Upgrade to remove ads
Only $35.99/year

Ancient Greece

Terms in this set (61)

Greece's geography impact
-Independent city-states
-Limited amount of farm land led to increased trade
-Sea trade: exchange of goods & ideas
-More difficult to conquer all as empire
Parthenon
A large temple dedicated to the goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It was built in the 5th century BCE, during the Athenian golden age.
Athenian Democracy
A radical form of direct democracy in which much of the free male population of Athens had the franchise and officeholders were chosen by lot.
Sparta
Greek city-state that was ruled by an oligarchy, focused on military, used slaves for agriculture, discouraged the arts
Athens
A democratic Greek polis who accomplished many cultural achievements, and who were constantly at war with Sparta.
Pericles
Athenian leader noted for advancing democracy in Athens and for ordering the construction of the Parthenon.
Socrates
(470-399 BCE) An Athenian philosopher who thought that human beings could lead honest lives and that honor was far more important than wealth, fame, or other superficial attributes. The way to seek truth is through a series of questions and answers.
Sophocles
Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone
Herodotus
Greek Historian, considered the father of History. He came from a Greek community in Anatolia and traveled extensively, collecting information in western Asia and the Mediterranean lands.
Thucydides
Greek historian. Considered the greatest historian of antiquity, he wrote a critical history of the Peloponnesian War that contains the funeral oration of Pericles
Archimedes
(287-212 BCE) Greek mathematician and inventor. He wrote works on plane and solid geometry, arithmetic, and mechanics. He is best known for the lever and pulley, Archimides' principle, and the use of heat rays.
Aeschylus
Father of Greek tragedy, wrote Oresteia; proposed the idea of having two actors and using props and costumes
Delian League
Alliance between Athens and many of its allied cities following the first attempted invasion of Persia into Greece. Caused a lot of wealth to flow into Athens and thus contributed to the Athenian "golden age."
Minoans
The Mediterranean society that formed on the island of Crete and were masters of the sea.
Myceneans
People who replaced the Minoans as the chief power of the Aegean world
Bull Leaping
Minoan bullfighting
Bull Leaping Fresco
Palace of Knossos, Crete, Minoan
Homer
ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)
Dorians
A Greek-speaking people who migrated into mainland Greece after the destruction of the Mycenaean civilization.
Polis
A city-state in ancient Greece.
Acropolis
A fortified hilltop in an ancient Greek city
Doric Column
The oldest and simplest of the three main orders of classical Greek architecture, characterized by heavy fluted columns with plain, saucer-shaped capitals and no base.
Ionian Column
columns with scrolls near the top
Corinthian Column
This type of column is the most complex, with carvings that looks like leaves at the top.
Mediterranean Sea
This body of Water separates Europe and Africa, Italy is centrally located on this
Polytheism
Belief in many gods
mythology
A body of stories about gods and heroes that try to explain how the world works
Alexander the Great
Between 334 and 323 B.C.E. he conquered the Persian Empire, reached the Indus Valley, founded many Greek-style cities, and spread Greek culture across the Middle East, empire reached modern-day Pakistan
Aristotle
A Greek Philosopher, taught Alexander the Great, started a famous school, studied with Plato
Trojan War
10 year war fought between the Mycenaean Greeks and the city of Troy
Achilles
Greatest Greek warrior, husband of Briseis whom Agamemnon steals, only vulnerable place is his heel, prophecy that he would die in the Trojan war, which he does at the hand of Paris
Euclid
(circa 300 BCE), Greek mathematician. Considered to be the father of modern geometry.
Phidias
Athenian sculptor who supervised the building of the Parthenon, built the statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world
Cleisthenes
(500BC) Established the world's first democracy in Athens "father of democracy"-all citizens had the right to participate in assembly
Athena
Goddess of wisdom and war
Apollo
God of the sun
The Odyssey
Homer's story of the long, adventurous journey home for Odysseus after the Trojan War
Iliad
Homer's great epic that tells the story of the Trojan War
Homer
ancient Greek epic poet who is believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)
Troy
A kingdom that was destroyed by the Greeks in the Trojan War. It is located on the western coast of Asia Minor
city-state
a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state.
Battle of Marathon (490 BC)
King Xerxes (son of Darius) sends army to take over all of Greece out of anger
Phiedippides
Ran from Marathon to Athens to bring news of victory then died
Monarchy
A government in which power is in the hands of a single person
Draco
Athenian lawmaker whose code of laws prescribed death for almost every offense, everyone equal in the eyes of the law (circa 7th century BC)
Solon
Early Greek leader who brought democratic reforms such as his formation of the Council of Four Hundred
Zeus
God of the sky, king of the gods
Hippocrates
"Founder of Medicine" During the Golden Age in Greece he was a scientist that believed all diseases came from natural causes. He also had high ideals for physicians & an oath was made that is still used today.
Ptolemy
Alexandrian astronomer who proposed a geocentric system of astronomy that was undisputed until Copernicus (2nd century AD)
Battle of Thermopylae
Battle during which 300 Spartans fought thousands of Persian soldiers in a narrow mountain pass
Battle of Salamis
Greek victory over the Persian navy during the Second Persian War
Battle of Plataea
The last major battle of the Greco-Persian War
Hellenic culture
of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the ancient Greeks or their language, culture, thought, etc., esp. before the time of Alexander the Great.
Hellenistic Culture
Greek culture blended with Egyptian, Persian and Indian ideas, as a result of Alexander the Great's Empire.
Pythagoras
A Greek philosopher and mathematician, this man was credited with the discovery that numbers are useful for more than counting physical things.
Opis Mutiny Speech
Alexander the Great's speech to his Macedonian soldier who mutinied and wanted to return home
Darius III of Persia
Ruler of Persia, fought against Alexander the Great (334 BCE.), killed by his own people (331 BCE)
Dardanelles
A vital strait connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean
Hellespont
the long, narrow body of water between Europe and Asia in present-day Turkey
Agora
a public open space in ancient Greece used for assemblies and markets
Crete
the largest Greek island in the Mediterranean
Students also viewed