World History Vocab Chp. 5

Archimedes

A famous Hellenistic mathematician and inventor from Syracuse, a Greek colony, id known for understanding the principle of levers, discovering the relation between the surface and volume of a sphere, and inventing the Archimedes screw, a device for raising water

Stipend

A fixed salary given to public office holders

Tyrant

In ancient Greece, ruler who gained power by force

Logic

Rational thinking

Direct Democracy

System of government in which citizens participate directly in the day-to-day affairs of government rather than through elected representatives

Explain how democracy evolved in ancient Greece from earlier forms of government in Greece.

The Greeks started with monarchies, king or queens, aristocracy, landholding elite, and oligarchy, small wealthy elite but the people were never happy so they ended up with a democracy, but it is not the democracy we have today.

How did balance and order govern Greek architecture?

The Greeks thought everything needed to convey a perfect balance, order, and beauty. Everything they built started with a simple rectangle with columns supporting a sloped roof. With curves giving it dignity and grace.

How do frescoes on the walls of the palace of Knossos reflect the history of the Minoan culture in which they were produced?

They show the importance of certain things like the sea and some show images of woman appearing freely in public suggesting greater rights for woman. Also, they depict some of their religious ceremonies.

Trojan War

Military conflict around 1250 B. C. between Mycenae and Troy

Assassination

Murder of a public figure, usually for political reasons.

Straits

Narrow water passage

Herodotus

Often called the "Father of History", traveled widely throughout the ancient Mediterranean world, collecting information for his chronicles of past events, including the Persian events

Philip II

Restored eternal peace to Macedonia, built an effective army, and ten formed alliances with many Greek city-states or conquered them.

How do you think Greek concepts related to the rights and responsibilities influence modern societies?

The Greek citizens had direct connections in the democracy, but they participated indirectly through elected representatives and today we have representatives that we vote on.

How do you think the culture and values shared by Greeks both united and divided them?

The Greeks inability to decide on a permanent government system affected their strength and unity so they were liable to be conquered, but they had strong beliefs in their gods which brought them together.

Summarize how the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars affected Greece.

The wars ended the golden age in the Greek civilizations and greatly affected the economy. It also contributed to the fighting in the city-states.

Why do you think that for centuries most people thought the Trojan War was just a legend?

There was no scientific evidence for the war and it was found only in Homer's poems.

How did the Minoans create brilliant early Greek civilization?

They built their civilization off trade. Abundant resources helped them build a prosperous economy. They relied on trade not conquest and since they bordered three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Why do you think the Minoans and Mycenaeans absorbed ideas, customs, and skills from other cultures?

Through trade, religious beliefs and cultural customs travel over bigger areas cauding them to be mixed with other cultures.

Polis

City-state in ancient Greece

Homer

The author of the epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey

Hippocrates

A Greek physician traditionally regarded as the father of medicine, who studied the causes of illness, seeking their cures.

Citizen

A native or resident of a town or city

Aristotle

A student of Plato, was a philosopher, writer about many branches of knowledge, founder of the Lyceum, and tutor of Alexander the Great

Plato

A student of Socrates, was an Athenian thinker, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens

Assimilated

Absorb or adopt another culture

Shrines

Altar, chapel, or other sacred place

Pericles

An Athenian statesman in the 400s B. C. who led Athens during its golden age of cultural achievement under democratic government

Socrates

An Athenian stonemason and philosopher who sought truth by questioning

Rhetoric

Art of skillful speaking

Heliocentric

Based on the belief that the sum is the center of the universe

Knossos

City in ancient Crete, the principle center of Minoan civilization that dominated the Aegean between about 1600 B. C. and 1400 B. C.

Sparta

City-state in ancient Greece settled by the Dorians and built as a military state

Athens

City-state in ancient Greece that evolved from a monarchy to a limited direct democracy and became famous for its great cultural achievements

Frescoes

Colorful painting completed on wet plaster

Aristocracy

Government headed by a privileged minority or upper class

Monarchy

Government in which a king or queen exercises central power

Oligarchy

Government in which ruling power belongs to a few people

Democracy

Government in which the people hold ruling power

Alliance

Formal agreement between two or more nations or powers to cooperate and come to one another's defense

Alexandria

Founded in 332 B. C. by Alexander the Great, became one of the greatest cities of the Mediterranean world.

Pythagoras

Greek philosopher and mathematician who studied the meaning of numbers and their relationships

Summarize the themes explored by Greek playwrights.

Greek playwrights explored moral and social issues, and relationships between the people and the gods. They also wrote tragedies to relieve people of pity and fear and comedies which ridiculed modern day issues.

Contrast the subject matters of Greek tragedy and Greek comedy.

Greek tragedy plays were used in play with human emotions like fear and pity just to relieve them, and comedy plays were meant to relax and entertain the people.

Jury

Group of people with authority to make a decision in a legal case

Why did Socrates question Athenians about their beliefs?

He thought questioning them was a way to get them to consider the real truths and their self-beliefs.

How do you think the points of view of Herodotus and Thucydides influenced their approaches to writing history?

Herodotus' point of view, not living through the actual event, caused him to look at biases and research the events greatly. Thucydides' point of view, living through the event, caused him to realize how biased other essays were and how important it is to be unbiased.

Acropolis

Highest and most fortified point within a Greek city-state

Phalanx

In ancient Greece, a massive tactical formation of heavily armed foot soldiers

Tragedies

In ancient Greece, a play about human suffering often ending in disaster

Comedies

In ancient Greece, play that mocked people or social customs

Legislature

Lawmaking body

Ostracism

Practice used in ancient Greece to banish or send away a public figure who threatened democracy

Alexander the Great

Philip II's son and Aristotle's pupil. He conquered the Persian empire, founding new cities as his armies won victories in Asia Minor, Palestine, and Egypt.

Philosophers

Someone who seeks to understand and explain life; a person who studies philosophy

What is known about the causes of the Trojan War?

The cause of the Trojan War in Homer's poems is that Paris is promised Helen by Aphrodite so he takes her and there is a ten year battle over her that the Greeks win.

Parthenon

The chief temple of the Greek goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

Contrast the earliest civilizations, which rose in fertile river valleys, with the geographical conditions that influenced the rise of ancient Greek civilization.

The earlier civilizations relied on farming and where they resided greatly depended on the soil, but ancient Greece didn't necessarily rely on farming and could live where ever they wanted. They also didn't live very connected, but instead in separate city-states.