The Greek World Flashcards
King Minos
the leader at the height of the Minoan civilization
Knossos
King Minos’s palace city
frescoes
wall paintings that depicted daily life
Peloponnesus
southern Greece
Mycenae
a thriving port city
Major economic activity of the Achaeans
sea trade
Iliad and the Odyssey
epic poems written by Homer that gave an account of the Trojan Wars
The Iliad
tells about the Trojan Wars
Odyssey
gives an account of Odyseus(a trojan warrior) and his soldiers trying to get back home after the war
Polis
a city state that was built on a hilltop
the two leading city states
Athens and Sparta
Sparta
warlike, military minded, no weakness allowed, everyone was physically fit
Athens
cultural, center of where things were at, “it” place in Greece, lots of artists, philosophers, thinkers, scientists, scholars, etc. could be found here
Acropolis
a hilltop fortress
direct democracy
mass participation(everyone can participate)
aristocracy
the privileged land owners and upper class
debt slavery
if you couldn’t pay your taxes you could sell yourself into slavery
Phalanx
a military formation of heavily armed foot soldiers
tyrant
a ruler who takes over by force
Draco’s code of law
very harsh and was a failure
council of 400
an assembly of citizens (would come together and make decisions)
council of 500
an assembly of citizens (# increased from 400 to 500)
ostracism
- temporary exile from the city(lasted 10 years)
- if a person was judged to be a threat you were removed
government of Sparta
was a duel monarchy (2 kings) (did not have absolute control
council of elders
served as an advisory body to the kings(limited the power of the duel monarchy)
ephors
five of them; directed daily life in Sparta (monitored everything; tons of regulations, procedures, and protocol)
helots
slaves/prisoners of war
rites of passage
two tests that a young boy had to pass in order to become an adult
first rite of passage for a spartan boy
- a young boy would be taken out in the middle of the night to some area in the wilderness far away from Sparta 2. no food, no water, and no weapons 3. had to make it back home on their own
second rite of passage for a Spartan boy
the young boy would have to kill a slave and nobody could know about it; had to do it and not get caught (both mental and stealth challenge)
only two types of Spartan people that had their names on their tombstones when they were buried
- a warrior that had died in battle 2. a woman that died during childbirth
what was the first test that all Spartan children went through
a newborn would be judged by the ephors; if judged it would be taken out the wilderness and left to die; was a visual test-if came out kicking and screaming and there were no defects or labored breathing if was okay
Pericles
the ruler/leader during Greece’s Golden Age
Delian League
a trading organization among the city states
Socrates’s motto
Know Thyself
Socratic method
method of questioning to arrive at the truth
How did Socrates react after being arrested?
He accepted his punishment and said that you have to follow the laws of the state. (had chance to escape but didn’t take it)
The Academy
a school founded by Plato
The Republic
a book written by Plato that described an ideal society
what were the three classes in The Republic and their jobs?
- workers-provided the necessities of life(farming, working in shops, govt building projects 2. warriors-defenders/protectors of the society 3. philosophers-rulers(decision makers) of the society
Lyceum
a scientific academy founded by Aristotle
Persian Empire
about 510 B.C. they had the largest empire in the world
499 B.C. Miletus
a Greek city state that rebelled against the Persians
Darius
was a king of Persia
Marathon
Greek victory over the Persians
Pheidippides
was the Greek runner that ran back to Athens telling of the victory at Marathon
Xerxes(son of Darius)
in 480 B.C. he demands that the Greeks surrender
Thermopylae
the mountain pass defended by the Spartan force of 300
Leonidas
the Spartan general
battle of Salamis
Athenian navy destroys most of the Persian fleet
battle of Plataea
the final battle of the century of war and we see a Greek victory over the Persians
Hellenistic culture
Greek-like culture
civilization
a mixture of Greek and Roman culture
Alexander the Great age 20
inherits his father’s kingdom
Alexandria
a court-city in Egypt(built lighthouse there that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world)
Aesop
was a former slave known for his fables(tortoise and the hare)
Euclid
created the fundamentals for modern geometry
Herodotus
“father of history” factually recorded history
Hippocrates
“father of medicine” laid down the principles of modern medicine
Ptolemy
developed a universal theory that stated that the Earth was at the center of the universe
Archimedes
and engineer, physician, and a mathematician
Pythagoras
developed the Pythagorean theorem (a2+b2=c2)
Epicurus
stressed that moderation in all things would make one happy
Crete
an island where the Minoan culture flourished
