Vocabulary
The name of the earliest civilization in ancient Greece, that lived on the island of Crete.
Minoans
Which two crops grew well in the rocky soil of ancient Greece?
olives and grapes
A member of a city state who could vote, participate in government, own property, and fight in the military
citizen
This powerful ruler built one of the biggest empires after his father united the Greek city-states. His empire included Greece, Egypt, Phoenicia, Peria, and even parts of India.
Alexander the Great
The Olympic Games were started to honor this Greek god.
Zeus
Another word for a city state
polis
What is a peninsula?
A piece of land surrounded on three sides by water
With which large empire were the city-states of ancient Greece constantly in conflict?
Persia
Which king of Macedonia finally conquered all of the city states and united them under his control?
Philip II
List at least two things that Greek city-states had in common.
language
religion
culture
Who was a tyrant in ancient Greece?
A person who took control of the government by force but usually had the favor of the people.
Describe a Greek city-state. What did it look like, and what was there?
A city-state included a city (often with a protective wall) and the surrounding villages, fields, and orchards
Each city-state had an ACROPOLIS (fortified hill) at the center of the city
Give at least two differences between Athens and Sparta.
Athens focused on wisdom and Sparta on military.
Athens had a democracy and Sparta an oligarchy.
Athens' economy was based on trade; Sparta's economy was based on farming and conquering others.
What was the Delian League?
Explain how Alexander the Great tried to unify all of the different cultures that he conquered.
He adopted some of the ideas from each culture and tried to encourage others to do the same. For example, he built cities and brought the Greek language and culture to Persia, but married the daughter of the Persian king and wore Persian clothing.
What started the Peloponnesian Wars? Who were the main two city-states on each side?
Sparta and Athens fought over influence on other city-states around them.
Explain how the geography of ancient Greece made it hard for the city states to communicate and exchange ideas.
Mountains prevented them from communicating regularly, so city-states developed their own forms of government and ways of living.
Explain the difference between an oligarchy and a democracy.
An oligarchy is a government run by a few rich and powerful people.
A democracy is a government run by all of the citizens.
Explain how ancient Greek civilization was different from most of the other civilizations we have learned about.
Tell me about ancient Greek religion. Were they monotheistic or polytheistic? Who did they worship, and why? Describe some characteristics of the god or gods that they worshipped.
polytheistic
many gods and goddessess, each with different roles
had human characteristics and conflicts
lived on top of Mount Olympus