Term | Definition |
epic poem | a long poem that tells the story of a hero |
arete | the qualities of excellence that a hero tries to win in a contest |
polis | a Greek city-state |
acropolis | a fortified gathering at the top of a hill |
agora | a marketplace |
phalanx | a rectangular marching formation |
tyrant | a ruler who took power from the aristocrats and maintained power by force |
democracy | government by the people, either directly or through representatives |
oligarchy | a type of government in which a few people have control |
helot | a captive of ancient Sparta |
ephor | one of five people elected each year in ancient Sparta who were responsible for education and the conduct of all citizens |
Age of Pericles | the period between 461 and 429 B.C. when Pericles was in control of Athens and Athens reached its height of power |
direct democracy | a type of government in which all male citizens could vote on important issues |
ostracism | in Athens, the process of temporarily banning a politician from the city by popular vote |
oracle | a sacred shrine where a god or goddess was said to reveal the future through a priest or priestess |
tragedy | a type of drama in which the main character fails or ends in sorrow due to a fatal flaw |
philosophy | a system of thought |
Socratic method | the method of teaching used by Socrates using a question and answer technique |
Hellenistic Era | the time of Alexander the Great when Greek ideas and language traveled to the non-Greek world |
Philip II | He conquered Greece for Macedonia and was Alexander the Great's father |
Persian Wars | This war was between the Greeks and Persians resulting in the Persians being kicked out of the Greek city-states |
Peloponnesian War | A war between Sparta and Athens in which Sparta ended up victorious and Athens lost their empire |
Herodotus | He is known as the "first historian" and worked to record history |
Alexander the Great | He conquered the Persian Empire and is known for the blending of Greek and Persian customs |
Aristotle | He was a student of Plato and was interested in effective government |
Socrates | He was an important Greek philosopher who encouraged questioning |
Delian League | This was an alliance between the Greek city-states formed to defeat the Persians and which Athens came to dominate |
Homer | He was a Greek poet who wrote the Odyssey and Iliad |
Achilles | The Iliad was about this legendary hero |
Mycenae | This was the first Greek city-state which flourished between 1600 and 1100 B.C. |
Mediterranean | The Greek peninsula and islands are in this sea |
Dark Age of Greece | During this time, many Greeks left the mainland and population and food production declined |
Sparta | This city-state was most focused on the military |
Athens | This city-state was known as the center of Greek culture and had the largest population of the city-states |
citizens | Free, adult males were considered to be this |
Olympic games | This festival was held to honor the two main Greek gods who lived on Mount Olympus |
Parthenon | This was a Greek temple built on the Acropolis and shows the main features of Greek architecture |
Plato | He was a famous Greek philosopher who was a student of Socrates and wrote about his ideas of government in "The Republic" |
Sophocles | Greek playwright famous for Oedipus |
Archimedes | Famous Greek mathematician and inventor |
Pericles | He ruled Athens during its Golden Age |
Darius | Persian ruler who divided the empire into 20 different districts |
Stoicism | School of thought developed by Zeno in Athens that says happiness can only be achieved when people gain inner peace by living in harmony with the will of the gods and that people should bear whatever life offers |
Epicurianism | School of thought developed by Epicurus in Athens that says happiness is the main goal in life and the way to gain happiness is through the pursuit of pleasure |