Lectures 13 - 15

Question 1

elenchus

Answer 1

Logical refutation (frequently used in reference to Socrates style)

Question 2

Alexander the Great

Answer 2

(356–322 B.C.)

King of Macedon (336–322) after his father, Philip II, led military campaigns that defeated the Persian Empire and extended Greek influence into central Asia.

Question 3

Macedonians

Answer 3

Byzantine dynasty (867–1034), which presided over military successes, economic prosperity, and brilliant cultural achievements.

Question 4

Philip II

Answer 4

(382–336 B.C.)

King of Macedon who forged a uni ed monarchy and conquered Greece. Father of Alexander the Great.

Question 5

Aristotle

Answer 5

(384–322 B.C.)

Philosopher, pupil of Plato. Prolific writer on biology, politics. ethics, poetics.

Question 6

Plato

Answer 6

(429–347 B.C.)

Pupil of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy. Philosopher best known for his theory of “forms,” or “ideas.” Prolific author of dialogues and treatises.

Question 7

Aristotle’s Ideal State

Answer 7

1. Should be an oligarchy
2. The best citizens should rule (hoi aristoi), aristocracy

Question 8

Plato’s Ideal State

Answer 8

1. Philosopher king
2. Those best in mind should be entrusted with rule

Question 9

Socrates

Answer 9

(469–399 B.C.)

Athenian philosopher who developed the elenchus, a rigorous method of dissecting the arguments of others. Taught Plato, among others. Put to death by the Athenian authorities.

Question 10

Isocrates

Answer 10

(436–338 B.C.)

Greek orator and statesman who argued for Panhellenism, a union of all Greeks.

Question 11

Panhellenism

Answer 11

“All-Greek”-ism

Question 12

Demosthenes

Answer 12

(384–322 B.C.)

Athenian orator and statesman who warned his fellow citizens against the dangers of the Macedonians.

Question 13

Hellenistic world

Answer 13

Period from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. to the Roman triumph in the Mediterranean in 31. A time of large kingdoms and empires in which Greek cultural influences were dominant.

Question 14

Greek: Koine

Answer 14

Common

Question 15

Epicurus

Answer 15

(341–270 B.C.)

Hellenistic philosopher who taught in Athens and gave his name to Epicureanism

Question 16

Epicureanism

Answer 16

Philosophy that stressed happiness or pleasure, defined as an absence of pain or strife (not hedonism, as it later came to be understood).

Question 17

barbarians

Answer 17

To Greeks, babblers, people who did not speak Greek; to Romans, people outside the empire. The word gradually acquired more acutely negative connotations.

Question 18

Antigonids

Answer 18

Dynasty of rulers who succeeded to one of Alexander’s generals. They ruled the Balkans until the Romans conquered them in a series of 2nd-century wars.

Question 19

Seleucids

Answer 19

Dynasty of rulers in Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia who descended from one of Alexander’s generals. Conquered by the Romans in the 1st century B.C.

Question 20

Ptolemies

Answer 20

Dynasty of rulers in Egypt descended from one of Alexander’s generals. The last one, Cleopatra, was defeated by Rome in 31 B.C.

Question 21

Archimedes

Answer 21

(287–212 B.C.)

Hellenistic scientist and inventor (beginning of experimental dimension).

Question 22

Aristarchus

Answer 22

(circa 275 b.c.e)

First formulated the “heliocentric” theory (that the earth revolves around the sun, which is at the center of the “universe”).

Question 23

Eratosthenes

Answer 23

(c. 274–194 B.C.)

Hellenistic polymath who wrote on many subjects, including comedy, but best known for calculating the circumference of the earth.

Question 24

Ptolemy

Answer 24

(127–48 b.c.e.)

Hellenistic scientist best known for collecting enormous amounts of astronomical observations and formulating a theory of planetary motion that was dominant until Johannes Keppler

Question 25

Apollonius of Rhodes

Answer 25

(b. c. 295 B.C.)

Alexandrian scholar and author best known for Argonautica, in which Jason and his Argonauts go in search of the golden fleece.

Question 26

Menander

Answer 26

(ca 342–289 b.c.e.)

Hellenistic author of “new comedies,” which were entertaining but not philosophically or socially significant. His only complete surviving play is Curmudgeon.

Question 27

Stoicism

Answer 27

Hellenistic philosophy that stressed calm, obedience to natural law, adherence to moral duty, essential equality of all. Founded by Zeno.

Question 28

Zeno

Answer 28

(335–263 B.C.)

Philosopher who taught at the stoa poikile (painted porch) in Athens. Founder of Stoicism

Question 29

Hellenistic Philosophy

Answer 29

Stoicism and Epicureanism:

• “Therapeutic philosophies”
• Focus shifted to ethics:
  
  • “How can I cope? How can I live?”

Question 30

Septuagint

Answer 30

Greek version of the Hebrew Bible, allegedly prepared by 70 translators in 70 days in Alexandria. Seven books longer than the Hebrew version. Authoritative still in Orthodox churches.