ancient greece 25-50
Terms
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- philosophy
- an organized system of thought.
- Socrates
- the Mediterranean's largest island, colonized from the eighth century BC by Greeks and Carthaginians who frequently warred with each other or the island's native people.
- polis
- a self-governing city-state; the basic political unit of the Greek world. The polis comprised a city, with its acropolis and agora and the surrounding territory.
- Linear B
- the modern name for the script, composed of signs and pictures, in which Mycenaean Greeks kept records on tablets of clay.
- Plato
- one of Socrates' students; was considered by many to be the GREATEST philosopher of western civilization. Plato explained his ideas about government in a work entitled The Republic. In his ideal state, the people were divided into three different groups.
- Minoan
- the name given to the great civilization of Crete; the word comes from the name of King Minos, a character of Greek legend who was remembered as having ruled in Crete before the Trojan War.
- peplos
- the traditional garment of Greek women; a sleeveless typically ankle-length tunic formed from a single squarish piece of wool/ generally worn pinned at the shoulders and belted.
- Thessaly
- fertile region in northeastern Greece bounded by mountains, the most famous of which was Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the major gods of the Greek pantheon
- Peloponnese
- the large land-mass which forms the southern part of mainland Greece.
- Plutarch
- Greek biographer of the first to early second century AD. Author of Parallel Lives which compared famous men of classical Greece and republican Rome.
- Sicily
- the Mediterranean's largest island, colonized from the eighth century BC by Greeks and Carthaginians who frequently warred with each other or the island's native people.
- symposium
- from the word for "drinking together"; an after-dinner drinking party attended by elite males. According to the protocol of a symposium, they sang poems, posed riddles, played drinking games, and delivered philosophical speeches. Other entertainment was provided by musicians, jugglers, acrobats, and prostitutes.
- oracle
- a sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future through a priest or a priestess.
- tragedies
- the first Greek dramas; presented in a trilogy ... serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal.
- Mount Olympus
- the highest mountain in Greece.
- myths
- traditional stories ... usually about their gods.
- Terra cotta
- baked clay; commonly used to fabricate such items as roof tiles, figurines and household vessels.
- rituals
- another name for ceremonies or rites.
- Nike
- the goddess of victory in military or athletic contests, characteristically depicted with wings.
- Olympian gods
- the most important gods of the Greek pantheon, who were believed by Greeks to inhabit Mount Olympus. Some of the Olympians include: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermes, Demeter, Dionysos, and Ares. Other gods, such as, Hestia and Hades, were sometimes described as Olympians.
- oligarchy
- "leadership of the few"; a form of government in which the full exercise of political rights and power in a city-state was limited to the affluent ... many of them were aristocrats. In the 5th century BC, Sparta was the leading proponent of oligarchy.
- ostrakon
- a broken piece of clay pottery used for writing. In Athens, most ostrakon that was found was used as tablets for inscribing the name of candidates for ostracism.
- tyrant
- term for a new type of monarch that first appeared in various Greek states in the seventh century BC. The term acquired negative connotations because of the dictatorial manner in which many tyrants ruled. Very few tyrants succeeded in establishing dynasties.
- ostracism
- procedure used by the Athenian assembly in the 5th century BC to banish an unpopular or potentially dangerous citizen for ten years, without revoking his citizenship or property rights. Each voter wrote the name of the individual he wanted exiled on an ostrakon, which was then placed in an urn. There had to be at least 6,000 votes against one man.
- phalanx
- term for the battle formation of Greek hoplites; it consisted of tightly packed rows of hoplites, typically 8 ranks deep. The formation was suited for fighting on level ground but did not work well in difficult terrain.