It's All Greek To Me
Started in 776 BCE to honor Zeus, this sports festival featured naked sprinters, zero silver medals, and a very leafy headpiece for the winner
What are the Olympic Games?
Translating literally to "love of wisdom," this academic discipline started when people decided "because the gods did it" wasn't a strong enough answer
What is philosophy?
Nothing brings rivals together like a common enemy! Athens and Sparta briefly held hands to fight off this massive empire at Marathon and Thermopylae.
What is the Persian Empire?
After stepping out of his luxurious palace and seeing human suffering for the first time, Siddhartha Gautama gave up his royal crown and earned this enlightened title.
Who is the Buddha?
Confucius didn't invent his philosophy during a peaceful vacation; he created it to fix the complete political breakdown of this warlike Chinese era.
What is the Warring States Period?
Because Greece's rugged mountains kept communities totally isolated from one another, the ancient Greeks never formed one giant empire, organizing themselves into these small cliques instead
What are poleis? (or city-states)
This annoying street philosopher refused to write anything down, asked too many questions, and was ultimately executed by drinking poison hemlock for "corrupting the youth"
Who is Socrates?
The "we beat Persia" honeymoon phase didn't last, leading to this disastrous Greek civil war that brought an end to Athens' Golden Age.
What is the Peloponnesian War?
Siddhartha's royal bubble burst after sneaking out of his palace and witnessing an old man, a sick person, and a corpse—a life-changing series of events known by this name
What are the Three Encounters
Confucius didn't write down his ideas himself; instead, his devoted students compiled his teachings into this famous book of sayings and conversations.
What are The Analects?
Free-born males in this city-state bragged about inventing direct democracy, while conveniently forgetting that women, immigrants, and enslaved people couldn't vote
What is Athens?
Unhappy with democracy after his teacher was executed, Plato wrote The Republic and argued that these nerdy, highly educated rulers should be in charge
Who are philosopher-kings?
By the age of 30, this Macedonian conqueror had taken over the known world, named dozens of cities after himself, and named one after his favorite horse
Who is Alexander the Great?
If you want to end suffering and achieve enlightenment in Buddhism, you'll need to follow this numerical roadmap that covers right view, right action, and right effort
What is the Eightfold Path?
If you want social harmony in Confucianism, you'd better show this two-word concept of utmost respect to your parents and ancestors
What is filial piety?
While Athenian women were expected to stay home, women in this warrior state were out running, owning property, and managing estates while the men were at camp
What is Sparta?
Aristotle warned against being a total couch potato OR an extreme gym rat, advocating instead for this "golden" principle of perfect moderation in everything
What is the Golden Mean?
Long before the Greeks were building acropolises, this South Asian river valley civilization was flexing its urban planning with grid streets and flushed toilets
What is the Indus River Valley Civilization?
Unlike faith systems tied strictly to a single culture or region, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam actively seek converts worldwide, placing them in this category of faith.
What is a Universalizing Religion?
Forget who your dad is! Starting in the Han Dynasty, Chinese bureaucrats had to pass this grueling test based on merit and Confucian texts.
What is the Civil Service Exam?
Historians still argue whether this allegedly blind poet was a single literary genius or just a really good group chat of ancient storytellers.
Who is Homer?
German philosopher Karl Jaspers coined this "pivotal" term for the era between 800 and 200 BCE when Confucius, Buddha, and Socrates all started thinking big at the exact same time.
What is the Axial Age?
Alexander’s conquests sparked this cultural era, which was a massive historical smoothie blending Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian traditions
What is the Hellenistic Era?
After a horrific, bloody victory at Kalinga, this Mauryan Emperor felt immense guilt, gave up warfare, converted to Buddhism, and carved peace messages on stone pillars across India.
Who is Ashoka?
Confucius had a rough 20th century when this Communist leader tried to erase traditional Confucian values during the Cultural Revolution
Who is Mao Zedong?