Term | Definition |
Polis | A city-state of ancient Greece. |
Acropolis | A walled high area surrounding a polis. |
Agora | An open area that served as a meeting place and market in early Greek city-states. |
Helots | In ancient Greece, slaves. |
Hoplites | Foot soldiers in ancient Greece. |
hubris | Great pride. |
Democracy | A government run by the people. |
Solon | Athenian statesman ; he introduced the first civil democracy in Greece and created the Boule. |
Tyrant | A strong man who seized power by force and claimed to rule for the good of the people. |
Cleisthenes | Ancient Greek ruler often called the father of democracy. He increased the size of the council that governed Athens to 500, and he reorganized Athenian tribes on a geographical rather than familial basis. |
Direct Democracy | The type of governing system where all people vote directly on a issue. |
Archon | A chief of state of ancient Athens |
Phalanx | A military formation composed of rows of soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder carrying pikes or heavy spears. |
Pericles | Athenian statesman; he encouraged the spread of democracy in Athens and the growth of the city-state's power. |
Socrates | Greek philosopher of Athens; his teaching style was based on asking questions. He wanted people to question their own beliefs. He was arrested and condemned to death for challenging authority. |
Plato | A student of Socrates, he started a school in Athens called the Academy. In the Republic he describes an ideal society run by philosopher-kings. |
Aristotle | Greek philosopher and student of Plato; he taught that logic was the tool for any necessary inquiry; his work later became the basis for medieval scholasticism. |
Reason | Clear and ordered thinking. |
Logic | The process of making inferences. |
Homer | Greek poet, he wrote the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, which tell stories set during and after the Trojan War. |
Lyric poetry | A type of poetry that gained its name from the lyre and instrument that played while the poetry was sung. |
Herodotus | Greek historian; his most famous work is The Histories, which describes major events of the Persian wars. |
Thucydides | Greek historian of Athens; he wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War. He is regarded as the first critical historian and is often ranked ans the greatest historian of antiquity. |
Alexander the Great | King of Macedon and conqueror of much of Asia; he is considered one of the greatest generals of all time. |
Hellenistic | The blending of Greek cultures with those of Persia, Egypt and Central Asia following the conquests of Alexander the Great. |
Euclid | Greek geometer; he created practical books on geometric forms and mathematics. His work formed the basis for later European studies in geometry |
Eratosthenes | Greek astronomer and geographer; he calculated the circumference of the globe using careful observations and simple geometry. |
Archimedes | Greek mathematician and inventor; he was known for his work in geometry, physics, and mechanics. |