classical greece (box notes 10-29)

quiz flashcards

Trojan Wars

Trojan Wars

Mycenaeans vs. people of Troy.

Olympics

Athletic competition held every four years, and competed in honor of Zeus. They were held in the city of Olympia

Polis

city-state + citizens that included a city, surrounding villages, fields, and orchards

Acropolis

fortified hill - found in the center of a polis A temple was located in the acropolis

Agora

pubic square – at the bottom of the acropolis

Peloponnesus

a peninsula in Southern Greece

Council of Elders

a form of government, 28 men over age 60, could propose laws to the assembly

Euphors

"overseers" - 5 reprasentitives who could veto laws passed by the assembly

Attica

peninsula in Central Greece

Constitution

written plan of government

Philosophy

An organized system of thought – “love of knowledge”

“The Republic”

a work of writing by Plato about how he did not trust democracy

Marathon

battle at which the Persians were defeated by the Athenian navy

Thermopylae

the location at which an outnumbered Greek force held off the Persians

Delian League

an alliance led by the Athenians to keep the Greeks safe

Alexander’s Empire

stretched from Egypt and Macedonia in the west to the Indus River in the east

The Successor Kingdoms

Ptolemy (ruled Egypt, Libya, and parts of Syria. The most famous ruler was Cleopatra- who lost the kingdom to the Romans), Seleucus (ruled rest of Syria, Mesopotamia, Iran, and Afghanistan. 165 BC, Judah Maccabee reoccupied Jerusalem and rededicated the temple- celebrated by Hanukkah), Antigonus (ruled Macedonia and Greece)

Hellenistic

a new culture formed from Hellenic ways of life mixed with elements of Middle Eastern culture (concentrated in cities like Alexandria – largest and wealthiest)

Stoicism

Zeno-founded Hellenistic Philosophy. Believed that what happened to people was governed by natural laws, and that people would gain happiness by ignoring their emotions and following reason (this way people were able to face difficult times and do their duties). affected Roman intellectuals and early Christian thinkers

Iliad and Odyssey

written by Homer, and were epic poems set during the Trojan War

Homer

author of the Iliad and Odyssey. idk he was slay ig

Aristocrats

nobles that took power from kings

Sharecroppers

Farmers who needed loans until crops were harvested

Tyrannies

governments that exercise arbitrary power

Sparta

Peloponnesus peninsula (southern Greece). Economy was based on agriculture, conquered neighboring city-states to gain farmland.

Helots

Spartan slaves

Athens

located in Attica – peninsula in central Greece. Only Athens-born men were citizens, non-citizens – women, foreign-born males, and slaves. Athens was extremely patriarchal. Citizens studied arithmetic, geometry, drawing, music, gymnastics, and rhetoric (art of public speaking)

Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenes

led reforms that resulted in democracy for ancient Athens (508 BCE).

Dionysus

the performance of plays began in honor of him

Tragedies

reason triumphs over evil

Aeschylus

wrote Orestria, where evil breeds more evil and in the end logic wins

Sophocles

wrote Oedipus Rex, where evil wins out

Comedies

criticized both politicians and intellectuals. This form of play tried to make a point, entertain, and provoke a reaction

Aristophanes

His plays are examples of Greek comedies.

Socrates

developed the socratic method of teaching – question and answer

Plato

Socrates’ student – questioned reality, and he did not trust democracy

Aristotle

Plato’s student – learned from examining objects. He developed early science and wrote about ethics, logic, politics, poetry, astronomy, geology, biology, and physics.

Herodotus/Thucydides

Herodotus was first historian; wrote about the Persian Wars – believed divine forces impacted human events. Thucydides was the greatest ancient historian; wrote about the Peloponnesian War – focused only on human events.

The Persian Wars

war between Persia, Greece and Athens (Greece and Athens formed an alliance).

Pericles

expanded Athens' empire and had a deep attachment to Direct Democracy.

The Peloponnesian War

fought between Athens and its allies and Sparta and its allies and lasted from 431-404 B.C.

Philip II

king of Macedonia who increased army’s fighting power-organized infantry into Greek-style phalanxes. He was murdered in 336 B.C.

Alexander the Great

very educated, tutored by Aristotle. Alexander’s empire stretched from Egypt and Macedonia in the west to the Indus River in the east