Greek Terms I Should Probably Know

Boule

Council of leading men that advise the Basileus and formulate policy

Politai

Greek word for citizens

Demos

Greek word for people and the territory they inhabit

Hellenes

Greeks called themselves this after a common mythical ancestor

Xenia

Guest friendship: standard set by the epics for how Greeks should treat other Greeks

Hellas

Homeland of the Greeks

Hoi aristoi

How do you say "rule of the best" in Greek?

Hoi agathoi, hoi mesoi, hoi kakoi, and hoi polloi

How do you say "the good", "the middle", "the bad" and "the rest" in Greek?

Dactylic Hexameter

In what language were the Homeric epics written?

Wananx

Leader like Agamemmnon, king

Lawegetas

Leader of the host

Hepetai

Lower companions, body guards

Basileus

Lower official who oversaw palace functions and outlying areas, king in later Greek

Hoplite, phalanx, hoplon

Names for the type of warriors in archaic Greece, their battle formation, and what their shield were called

Hoi oligoi

Rule by the few

Do ut des

What is the Greek phrase for "I give so that you may give"

Nomos

What is the word for "law" in Greek?

Astu

What was the Greek city centre within the Polis called?

Chora

What was the surrounding rural region encompassed by the Polis called?