Early Greece
These expert sailors spread their culture through Mediterranean trade
Minoans
Hill-top fortress and religious center of a Greek city-state
Acropolis
Citizenship in Athens was limited to this group
Free males born in Athens
Spartan women’s primary role in society
Produce strong children (future soldiers)
Author of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Homer
Mainland civilization that later conquered the Minoans
Mycenaeans
Marketplace and heart of Greek public life
Agora
Athenian boys received a well-rounded education before doing this
Two years of military training
Government system in Sparta combining kings, elite rulers, and a council
Oligarchy
Long storytelling poems about heroes such as Achilles
Epics
Name of the palace that dominated Minoan culture
Knossos
High mountains and many islands helped create this type of political separation
Independent city-states
Reformer who gave an assembly of free citizens the power to pass laws
Solon
Age at which Spartan boys were taken from home to begin training
Seven
These stories helped explain beliefs, events, and justified actions
Myths
Island where Minoan civilization developed
Crete
Term for a city and surrounding area acting as an independent political unit
City-state / Polis
Foreign-born residents in Athens who worked and paid taxes but lacked rights
Metics
Spartan slaves who farmed the land and greatly outnumbered the citizens
Helots
Greek hero known for cleverness who took ten years to return from Troy
Odysseus
Massive walls Mycenaeans built that later Greeks said giants constructed
Cyclopean walls
As populations grew and farmland was limited, Greeks solved the problem by establishing these
Colonies
Athens and Sparta formed an alliance to resist these invaders
Persians
Group that held real political power in Sparta — chosen annually
Elected officials
Hero who killed the Minotaur with help from a king’s daughter
Theseus