Classical Literacy Exam
Terms
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- A.D.
- Anno Domini - in the year of our lord
- A.M.
- Ante Meridiam- before middle day
- P.M.
- Post Meridiem - after middle day
- Abacus
- means of counting used by Egyptians, Greeks, and Latin people
- Achilles
- greatest Trojan hero - poison arrow in heal because mother held him by heal into the River Styx, the heal had not been imortal for him
- Achille's Heal
- weakness
- Acropolis
- citadel of Greece - high city
- Ad nauseam
- to the point of disguist
- Ad Hoc
- for this purpose
- Ad Hominem
- to the man- something that is directed at one person
- ad infinitum
- to infinity - something that is endless
- Adonis
- extremely handsome man, torn apart - extremely handsome man - modern
- Adriatic Sea
- goes all the way around Greece, for King Aegia
- Aeneas
- trojan hero who escaped from Troy and found new homeland for refugee Trojans, became Italy, forefounders of Latin race
- Aenied
- latin epic, written by Vergil, which tells adventures of Aeneas, based on Oddyssey
- Aesop
- greek slave who wrote fables
- Agamemnon
- leader of all Greek Kings who led expedition to Troy and was murdered by his wife and new lover
- Alexander the Great
- from Macedonia, brilliant general, conquered Persian empire and spread Greek culture throughout Persian Empire
- Alexandria
- cities named after Aelxander the Great most famous by Nile River Delta
- All Gaul is Divided into Three Parts
- famous 1st line of Julius Caesar, wrote a book about his conquest in Gaul, 1st line of book
- All Roads Lead to Rome
-
1. Romans had all roads connect to Rome
2. Rome is the center of the universe at that time - alma mater
- kindly mother, used to describe any place from which you graduate
- Androcles and Lion
- story that Androcles comes upon lion, who he helps, lion refuses to eat slave later on
- Andromeda
- wife of Perseus who is sacrificed to a sea monster
- ante bellum
- before the civil war
- Atalanta
-
swift runner, she challenged any man who wanted to marry her in a foot race
if he won she married him
if she won she killed him
she was tricked - Apple of Discord
- apple that Ares threw at wedding of Peleus and Thetis which caused the Trojan war
- alpha and omega
- the first and last letters of the greek alphabet
- Alps
- the mountain range in Europe that runs through many European countries
- alter ego
- someone that has 2 or more personalities
- alumunus
- used to describe anyone who has graduated from something
- ambrosia and nectar
- the food and drink of the gods
- amphitheater
- an arena where contests and spectacles are held, one was located in Rome
- Bellerophon
-
slayer of chimera
rider of Pegasus - Appian Way
- lead from Rome to Brundisium; was said to be the largest road
- argonaut
- general term for sailer on ship Argo
- Basillica
- Ancient Roman law court/ present day church
- Aqueduct
- structure that is a leader of water
- atrium
- entry hall in a house
- Beware of the Ides of March
- warning given to Julius Caesar about the disaster that would strike him
- Mark Antony
- one of the generals of Julius Caesar, when Julius died struggle was found for position, he lost and committed suicide with Cleopatra; part of the Second Triumvirate
- Aphrodite/Venus
- goddess of love; born from sea foam; son was Eros
- Apollo
- god of light, music, reason, prophecy, and healing; symbol is bow and arrow or lyre;
- Arachne
- greek girl, famous for her weavings; taught and gave no credit to her teacher Athena; later turned into a spider because she lost a weaving battle with Athena;
- arachnophobia
- comes from arachnes and phobis; literally a fear of spiders and other arachnids
- Argus
-
1.dog of Odysseus, made a huge pile and died when he saw Odysseus
2.builder of Argo
3.100-eyed watchful servant who tortured Io - Ariadne
- daughter of King Minos, on Island of Crete; helped Theseus get out of Labrinth
- Artemis
- twin sister of apollo; associated with hunting and newborn animals; symbol was moon and bow and arrow
- astrology
- the study of positions of stars and foretelling them to see the future
- Athnea/Minerva
- goddess of wisdom; symbol is owl; born fully dressed from head of Zeus
- Athens
- capital city of Ancient Greece; where all literature, democracy, and art and architecture came out of
- Atlas
- Titan who held up te sky seperate from the Earth; punished by Zeus
- Bacchus/Dionysus
- god of wine; depicted as marry/drunken/chasing women
- bona fide
- in good faith- something that is genuine
- bread and circuses
- term used by upper ruling classes to describe method to keep poor people in line and happy
- Brutus
- conspirator to help kill Julius Caesar, one of the best friends of Caesar
- C.A./circa
- about or approximately
- Caesar/czar
- dictator or one man rule
- carpe diem
- seize the day - written by Horace
- Carthage
- city in North Africa; where Hanibel is from; where Dido lived in Aeneid; sight of the 1st and 2nd Carthaginian Wars
- Centaur
- half man, half horse; drunken woman stealers; 1 good one who's name is chiron, tudor of Achilles
- Cerberus
- 3 headed dog of the underworld
- Ceres/Demeter
- goddess of grain and harvest; cereal comes from it
- Chaos
- existed before nothign; beginning of all things
- Charon/ Chiron
- ferryman of the underworld; had to put coin under tongue to pay Charon; Chiron is the good centaur who is the tudor of achilles;
- Chimera/chimerical
- the lion, goat, snake, fire breathing creature slayed by Bellerophon; chimerical means whimsical;
- Circe
- a witch, aunt of Midea; turned Odysseus's men into animals but had to turn them back
- Cicero
- name means chick pea; most famous orator and writer of all Latin; killed by Mark Antony;
- Circus Maximus
- race track of Rome; held 250,000; chariot races happened here, 7 laps made up a race; used eggs and counters shaped like dolphins to count turns; put sand on floor to give horse's bad footing;
- Cleopatra
- Egyptian queen; lover of Julius Caesar; when Julius Caesar died lover of Mark Antony, committed suicide together
- cog nomen
- branch of family name
- cohort
- division of Roman army; 300-600 men
- Colosseum
- originally named Flavian Ampitheater; held 55,000 people and could be evacuated in 5 minutes; gladiator fights held there; finished in 80 A.d.;
- Constantine the Great
- emperor who legalized Christianity; converted on his death bed; capitol of Roman Empire moved to east
- Consul
- highest political office held during republic - always 2
- Cornucopia
- a horn of plenty
- cosmonaut
- Russian sailor of the universe
- Cronus
- Titan who is the father of zeus; he overthrew Uranus and was overthrown by Zeus
- Crossing the Rubicon
- couldn't enter Rome with an army or delcared war on; Julius Caesar did and declared alea icta est die; no going back after cross
- cum laude
- with praise; used on diplomas
- Cupid/Eros
- son of Venus/Aphrodite; depicted with bow and arrow that shot love or hate
- Cyclops
- eyed creature, children of Gaea and Uranus or son of Poseidon who was Polyphemus; Cyclops means circle eyed
- Daedalus
- father of Icharus; neeeded to escape from Minotaur; invented wings
- Danae
- lover of Zeus; inpregnated by Zeus with golden rain
- Daphne
- nymph persued by Apollo; turned into Laurel Tree
- Datum/Data
- latin word to english in singular and plural; information
- Delphic Oracle
- prophecy for Apollo told by a sibyl
- derivative
- word derived from earlier language
- Diana/Artemis
- goddess of hunt; symbol is a moon on head or bow and arrow; wide women
- E Pluribus Unum
- one out of many; on American money
- e.g.
- exempli gratias - for the sake of example
- ego
- I, self-centered
- Elysian Fields
- equivalent of heaven in underworld
- Et tu Brute
- even you Brutes, phrase of Julius Caesar
- et cetera, etc.
- and the rest
- Etruscans
- people who live to the north of rome, lived in Etruria; Romans derived many of customs such as arc and gladiators
- etymology
- study of word origins
- Europa
- girl who was abducted by Zeus in form of white bull
- ex libris
- from the books; from the library of; used as book plate;
- Face That Launched A Thousand Ships
- by Helen, ships to get Helen there were a 1000
- factotum
- jack of all trades; person in charge of many aspects of something;
- fall of Rome
- 476 A.D.- west invaded by Goths; 1453 A.D. - east; led used in aqueducts causing people to go crazy; too much terrotorial expansion; crazy and bad emperors; slave labor
- fates
-
3 woman known as spinners
1.thread of life
2.pulls it out for length of life
3.cuts it for death