Nation located at the tip of Europe's Balkan peninsula, lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the Aegean Sea
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Olympics
Originally they were athletic festivals held to honor Zeus, the king of the gods
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Aegean Sea
Body of water that separates Greece from the Middle East. Hundreds of Greek islands lie in its waters
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Troy
Legend tells us that this ancient city of Asia Minor was under attack by the Greeks for ten years
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Direct Democracy
Government in which citizens vote on laws and select officials directly.
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Polis
Independent political units of the ancient Greek civilization
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Hercules
In the early years of the ancient Greek civilization, he was the strongest and best-known of all heroes
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Socrates
This philosopher eventually became one of the most influential figures in the history of western thought
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Plato
Philosopher and friend of Socrates who founded the Academy, the first university
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Iliad & Odyssey
The Greek poet Homer wrote these two epic adventures
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Hippocrates
Known as the "Father of Medicine"
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Pericles
leader of Athens for over 30 years who also asked the sculptor Phidias to adorn the Parthenon with friezes (decorative bands)
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Aristotle
Great philosopher who studied under Plato in Athens, and later tutored the 13-year-old Alexander at the Macedonian court
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Zeus
He was king of the gods and the bringer of rain
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Hera
She was the wife of Zeus and the protectress of married women and the home
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Athena
This goddess of reason and wisdom was the daughter of Zeus alone
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Apollo
The sun god, the archer god, the healer, and the master musician
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Aphrodite
Goddess of love and beauty who arose full-grown from the foam of the sea
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Ares
Son of Zeus and Hera, was the god of war
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Poseidon
God of the sea and drove a horse-drawn chariot and carried a three-pronged spear
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Hades
He was the ruler of the underworld and the dead
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Alexander the Great
King of Macedonia and the eventual conqueror of all of the known world of his day
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Homer
Blind poet who wrote the two greatest epics in western literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey
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Athens
The most powerful of all Greek city-states and a great center of culture and learning
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Crete
The first great civilization of the Aegean world was the Minoan civilization, founded on this island
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Sparta
Military force made this Greek city-state second only to Athens
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Mount Olympus
The highest mountain in Greece and was believed to be the home of the gods
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Parthenon
Temple dedicated to the goddess Athena that was constructed atop the Acropolis, the highest point in Athens
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Acropolis
In ancient times this area of Athens was the most sacred part of town and the site of many important temples
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Golden Age
Term used to describe ancient Greece in the 400s B.C., a time of outstanding achievement
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Marathon
A foot race that is 26 miles 385 yards in length
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Darius the Great
Emperor of Persia, Father of Xerxes.
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Xerxes
Son of Darius; became Persian king. He vowed revenge on the Athenians. He invaded Greece with 180,000 troops in 480 B.C.
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Helot
In the society of ancient Sparta, a peasant bound to the land
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Oligarchy
A government ruled by a few powerful people
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Tyranny
A form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (Usually obtained power by use of force)
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Agora
a public open space used for assemblies and markets
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Delian League
Alliance between Athens and many of its allied cities following the first attempted invasion of Perisa into Greece. Caused a lot of wealth to flow into Athens and thus contributed to the Athenian "golden age."
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Pelponnesian League
military alliance led by Sparta
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Pelponnesian War
Athens vs Sparta, Sparta won but both were devastated unable to unite Greek city-states.
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Phillip II
336 BC, was an ancient Greek king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great.
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Ionia
region of western Asia Minor colonized by Ancient Greeks
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Oracle
a person thought to be a source of wisdom or prophecy
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Maiden goddesses
Athena, Artemis, Hestia
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Helen of Troy
A beautiful Greek woman, daughter of Zeus and Leda, who was kidnapped by Paris of Troy. The Trojan War began when the Greeks tried to get her back.
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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
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Minoans
earliest Greek civilization that had developed on the island of Crete by 2000 B.C.
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Myceaneans
Civilization that settled on mainland Greece and conquered Crete
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Macedonia
An ancient kingdom north of Greece, whose ruler Philip II conquered Greece in 338 B.C.
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