from which the Greeks, Hittites, and other ancient civilizations descended.
What is the Ionian Sea?
The sea west of Greece, providing access to Italian and Sicilian trade routes.
What is Lerna?
A significant archaeological site from the Early Bronze Age, known for its large House of Tiles.
What is Macedonia?
A kingdom north of Greece that later became a dominant power under Philip II.
What is the Mediterranean Sea?
The major sea connecting Greece, Egypt, and the Near East in trade and culture.
What is Melos known for?
An island known for its obsidian trade in the Neolithic and Bronze Age.
What is Myrtos?
A Minoan settlement on Crete, notable for early palace-like structures.
What does Near East refer to?
A term for Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant, regions that influenced Greek civilization.
What is the Neolithic period?
The ‘New Stone Age’ (7,000-3,000 BC) marked by agriculture and permanent settlements.
What characterizes the Paleolithic period?
The ‘Old Stone Age’ (before 10,000 BC) characterized by hunter-gatherers.
What is the Peloponnesus?
A southern Greek peninsula containing Sparta, Corinth, and Mycenae.
What is a primary source?
An original document, artifact, or account from the historical period being studied.
What is a secondary source?
An analysis or interpretation of primary sources, such as modern history books.
What are Tholos/Tholoi?
Beehive-shaped Mycenaean tombs used for elite burials.
Where is Thrace located?
A region northeast of Greece, home to the Thracians and an area of Greek colonization.
What is bull-leaping?
A Minoan sport or ritual depicted in frescoes, involving jumping over bulls.
What is Chryselephantine?
A luxurious sculpture technique using gold and ivory, seen in Minoan and Mycenaean art.
What does Cyclopean refer to?
A term for massive stone walls built by the Mycenaeans, so large they were believed to be built by Cyclopes.
What is an economy in ancient societies?
The system of production, trade, and redistribution in ancient societies, such as the Minoan palace economy.
What is faience?
A type of glazed ceramic used in Minoan art, often seen in religious figurines.
Who was Heinrich Schliemann?
A 19th-century archaeologist who excavated Troy, Mycenae, and Tiryns, proving Homeric sites existed.
What is an ingot?
A standardized block of metal (bronze, copper) used in trade, particularly in the Late Bronze Age.
What is Knossos?
The largest Minoan palace on Crete, associated with King Minos and the Minotaur myth.
What characterizes the Late Bronze Age?
The period (~1600-1100 BC) marked by Mycenaean dominance and extensive trade.
What are Lawegetas?
A Mycenaean official, second in command to the wanax (king).
What is a libation?
A ritual pouring of liquid (wine, oil) as an offering to the gods.
What is Linear A?
A Minoan script used for administration, still undeciphered.
What is Linear B?
A Mycenaean script adapted from Linear A, deciphered as an early form of Greek.
What is a megaron?
The central hall of a Mycenaean palace, precursor to Greek temple design.
What characterizes the Middle Bronze Age?
The period (~2100-1600 BC) before Mycenaean rise, marked by increasing complexity.
Who were the Minoans?
The civilization on Crete (2000-1450 BC), known for palaces, frescoes, and trade.
What is Mycenae?
A powerful Greek city during the Late Bronze Age, home of Agamemnon.
Who are the Mycenaeans?
A warlike Greek civilization (1600-1100 BC) that succeeded the Minoans and expanded across the Aegean.
What is Phaistos?
A Minoan palace on Crete, famous for the Phaistos Disc, an undeciphered artifact.
What is Pylos?
A Mycenaean palace in the western Peloponnesus, home of King Nestor.
What is a redistributive system?
An economic model where goods are collected at a central palace and redistributed to society.
What is a rhyton?
A ceremonial drinking vessel, often shaped like an animal head.
Who were the Sea Peoples?
A mysterious group that attacked Mediterranean civilizations, contributing to the Bronze Age Collapse (~1200 BC).
Who was Sir Arthur Evans?
The archaeologist who discovered and excavated Knossos, naming the Minoan civilization.
What are shaft graves?
Deep burial pits used for Mycenaean elite tombs, filled with gold artifacts.
What is a stirrup jar?
A vessel used in Mycenaean trade, especially for transporting oil or wine.
What are Tholos/Tholoi?
Beehive-shaped tombs built by Mycenaean elites.
What is Troy known for?
A major city in Asia Minor, site of the Trojan War described by Homer’s Iliad.
What is a wanax?
The king in Mycenaean society, at the top of the political hierarchy.
What is an agora?
The central marketplace and public space of a Greek city.
What is an amphora?
A large storage jar for transporting wine, oil, and grain.
What is an apsidal building?
A structure with a curved end, typical of early Iron Age chieftains’ houses.
What does basileus mean?
Originally a Mycenaean mayor, later the Greek term for king or chieftain.
What is a boule?
A council of citizens that helped govern Greek poleis.
What defines civilization?
A complex society with writing, governance, and urbanization.
What is ekphora?
The funeral procession in Greek burial customs.
What is the geometric style?
An artistic style (900-700 BC) using linear and abstract designs on pottery.
What is a heroon?
A shrine dedicated to a legendary hero, such as the Lefkandi heroon.
Who was Hesiod?
An early Greek poet, author of Theogony and Works and Days, detailing mythology and daily life.
Who was Homer?
The legendary poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey, foundational texts of Greek literature.
What are hetairoi?
Elite warrior companions of a ruler, particularly in Macedonian society.
What characterizes the Iron Age?
The period (~1200-700 BC) after the Bronze Age, marked by the use of iron tools and weapons.
What is kleros?
A plot of land assigned to citizens in Greek states, particularly in Sparta.
What is a krater?
A large mixing bowl for diluting wine with water.
What does oikos refer to?
The household unit, including family, servants, and property.
What is an oinochoe?
A wine-pouring jug.
What is panhellenism?
The sense of Greek unity, seen in the Olympic Games and oracles like Delphi.
Who were the Phoenicians?
A seafaring people from the Near East, who influenced Greek writing.
What is a polis?
The Greek city-state, the dominant political structure of Archaic and Classical Greece.
What is prothesis?
The laying out of the dead before burial.
What is protogeometric?
The first artistic style (1050-900 BC) after the Mycenaean collapse, using circular and linear designs.
What is reciprocity?
A system of gift exchange that reinforced social bonds in Greek society.
What is a temenos?
A sacred precinct within a city, often housing a temple.
Who are the thetes?
The poorest class of free citizens, often working as laborers or rowers.
What does timē mean?
Honor or reputation, a key value in Greek society.
What is urbanism?
The development of cities and structured communities.
What is xenia?
The Greek tradition of hospitality and guest-friendship, protected by Zeus.
What is an architrave?
The lowest part of a Greek temple’s entablature, resting on columns.
What is an archon?
A leading magistrate in Athens.
What is an aryballos?
A small perfume flask.
What is black figure pottery?
A pottery style (7th-5th centuries BC) where black images are painted on red clay.
What is a bouleterion?
The assembly hall of the boule, the ruling council of the polis.
What is citizenship?
A status granting rights and responsibilities in the polis.
What is a colonnade?
A row of columns, often part of a temple or public building.
What is Daedalic style?
A 7th-century BC sculpture style, characterized by triangular heads and stylized hair.
What does demos refer to?
The common people, foundational to democracy.
What is ethnos?
A loose tribal group, different from a centralized polis.
What is a frieze?
A decorative horizontal band on temples.
What is genos?
An aristocratic clan or extended family.
Who are hoi agathoi?
The ‘good people’, referring to the aristocracy.
Who are hoi kakoi?
The ‘bad people’, referring to non-aristocrats.
Who are hoi polloi?
The ‘many’, meaning the general population.
What is a hoplite?
A Greek citizen-soldier, fighting in a phalanx formation.
What are kore/korai?
Archaic statues of young women, often used as offerings.
What are kouros/kouroi?
Male statues from the Archaic period.
