Vocabulary Flashcards
Mycenaeans
created Green language
formed the core of Greek religious practices, art, literature
war oriented, strong government
Trojan War
war between Troy and Greek city states
Dorian
- moved into war-torn countryside after Mycenaeans
- spoke a dialect of Greek
- were far lessadvanced than the Mycenaeans
- no written records exist from the 400-year period between 1150 and 750 B.C. = the Dorian Age
Homer
the greatest storyteller, he was blind, his great epic poems: the Iliad
Epics
narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds
Myth
Greeks traditional stories about their gods
Polis
the city-state
- fundamental political unit in ancient Greece
- it was made up of a city and its surrounding countryside
Acropolis
a fortified hilltop where citizens gathered to discuss city government
Monarchy
a form of government where a single person (king) ruled
Aristocracy
a government ruled by a small group of noble, landowning families
Oligarchy
a government ruled by a few powerful people
Tyrants
- rulers, populist
- weren’t consider harsh and cruel
- they were looked upon as leaders who would work for the interests of the ordinary people
Democracy
state ruled by its citizens; citizens participated directly in political decisions making
Helots
- peasants forced to stay on the land they worked
- each year, the Spartans demanded half of the helots’ crops
- Greek slaves
Phalanx
- the fearsome formation, it became the most powerful fighting force in the ancient world
- made up of hoplites
Persian wars
a series of wars between Greece and Persian Empire (500 – 479 B.C.)
Direct democracy
a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
Classical art
ideal beauty, not realism; values of harmony, order, balance and proportion
Tragedy
- a serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, betrayal;
- dramatists: Aeschylus (Oresteia), Sophocles (Oedipus the King, Antigone), Euripides (Medea)
Comedy
- contained scenes filled with slapstick situations and crude humour
- Aristophanes (The birds, Lysistrata)
Peloponnesian War
war between 2 city-states (Athens & Sparta);
- Athens: the stronger navy
- Sparta: the stronger army
Athens lost its empire, power and wealth
Philosophers
‘’lovers of wisdom’’
- thinkers who were determined to seek the truth, no matter where the search led them
Socrates
- critic of Sophists
- he believed that the absolute standards did exist for truth and justice
- he encouraged question themselves and their moral character
Plato
- a student of Socrates
- The Republic - where he set forth his vision of a perfectly
governed society: 3 groups of citizens: farmers & artisans, warriors, and the ruling class; the person with the greatest insight and intellect from the ruling class = philosopher-king - The conversations with Socrates - all the teaches of Socrates
Aristotle
- questioned the nature of the world and of human belief, thought, and knowledge
- Plato’s student
Philip II.
king of Macedonia, a brilliant general and a ruthless politician
Macedonia
ancient kingdom north of Greece, had rough terrain and a cold climate
Alexander the Great
- Philip’s son, Aristotle’s student
- known for his unexpected actions
-created the biggest empire
Darius III.
Persian king
Hellenistic culture
- Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian and Indian influences
- Koine - the popular spoken language used in Hellenistic cities
Alexandria
- Egyptian city
- it became the foremost centre of commerce and Hellenistic
civilization - its diverse population exceeded half a million people
Euclid
a highly regarded mathematician who taught in Alexandria
his work is still the basis for courses in geometry
Archimedes
Hellenistic scientist, he estimated the value of pi
Colossus of Rhodes
the largest known Hellenistic statue
this bronze statue stood more than 100 feet high
