GREEKS
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- Aristotle
- pupil of Plato; did not accept Plato's theory of ideal forms
- Dark Ages
- term for the roughly 200-year period in Greek history that followed the final collapse of the Mycenaean civilization in the 12th century BC
- agora
- the open space that served as the civic center and market place of ancient Greek cities
- rituals
- another name for ceremonies or rites
- Nike
- the goddess of victory in military or athletic contests, characteristically depicted with wings
- Socrates
- started off as a sculptor, but his true love was philosophy.
- hoplites
- heavily armed Greek infantrymen who marched and fought in close ranks; most of the recruits were middle-class citizens
- tragedies
- the first Greek dramas; presented in a trilogy ... serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal
- olympian gods
- the most important gods of the Greek pantheon, who were believed by Greeks to inhabit Mount Olympus.
- grammatistes
- a poorly paid male instructor who taught reading, writing arithmetic, and literature, especially Homer poetry, to elementary-level students/ these teachers were not highly regarded
- Asklepios
- god of medicine, with sanctuaries throughout the Greek world
- 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
- Plato
- one of Socrates' students; was considered by many to be the GREATEST philosopher of western civilization.
- myths
- traditional stories ... usually about their gods
- ephors
- a group of five men who were elected each year and were responsible for the education of the youth
- Linear B
- the modern name for the script, composed of signs and pictures, in which Mycenaean Greeks kept records on tablets of clay
- Mount Olympus
- the highest mountain in Greece
- 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
- amphora
- a two-handled jar used for the storage and transport of wine, oil, dried fish, and other commodities
- democracy
- "power of the people" or "rule 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
- gymnasium
- a sports complex, which also functioned as an important social and educational center in classical Greece
- polis
- a self-governing city-state; the basic political unit of the Greek world.
- Peloponnese
- the large land-mass which forms the southern part of mainland Greece
- tyrant
- term for a new type of monarch that first appeared in various Greek states in the seventh century BC.
- symposium
- from the word for "drinking together"; an after-dinner drinking party attended by elite males.
- 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
- Classical Age
- term referring 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
- philosophy
- an organized system of thought
- epic poem
- long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero
- 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
- 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
- Asia Minor
- the western Asian peninsula comprising most of modern-day Turkey, known to the Greeks as Anatolia
- Attica
- a 1,000 square mile promontory in southeast central Greece that formed the territory of the Athenian city-state; rugged terrain that yielded high-quality marble and potter's clay as well as silver and lead
- helots
- peasants forced to stay on the land they worked
- Corinth
- a leading city of ancient Greece famous for its architecture, pottery, and shipbuilding
- Ionia
- area along the central west coast of Asia Minor colonized by settlers from mainland Greece from about 1000 BC.
- Minoan
- the name given to the great civilization of Crete
- aristocracy
- meaning "power of the best"; hereditary, landowning nobility in charge of Greece
- 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.
- ostrakon
- a broken piece of clay pottery used for writing.
- comedy
- a contrast to Greek tragedies ... scenes filled with lots of humor
- drachma
- Greek silver coin; its name derives from the word for "handful."
- 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
- Hellenistic
- a word meaning to "imitate Greeks"
- oracle
- a sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future through a priest or a priestess
- terra cotta
- baked clay; commonly used to fabricate such items as roof tiles, figurines and household vessels
- 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
- cella
- the chief room of a Greek temple, where the statue of the god was located and, frequently, the temple's treasure was kept
- direct democracy
- a form of government in which citizens rule directly and not through representatives
- acropolis
- an "upper city"; a common feature of ancient Greek cities; an elevated site for religious observances