Unit 5: Ancient Greece

Question 1

acropolis

Answer 1

A fortified hilltop (the highest point) in an ancient Greek city-state

Question 2

Aeschylus

Answer 2

Greek playwright, known as the “Father of Tragedy”

Question 3

Alexander the Great

Answer 3

King of Macedonia who conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia; reached the Indus Valley, known for spreading Hellenistic Culture

Question 4

Archimedes

Answer 4

Greek scientist inventor, astronomer, and mathematician; discovered buoyancy

Question 5

aristocracy

Answer 5

A government in which power is in the hands of a ruling class or nobility

Question 6

Aristotle

Answer 6

Greek philosopher; believed everything in the natural world could be explained with logic; ideas led to the Scientific Method

Question 7

causes of the Persian Wars

Answer 7

Ionia ( a Greek colony) was conquered by the Persians; when the Ionians revolted against the Persians’ raising taxes, Athens supported them. The Persians then invaded mainland Greece

Question 8

causes of the Peloponnesian War

Answer 8

Athens, as leader of the Delian League, misused league funds intended for rebuilding its navy but instead, it used it to beautify/rebuild Athens; Sparta retaliated by breaking away and forming the Peloponnesian League

Question 9

Debt slavery

Answer 9

people sold themselves and their families into slavery to pay off their debts

Question 10

Delian League

Answer 10

a military alliance led by Athens, meant to defend against outside attacks

Question 11

direct democracy

Answer 11

A form of government in white citizens rule directly and not through representatives

Question 12

Draco

Answer 12

Athenian tyrant who was known for establishing very harsh laws

Question 13

effects of the Persian Wars

Answer 13

Greeks united with a sense of victory, and Athens took leadership of the Delian League which other city-states also joined to protect against future attacks from outsiders.

Question 14

effects of the Peloponnesian Wars

Answer 14

End of Athens’ Golden Age; decline in democracy and increase in corruption, Sparta and Athens are weakened, which allows Macedonia to rise to power

Question 15

epic

Answer 15

A long narrative poem telling of a hero’s deeds

Question 16

Euclid

Answer 16

Greek mathematician, considered to be the father of modern geometry

Question 17

Hellenistic culture

Answer 17

Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian, and Indian cultures as a result of Alexander the Great’s Empire

Question 18

Herodotus

Answer 18

Father of history; Greek historian who wrote about the Persian Wars

Question 19

Hippocrates

Answer 19

Father of modern medicine; responsible for the Hippocratic Oath

Question 20

Homer

Answer 20

A greek poet, author of the Illiad and the Odyssey

Question 21

hoplite

Answer 21

a heavily armed foot soldier of Ancient Greece

Question 22

impact of Greece’s geography on its development

Answer 22

overpopulation and lack of farmland led to establishing of colonies around the Mediterranean; mountains terrain led to development of independent city-states; access to water led to dominance of sea trade (Athens).

Question 23

monarchy

Answer 23

A government ruled by a king or queen

Question 24

mythology

Answer 24

Greek polytheistic religion; intended to explain natural phenomena, the natural world; and human behaviors and emotions

Question 25

oligarchy

Answer 25

a government ruled by a few wealthy people (aristocrats)

Question 26

Peloponnesian League

Answer 26

a league (military alliance) created and led by Sparta that consisted of Spartan and their allies; formed after breaking away from the Delian League

Question 27

Peloponnesian War

Answer 27

(431-404 BCE) The war between Athens and Sparta that in which Sparta won, but left Greece as a whole weak and ready to fall to its neighbors to the north

Question 28

Pericles

Answer 28

Father of democracy; expanded democracy to include the poor

Question 29

Persian Wars

Answer 29

Conflicts between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire, recorded by Herodotus

Question 30

phalanx

Answer 30

A military formation of foot soldiers armed with spears and shields

Question 31

Phidias

Answer 31

Athenian sculptor who supervised the building of the Parthenon and the temple of Zeus

Question 32

Philip II of Macedon

Answer 32

king of ancient Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great; conquered Greek city-states after Peloponnesian Wars

Question 33

Plato

Answer 33

Greek philosopher; Socrates’ most well-known pupil who founded the Academy in Athens; wrote The Republic

Question 34

polis

Answer 34

A city-state in ancient Greece and its surrounding countryside

Question 35

Pythagoras

Answer 35

Greek philosopher and mathematician who proved the Pythagorean theorem

Question 36

Socrates

Answer 36

Greek philosopher; known for creating the Socratic method and the importance of questioning; sentenced to death for corrupting Athens’ youth

Question 37

Solon

Answer 37

Athenian tyrant who outlawed debt slavery

Question 38

Sophocles

Answer 38

Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex

Question 39

Thucydides

Answer 39

Greek historian who wrote about the Peloponnesian Wars

Question 40

trireme

Answer 40

Greek warship built specifically for ramming enemy ships

Question 41

tyranny

Answer 41

a form of government in which the ruling power is in the hands of one person who takes control by force; not considered legitimate

Question 42

tyrant

Answer 42

a leader who seizes power is not considered legitimate, usually backed by the military