Greek vocab
Terms
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- Thessaly
- fertile region in northeastern Greece bounded by mountains, the most famous being Mount Olympus, the legendary home of the Greek gods of the pantheon
- Socrates
- started out as a sculptor, but his true love was philosophy. The Socratic-Method used a question and answer format that led others to discover things for themselves by using their own reasoning
- Classical Age
- term reffering to the period of Greek history that begins with the defeat of the Persian invaders in 480 - 479 BC and ends with Alexander the Great's accession in 336 BC or with his death in 323 BC
- epic poem
- long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero
- tragedies
- the first Greek dramas; presented in a trilogy... serious dramas about common themes such as love, hate, war, and betrayal.
- amphora
- two handled jar used for the storage and transport of wine, oil, dried fish, and other commodities
- Asklepios
- god of medicine who has sanctuaries throughout the Greek world
- philosophy
- an organized system of thought
- drachma
- Greek silver coin; it's name derives from the word for handful
- myths
- traditional stories; usually about Greek gods
- democracy
- "power of the people," or "ruled by the people"; form of government that originated in Athens in which political institutions were open to all male citizens rather than being controlled by the wealthy few
- 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
- Ionia
- area along the central west coast of Asia Minor colonized by settlers in mainland Greece from about 1000 BC. Ionian Greeks, including Homer, played a central role in the early development of Greek history and literature following the Dark Ages
- Mount Olympus
- the highest mountain in Greece
- gymnasium
- a sports complex which also functioned as an important social and educational center in classic Greece
- Dark Ages
- term for the roughly 200 year period in Greek history that followed the final collapse of the Mycenaean civilization in the 12 century BC
- hoplites
- heavily armed Greek infantrymen who marched and fought in close ranks; most of the recruits were middle-class citizens
- ephors
- a group of five men that were elected each year and were responsible for the education of the youth
- Attica
- a 1000 square mile promontory in southeast central Greece that formed the territory of the Athenian city-state; rugged terrain that yeilded high-quality marble and potter's clay as well as silver and lead
- Minoan
- the name given to the ancient civilization of Crete; the word comes from the name King Minos, a character in a Greek legend who was remembered as having ruled in Crete before the Trojan War
- oligarchy
- "leadership of the few"; a form of government in which the full excercise of rights and power in a city-state was limited to the affluent... many of them were aristocrats. In the fifth century BC, Sparta was the leading proponent of oligarchy
- helots
- peasants forced to stay on the land they worked
- tyrant
- a new type of monarch that first appeared in various Greek states in the seventh century BC. This term acquired a negative connotation because of the dictatorial manner in which many tyrants ruled. Very few tyrants succeeded in establishing dynasties.
- Corinth
- leading city in ancient Greece famous for it's architecture, pottery, and shipbuilding
- libation
- ritual pouring of a liquid on an altar or on the ground to honor gods, heroes of the dead; wine, water, milk, oil, or honey were used
- cella
- the chief room of a Greek temple where the statue of the god was located, and frequently, the temple's treasure was kept
- rituals
- another name for ceremonies or rites
- acropolis
- "upper city"; a common feature of ancient Greek cities; an elevated sight for religious observances
- Hellenistic
- a word meaning to "immitate Greeks"; Greek-speaking civilization that spread through many lands of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond following the conquest of Alexander the Great
- Nike
- the goddess of victory in military or athletic contests, characteristically depicted with wings
- symposium
- from the word for "drinking together"; an after-dinner drinking party attended only by elite males. According to the protocol of this, they sang poems, posed riddles, played drinking games, and delivered philosophical speeches. Other entertainment was provided by muscians, jugglers, acrobats, and prostitutes.
- oracle
- a sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future through a priest or priestess
- direct democracy
- a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
- polis
- self-governing city-state; the basic political unit of the Greek world. This comprised of a city with its acropolis and agora, and the surrounding territory.
- comedy
- contrast to Greek tragidy; scene with lots of humor
- Peloponnese
- the large landmass that forms the southern part of mainland Greece
- Sicily
- the Mediterranean's largest island, colonized from the eighth century BC by the Greeks and Carthaginians, who frequently warred with each other or the island's native people
- ostracism
- procedure used by Athenian assembly in the fifth 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 six thousand votes against one man.
- agora
- open space that served as a civic center and market place of ancient Greek cities
- Aristotle
- a pupil of Plato who did not accept Plato's theory of ideal forms
- Olympian Gods
- the most important gods of the Greek Pantheon, who were believed to inhabit Mount Olympus. Some Olympians include Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hermies, Demeter, Dyonysos, and Ares. Other gods such as Hestia and Hades were sometimes described as Olympians.
- aristocracy
- means "power of the best"; hereditary, landowning nobility in charge of Greece
- grammatistes
- poorly paid male instructor who taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and literature (especially Homer's poetry) to elementry students and were not highly regarded
- Plato
- one of Socrate's pupils; 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
- ostrakon
- a broken peice 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
- Terra cotta
- baked clay; commonly used to fabricate such items as roof tiles, figurines, and household vessels
- Linear B
- the modern name for the script, composed of signs and pictures, in which the Mycenaean Greeks kept records on tablets of clay
- phalanx
- the battle formation of Greek hoplites; it consisted of tightly packed rows of hoplites, usually eight ranks deep. The formation was suited for fighting on level ground, but did not work well in difficult terrain.
- peplos
- the traditional garment of Greek women; a sleeveless typically ankle-length tunic formed from a single squarish peice of wool, generally worn pinned at the shoulder and belted.
- Asia Minor
- the western Asian penninsula comprising of most modern-day Turkey, known to the Greeks as Anatolia