Geography & Culture
These are traditional stories about the gods. The Greek ones are still popular today.
What are myths?
This is the term for a government ruled by a few rich and powerful individuals.
What is an oligarchy?
This philosopher was condemned to death for “corrupting the youth of Athens” and “neglecting the city’s gods.”
Who is Socrates?
Philip II owed much of his military success to his improvements on this Greek battle formation, by equipping his foot soldiers with 18-foot pikes in place of shorter spears.
What is the phalanx?
This city was the center of commerce and culture in the Hellenistic world. It is still remembered for its Library and Lighthouse.
What is Alexandria?
People believed that this ancient war was just a myth, until German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered evidence of the city and war in northwestern Turkey in the 1870s.
What is the Trojan War?
This is the Greek word for the city-state, which was the fundamental political unit in ancient Greece by 750 B.C.
What is the polis?
This alliance of Greek city-states was ultimately able to successfully end the Persian Wars and to fund the building projects that were an important element of Athens’ golden age.
What is the Delian League?
This kingdom to the north of Athens was able to conquer Greece under Philip II and later conquer much of the known world under his son Alexander.
What is Macedonia?
This mathematician’s work is still the basis of courses in geometry. His best–known work was the textbook Elements.
Who is Euclid?
We still read the two great epics, The Iliad and The Odyssey, by this blind poet.
Who is Homer?
In ancient Greece, this term referred to a powerful individual, who seized control of the government by appealing to the common people for support.
What is a tyrant?
This statesman dominated the life of Athens from 461 to 429 B.C., and achieved his three goals: (1) to strengthen Athenian democracy, (2) to hold and strengthen the empire, and (3) to glorify Athens
Who is Pericles?
This philosopher came close to summarizing all knowledge known at the time. He passed this wisdom on to his student—Alexander the Great.
Who is Aristotle?
This bronze statue stood more than 100 feet high. It appears to have been the tallest statue in the Hellenistic world, and was ranked as one of the 7 Wonders of the World.
What is the Colossus of Rhodes?
The Mycenaeans gained much of their culture including their written language, art and focus on seafaring from these ancient bull jumpers.
Who are the Minoans?
The Spartan economy allowed all Spartan men to pursue a full time military career due to farming being offloaded to these peasants, who were forced to stay on the land they worked.
Who are the helots?
This philosopher wrote The Republic, a book that set forth his vision of a perfectly governed society.
Who is Plato?
Alexander had begun his conquest of this country in 326 B.C. when his troops forced him to head back home after 11 years of fighting.
What is India?
In the second century A.D., he incorrectly placed Earth at the center of the solar system. Astronomers accepted this as fact for the next 14 centuries.
Who is Ptolemy?
No written record exists from the 400-year period between 1150 and 750 B.C. as the Greek economy collapsed and they briefly lost written language while this group was the dominant culture.
Who are the Dorians?
This leader introduced political and economic reforms to Athens in 594 B.C., including outlawing debt slavery and dividing Athenians into four social classes based on wealth. Only the top three could hold political office, but all could participate in the Athenian assembly.
Who was Solon?
This war was fought between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C. It ended with Athens’ surrender and the loss of its empire.
What is the Peloponnesian War?
This Persian king twice fled the battlefield to escape from Alexander’s Macedonian forces.
Who is Darius III?
This school of philosophy held that the universe is controlled by a divine power and argued that people should lead virtuous lives in harmony with natural law.
What is Stoicism?