Greek Exam 2: Terms

Aeschylos

first surviving playwright, first to write dialogue, fought at 3 battles. Wrote The Orestia

Sophokles

Playwright who wrote Oedipus Rex and Antigone.

Oedipus

King of Thebes, killed his father and married his mother

Tiresias

Blind prophet of Thebes. Brings painful visions to Oedipus and Creon that determine the tragedy’s fate

Antigone

Oedipus’s daughter, strives for justice to give proper burial to her brother Polynices

Laius

Oedipus’s true father, killed by the hands of his own son unwillingly

Jocasta

Oedipus’s mother, Oedipus married her unknowning she was his mother

Ismene

Antigone’s sister, only survivor of the tragedy in Antigone. Serves as a side character to Antigone and stays away from the conflict

Eumenides

Play by Aeschylus in the Oresteia, follows orestes jury with furies after killing his mother Clytemnestra, acquitted by Athena due to the agreement with Apollo that patricide is more important than matricide

Orestes

Son of Agamemnon and Clytemenstra, goes to jury for killing mother, yet is acquitted by a trial by Athena

Elektra

Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemenstra. Worked with her brother to avenge her fathers death, and kill Clytemenstra and Aegisthos

Klytemnestra

Agamemnon’s wife, plans to kill Agamemnon after 10 years of his absence with Aegisthos to avenge the sacrfice of their daughter, Iphigenia.

Agamemnon

King of Argos, leader of Greek armies against Troy. Had to sacrifice his and Clytemnestra’s daughter

Aegisthos

Agamemnon’s cousin, helped Clytemnestra to kill Agamemnon in avenge for the death of Iphigenia

Iphigenia

Agamemnon and Clytemenstra’s eldest daughter. Gets killed by her father as a sacrifice by Trojans

Darius

Ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. initiated the first Greco-Persian War. Defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC,

Xerxes

Persian ruler who reigned as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius. Led Battle of Salamis

Battle of Marathon

490 BC; first Persian invasion of Greece. Fought between the citizens of Athens and Persian force

Battle of Salamis

480 BC . A decisive naval victory for an alliance of Greek city-states over the invading Persian Empire.

Battle of Eurymedon River

466 BCE . military engagement between the Greeks of the Delian League and the forces of the Achaemenid Empire toward the end of the reign of Xerxes I

Trittyes

Kleisthenic reform of thirds geographically; 1 urban, 1 coastal, 1 inland

Prytany

executives of the boule of Ancient Athens

Pentakosiamedimnoi

Top magistrates of Solonic classes, 500 bushels of agricultural produce

Kleisthenes

508, restructuring the Athenian government after Peisistratus. Based on geographical residence, democratic equality, and citizen participation

Peisistratus

560-527, a tyrant. Public works, arts, Enacted economic policies of Solon, Supports tyrannies elsewhere, building network of alliances

Solon

Late 590- enigmatic leader who makes series of laws/political reforms based on wealth: including Seisachtheia (debt relief), return of enslaved Athenians, grain exportation

Perikles

championed Athenian democracy, fostered a massive cultural building program (including the Parthenon), and transformed the Delian League into an Athenian Empire

Delian League

Formed in 477 to contain Persia, gain war booty as compensation for damages, and for revenge

Temple of Zeus at Olympia

470-457 BC, one of the 7 wonders, dedicated to Zeus made by Pheidias

Parthenon

Temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the goddess Athena. Built under Pericles between 447 and 438 BCE, it functioned as a religious temple, treasury, and symbol of Athenian power.

Perioikoi

Spartan class of citizens with no political role and engage in commerce

Helots

Lowest rank of Spartan classes. Property of state, tied to a specific piece of land/town. Appropriated to male Spartan citizens, at least a 7 to 1 ratio

Ephor

Spartan council: elected 5 over 30 by Apella by acclamation. Supervised kings and can impeach. Oversaw education and enforced Spartan System

Council of 500

AKA Boule, athenian council that met along with Ekklesia to pass laws

Cella

Chamber, in part of Greek Temple Architecture. Houses the cult statue of a deity

Pediment

Piece of Greek Temple Architecture that tells stories and messages. Triangular, placed above

Metope

Rectangular architectural element, feature high-relief sculptures or paintings