 | Term | Definition |
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Alexander the Great |
Successor of Philip II; successfully conquered Persian Empire prior to his death in 323bc; attempted to combine Greek and Persian cultures. |
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Macedon |
kingdom located in northern Greece; originally loosely organizedunder kings, became centralized under Philip II; served as basis for unifaction of unifaction of Greece and later Macedonian Empire. |
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Hellenism |
Culture derived from the Greek civilization that flourished bewteen 800 and 400bc. |
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Persian Wars |
two wars fought in early 5th century bc bewteen Persian Empire and Greek city-states; Greek victories allowed Greek civilization to define identity separate from the Asian empire. |
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Ptolemies |
One of the regoinal dynasties that followed the death of Alexander the Great; founded in Egypt |
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Olympic games |
one of the pan-Hellenic rituals observed by all Greek city-states; involved athletic competitions and ritual celebrations |
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Plato |
Greek philosopher; knowledge based on consideration of ideal forms outside the material world; proposed ideal form of goverment based on abstract principles in which philosophers ruled |
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Socrates |
Athenian philosopher of the later 5th century bc.;tutor of Plato; urged rational reflection of moral decisions; condemmed to death for corrupting minds of Athenian young |
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Aristophanes |
Greek writer of comedies, author of The Frogs |
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Ionic |
along with Doric and Corinthian, distinct style of Hellenistic architecture; more ornate than Doric but less than Corinthian |
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Cleisthenes |
Athenians reformer of the late 6th centurybc.; established democratic Counxil of 500 in Athens |
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Philip II |
Ruled Macedon from 359 to 336 bc.; founder of centralized kingdom; later conquered the rest of Greece, which was subjected to Macedonian authority |
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Stoics |
Hellenistic group of philosopher; emphasied inner moral indepence cultivated by strict discipline of the body and personal bravery |
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lliad |
Greek poem attributed to Homer but possibly the work of many authors; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythos |
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Doric |
Along with Ionian and Corinthian; distinct style of Hellenistic architecture; the least ornate of the three styles |
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Solon |
Athenian reformer of the 6th century; established laws that eased the burden of debt on farmers, forbade enslavement for debt |
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Alexandria, Egypt |
One of the many cities of that name founded by Alexander the Great; site of the ancient MediterraneanO's greatest library; center of litrary studies |
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Aristotle |
Greek philosopher; teacher of Alexander the Great; knowledge based on observation of phenomena in material world |
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Vslkerwanderungen |
movememt of Germanic peoples southward into the Roman Empire;resulted from poplulation growth, pressure of Asian groups on the eastern flanks of Germanic regions |
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Pelponnesian Wars |
Wars from 431 to 404 bc bewteen Athens and Sparta for dominance in southern Greece; resulted in Spartan victory but failure to achieve political unifaction of Greece |
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Oracle at Delphi |
person representing the god Apollo; allegedly recieved cryptic messages from the god that had predictive value if the seeker could correctly interpret the communication |
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Aeschylus |
Greek writer of tragedies |
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Hellenistic period |
that culture associated with the spread of Greek influence as a result of Macedonian conquests; often seen as the combination of Greek culture with eastern political forms |
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Odyssey |
Greek epic poem attributed to Homer but the work of many authors; defined gods and human nature that shaped Greek mythos |
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Corinthian |
along with Doric and Ionian, disctinct style of Hellenistic architecture; the most ornate of the three styles |
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Antigonids |
one of the regional dynasties that followed the death of Alexander the Great; founded in Macedonia and Greece |
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Pericles |
Athenian political leader during 5th century bc.' guided development of Athenian Empire; died during early stages of Peloponnesian War |
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Pisastratus |
Athenian tyrant of the late 6th century bc. gained popular support against traditional aristocratic councils of Athenian goverment |
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Helots |
conqueredindigenous poplulation of Spartan city-state; provided agricultural labor for Spartan landowners; only semifree; largest poplulation of Spartan city-state |
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Seleucids |
one of the regional dynasties that followed the death of Alexander the Great; founded in Mesopotamia |
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Sophocles |
Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex |
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Euclid |
The Greek mathematician produced what was long the world's most widely used compendiums of geometry. |
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Julius Caesar |
Gained control of Rome in 45 B.C.E. and brought an end to the traditional institutions of the Roman state. |
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