WORLD HISTORY

•UNIT 1, CHAPTER 4 VOCABULARY

•ANCIENT GREECE 1900-133 B.C.

geography• Crete • the largest Greek island in the Mediterranean • Sparta • an ancient Greek city famous for military prowess; seized more

land when needed • Athens • the capital and largest city of Greece; enemy of Sparta • Thebes • an ancient Greek city in Boeotia destroyed by Alexander the

Great in 336 BC • Macedonia • an ancient kingdom ruled by Alexander the Great that

conquered Greece and the Persian empire in the 300s BC • Mount Olympus • the highest mountain in Greece, where the ancient Greeks

believed many of their gods and godessess lived• Minoan Civilization • a civilization that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete

Greek Gods on Mt. Olympus--Can you identify them?

philosophy• Philosophy • an organized system of thought • Epicureanism • philosophy founded by Epicurus in

Hellenistic Athens; taught that happiness through the pursuit of pleasure was the goal of life

• Socratic Method • a method of teaching by question

and answer

government• Polis • a city state • Democracy • A government by the rule of the many • Oligarchy • a political system governed by a few people• ephors • a group of five men who were elected each year and

were responsible for the education of the youth and conduct of the citizens

• Direct Democracy • system of government in which people gather at mass

meetings to decide on government matters

EPHORS MEANS “ELDERS”--The hemeredrome, Pheidippides, implores the Spartan ephors for aid at Marathon.

war• Delian League • Pact joined in by Athenians and other

Greeks to continue the war with Persia • Hoplites • heavily armed infantry soldiers or foot

soldiers • Phalanx • a military formation of foot soldiers armed

with spears and shields • Helots • Slaves to the Spartans that revolted and

nearly destroyed Sparta in 650 B.C.E.

Macedonian phalanx

people• Solon • a reform-minded aristocrat• Philip II • king of ancient Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great (382-

336 BC) • Alexander the Great • son of Philip II; received military training in Macedonian;

conquered much land in Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia; goal was to conquer the known world

• Eratosthenes • Greek mathematician and astronomer who estimated the

circumference of the earth and the distances to the moon and sun (276-194 BC)

• Euclid • He is the father of geometry and wrote a book explaining

geometry (the Elements) • Archimedes • the most famous scientist of the Hellenistic Era • Xerxes • son of Darius; became Persian king. He vowed revenge on the

Athenians. He invaded Greece with 180,000 troops in 480 B.C.

Archimedes’ “Screw” was able to draw water upwards using gravity

More people• Sophocles • Greek writer of tragedies; author of Oedipus Rex • Herodotus • the ancient Greek known as the father of history • Thucydides • considered the greatest historian of the ancient world • Pythagoras • Greek philosopher and mathematician who proved the Pythagorean

theorem • Socrates • ancient Athenian philosopher who did not believe in recording

anything • Plato • one of Socrates' students; was considered by many to be the

GREATEST philosopher of western civilization • Aristotle • one of the greatest of the ancient Athenian philosophers; Student of

Plato • Pericles • Athenian statesman whose leadership contributed to Athens’ political

and cultural supremacy in Greece

*Remember Socrates taught Plato & Plato taught Aristotle & Aristotle taught Alexander the Great

art & culture• Tragedies • the first Greek dramas; presented in

a trilogy ... serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war or betrayal

• Homer • ancient Greek epic poet who is

believed to have written the Iliad and the Odyssey (circa 850 BC)

• Epic Poem • a long narrative poem telling of a

hero's deeds

Homer the poet

MISCELLANEOUS (random) terms• Acropolis • served as a place of refuge during an attack and sometimes

came to be a religious center on which temples and public buildings were built

• Agora • served as a place where people could assemble and as a

market • Age of Pericles • a period of classical Athenian and Greek history in which

Athens reached its highest power • Ostracism • procedure used by Athenian assembly in 5th century B.C. to

banish a citizen for 10 years without revoking their rights; 6,000 votes were needed for banishment

• Oracle • a sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future

through a priest or a priestess • Oracle of Apollo at Delphi • The most famous of Greek oracles

The Acropolis