Deck 4: The Civilization of the Greeks

Question 1

 Who of the following was a citizen with political rights within a polis?

A) an adult free male.
B) an adult female.
C) a juvenile male.
D) a slave.
E) a resident alien male.

Answer 1

an adult free male.

Question 2

 The decline and fall of Mycenaean Greece, was caused by

A) volcanic eruptions.
B) invasion of Greek speakers from the north and frequent earthquakes.
C) destruction of trade by Phoenician raiders.
D) inability to sustain a population with sufficient agriculture.
E) a famine.

Answer 2

invasion of Greek speakers from the north and frequent earthquakes.

Question 3

Why did colonization helped to foster a stronger sense of Greek identity among those who participated in it?

A) The Greeks fostered a sense of superiority.
B) The Greeks became more self-aware by living around other cultures.
C) The Greeks felt isolated and identities were forged as a result.
D) The Greeks felt indebted to other participating countries. `
E) None of these choices.

Answer 3

The Greeks became more self-aware by living around other cultures.

Question 4

The earliest Aegean civilization was located

A) in the Peloponnesus.
B) on the island of Delos.
C) in Attica.
D) on Crete.
E) in Macedonia.

Question 5

 The Athenian leader whose funeral oration lauded Athenian democracy was

A) Antigones.
B) Lycurgus.
C) Knossus.
D) Pericles.
E) Cleisthenes.

Question 6

 Which of the following posed a significant limitation on the ability of the Mycenaeans to create a powerful, united Greek empire?

A) The rugged terrain of the Greek mainland, including several protective mountainous regions in the northern and western regions of Greece.
B) The isthmus of Corinth
C) The nautical defense afforded to Greek island rivals of the Mycenaeans by the vast distances and dangerous currents offering a natural protection to the peoples of these Greek islands of the Aegean Sea and Sea of Crete.
D) The plains of the mainland Greek and Peloponnesian peninsulas.
E) The hot-summer climate of the Mediterranean region.

Question 7

Mycenaean Civilization

A) first developed in eastern Asia Minor.
B) had its major trading center on the island of Crete.
C) was founded by Indo-Europeans who migrated into Greece as early as 1900 B.C.E.
D) reached its high point between 2100 and 1800 B.C.E.
E) was destroyed by the Ionian Greeks

Question 8

 The Persian Wars were initiated by which event?

A) Suppression of the Ionian Revolts by Darius.
B) Invasion of Marathon by Darius
C) Battle of Themopylae by Xerxes
D) Battle of Charonaea by Philip II
E) Burning of Athens by Pericles

Question 9

Which statement is LEAST characteristic of the Greek polis?

A) It was composed of a central town or city, and the countryside surrounding it.
B) It was a communal environment of individuals, some who were citizens with rights, others who were citizens without rights, and others who were not citizens.
C) It played a significant role in unifying all Greeks throughout the entire region under a single government.
D) It developed simultaneously with the creation of the new system of Greek military organization.
E) It could vary in size from a few square miles to hundreds of square miles.

Question 10

The "city-state" emerged as a central institution in Greek life

A) before the classical age.
B) during the classical age.
C) following the classical age.
D) as a consequence of foreign invasion.
E) for only a short period of time.

Question 11

Greek colonization

A) resulted from overpopulation, in the development of trade, and a widening gap between rich and poor.
B) brought to an end the hopes of those who were prospering from expanded commercial activities.
C) ended rule of tyrants who had the support of those opposed to the oligarchic aristocracy.
D) failed.
E) extended into northern Gaul.

Question 12

Mycenaean civilization was characterized by

A) a democratic system of government.
B) an introspective commercial system.
C) powerful monarchies and a militaristic program of conquest.
D) disinterest in agriculture.
E) a preference for trading over political and military activities.

Question 13

In ancient Greece, tyrants

A) attained power, ironically, by popular election.
B) always promoted the interests of the aristocracy.
C) served in a transitional role from oligarchy to democracy for many city-states.
D) were of peasant or slave origin.
E) were replaced by kings.

Question 14

What was characteristic of Spartan society?

A) Women were secluded and forbidden from appearing in public.
B) Men could only be members of the assembly until they reached age sixty.
C) Government was run democratically.
D) Citizens were discouraged from studying philosophy, art or literature.
E) New laws allowed married women to vote.

Question 15

By about 700 B.C.E., which group replaced the aristocratic cavalryman in Greek warfare?

A) Helots
B) Hoplites
C) Poleis
D) Mercenaries
E) Macedonians

Question 16

Greek geography

A) produced a civilization of cooperative and peaceful communities.
B) contained mountainous areas that impeded Greek unity.
C) prohibited a relationship with the sea that produced colonization.
D) encouraged industrialization.
E) discouraged emigration.

Question 17

 Which of the following prevailed in the outcome of the Peloponnesian War?

A) Athens and her allies.
B) Sparta and her allies.
C) Macedonia.
D) Persia.
E) Lydia.

Question 18

The era known as Classical Greece is significant because

A) Alexander the Great lived and ruled during this period.
B) massive famines killed two-thirds of the Greek population.
C) many cultural contributions of Greece is known to have happened during this time.
D) it was marked by a confrontation between the Greek states and the Roman Empire.
E) Minoan Crete took over the Greek mainland.

Question 19

Homer's legacy to the Greeks was

A) an accurate historical record of past Greek events.
B) important in inculcating the aristocratic values of courage and honor.
C) a foundation of egalitarianism in Greek politics.
D) actually written by a Phoenician trader.
E) the first work to use the Cyrillic alphabet.

Question 20

Who/What were Hoplites?

A) Altars to the Olympian Gods
B) Spartan temples
C) Characters in the Greek alphabet
D) Greek infantry warriors
E) None of these choices.

Question 21

The ultimate result of the formation of the Delian League was to

A) limit commercial opportunities throughout the region.
B) create a cultural alliance of equal and independent city-states in Asia Minor.
C) make Athens the dominant city-state in the region.
D) foster closer ties with Sparta.
E) strengthen trade ties with the Persians.

Question 22

Who wrote the History of the Persian Wars, which is considered to be the first real history in Western civilization?

A) Herodotus
B) Homer
C) Thucydides
D) Themosticles
E) Philip of Thebes

Question 23

In The Republic, Plato

A) prepared a blueprint for democracy.
B) created a utopian, ideal state composed of three social classes.
C) established a theoretical structure for rigid gender distinctions.
D) bitterly attacked the people of Sparta.
E) advocated laissez-faire capitalism.

Question 24

 The political structure in Sparta contained

A) two kings.
B) a council of ephors.
C) a council of elders.
D) a general assembly.
E) all of these

Question 25

The Greeks decisively defeated the Persians

A) at the pass of Thermopylae.
B) near the island of Salamis.
C) at Euboa.
D) at Syracuse.
E) near Delphi.

Question 26

Aeschylus was the

A) leader of the Sophists.
B) first known writer of tragedy.
C) first capital city of Ionia.
D) name of the basic Spartan army unit.
E) wrote The Republic.

Question 27

Cleisthenes

A) was Sparta's greatest legal reformer.
B) invaded Boetia from his secret base in Helvetia.
C) reformed Athenian government thus creating the foundation for political democracy.
D) argued that a polis was too small an area to govern.
E) was a distant relative of both Homer and Pericles.

Question 28

In the new Sparta (between 800 and 600 B.C.E., males

A) were allowed to vote at age twenty.
B) were automatically enrolled in the army upon reaching adulthood.
C) would move in with wives upon marriage.
D) were allowed to retire from the military after completing five years of service
E) lived with their parents until they completed school.

Question 29

Thucydides contribution to the field of history was the notion that

A) the past should be studied without concern for the present or the lessons it might offer.
B) there was an exact pattern of repetition in all human affairs.
C) human nature showed no signs of order.
D) historical writing should balance precise facts with insights into humanity.
E) Interpretation was more important than truth in historical writing.

Question 30

Which statement is accurate of Spartan women?

A) They had more freedom to move around than their husbands.
B) They could not own land.
C) They could not inherit property or supervise their estates.
D) They wished their husbands would not participate in war.
E) They had less power than other women in Greece.

Question 31

The genre of Greek comedy

A) includes Sophocles as one of its most famous authors.
B) tended to be more political in nature than of Greek tragedy.
C) sought to entertain audiences rather than attack unpopular leaders.
D) celebrated Greek accomplishments by mocking other nations.
E) provided an escape from daily stressors by focusing on the trivial.

Question 32

Socrates

A) was a popular hero of the Peloponnesian War.
B) was a merchant prince by trade.
C) employed a question-and-answer method of learning.
D) wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War.
E) was a student of Plato.

Question 33

 How did the nature and purpose of the Delian League change approximately twenty-five years after the alliance's military victory over the Persians in 479 B.C.E.?

A) Sparta joined the Delian League alliance against common rivals such as the Macedonians in Asia Minor.
B) Athens dissolved the Delian League because Athens had established unrivaled and unchallenged geopolitical, military, and economic supremacy throughout city-states of Greece and the Asia Minor region.
C) the Delian League merged with the Peloponnesian League to form the most powerful political, military, and economic alliance in Europe or Asia Minor.
D) the Delian League became a more egalitarian alliance as Athens shared the revenue generated by the league equally among all Greek city-states in the league.
E) the Delian League became the political instrument for the imperial domination of the region by Athens until the fateful Peloponnesian War with Sparta and her allies.

Question 34

Which element is LEAST characteristic of Greek tragedies?

A) They dealt with universal themes that still seem current today.
B) Oresteia is the only complete trilogy that still exists.
C) They developed before Greek comedy as a dramatic form. .
D) Although they were based on suffering and disaster, they often ended on a positive note. .
E) One popular theme was the nature of good and evil.

Question 35

The most famous Hellenistic Age scientist was

A) Euripides.
B) Archimedes.
C) Epicurus.
D) Zeno.
E) Aeschylus.

Question 36

With regard to men and women, Aristotle believed that

A) women and men are equal in their potential abilities.
B) men's dominance of women comes from their military power.
C) the association between husband and wife is clearly a democracy.
D) women are biologically superior because they can bear children.
E) women are biologically inferior and therefore must be subordinate to men.

Question 37

Which statement is accurate of classical Greek architecture?

A) It was highly ornate.
B) It was decidedly unclear and confusing.
C) It was turbulent.
D) It reflected calmness, clarity, and freedom from excessive detail.
E) It was mainly constructed of wood and iron.

Question 38

 Which statement of women's lives in Athens is correct?

A) Women could own property, including slaves.
B) Women could participate in most religious cults and festivals.
C) Women could retain custody of children in the event of divorce.
D) Women could participate in symposia and public debates.
E) Women could not work unless they were citizens.

Question 39

Which statement about the Peloponnesian War is FALSE?

A) The foundation of Athenian strategy, initially, was the exploitation of its naval power.
B) The foundation of Spartan strategy was to draw its enemies into open, face-to-face military battles on land.
C) A plague killed one-third of the population of Athens.
D) The ultimate result of the war was a unified Greece headed by the city by Thebes.
E) Athenians were defeated, and their city walls torn down.

Question 40

Solon took several steps to resolve the economic crisis in Athens. Which is NOT one of these?

A) He canceled land debts.
B) He banned loans using humans as collateral.
C) He freed people who had become slaves due to high debt.
D) He redistributed land so that more was available to the poor.
E) He created a pro-trade foreign policy program.

Question 41

The Hellenizing process

A) created Greco-Macedonian domination of the urban population centers of the Middle East.
B) provided the means for the spreading of Roman democracy to the Middle East cities.
C) was hindered by the establishment of Greek cities throughout the Middle East.
D) was of greatest importance in rural areas.
E) encouraged the spread of democracy.

Question 42

Women in ancient Sparta

A) had the same lifestyles as Athenian women.
B) were prohibited from leaving their houses.
C) could be warriors under male leadership only.
D) engaged in physical exercise.
E) were not in control of their daughters' education.

Question 43

What belief or accomplishment is NOT attributed to Alexander the Great?

A) He attempted to emulate Achilles, the hero of the Iliad.
B) He believed he was descended from the god Heracles.
C) He sparked an era that led to the spread of Greek culture to the Middle East.
D) He inspired the Romans with his vision of empire
E) He restores freedom to Greece.

Question 44

Which city was the leading cultural center of the Hellenistic world?

A) Athens
B) Alexandria
C) Thebes
D) Isfahan
E) Persepolis

Question 45

If one lives in a way that is harmonious with the natural law, or is submissive to the will of God, then one is living a life of virtue. The preceding statement is a position advocated by the

A) Epicureans.
B) Stoics.
C) Hellenists.
D) mystery religions.
E) Zoroastrians.

Question 46

Pursuing pleasure rationally, and not only in a physical or hedonistic sense, as the only true good, was a precept of

A) Epicureanism.
B) Stoicism.
C) Hellenism.
D) Euphemism.
E) Zoroastrianism.

Question 47

In their effort to uncover the will of the gods, the ancient Greeks made use of

A) oracles.
B) prophets.
C) soothsayers.
D) shamans.
E) spiritualists.

Question 48

What was the primary motivation for Greek colonists to move to the Middle East in the Hellenistic Age?

A) The opportunity to own land in the Middle East. .
B) Their skills were in demand for the economic development of Middle Eastern cities.
C) They were promised an opportunity for self-government.
D) It was a way to avoid lengthy service in the military.
E) It was a way to cultivate their knowledge of other cultures.

Question 49

Following the fourth century B.C.E., what became the dominant language in the Middle East?

A) Persian
B) Latin
C) Greek
D) Demotic Egyptian
E) Aramaic

Question 50

What happened after Alexander the Great's death?

A) Persian leaders seized control of lands Alexander had conquered.
B) The empire that Alexander created crumbled.
C) Macedonian leaders formed a new democracy in the regions Alexander once held.
D) Three new Hellenistic kingdoms emerged.
E) His former generals split his kingdom into two monarchies to foster trade.

Question 51

The Olympic games were held to honor

A) Delphia.
B) Zeus.
C) Athena.
D) Apollo.
E) Aphrodite.

Question 52

Greek religion was characterized by

A) polytheism, rituals, sacrifice, and festivals.
B) a total lack of spiritual perspective.
C) a lack of practicality.
D) public apathy.
E) a highly personalized basis.

Question 53

By the time he died, at the age of thirty-two, Alexander had conquered all except

A) western Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.
B) ancient Persia, including Babylon, Susa, and Persepolis.
C) northern India.
D) much of the Middle East and regions as far east as modern Pakistan.
E) central Gaul.

Question 54

The legacy of Alexander the Great

A) was entirely cultural in nature.
B) included an historic change in world development, as elements of Latin culture immediately spread to the Middle East.
C) embraced a major clash and fusion of cultures across a huge area as Greco-Macedonian elite assumed power in highly diverse cultures.
D) did not outlast his own lifetime.
E) was overshadowed by Ptolemy in Macedonia.

Question 55

In his well-known movie about Alexander the Great, Oliver Stone portrayed Alexander as a(n)

A) idealistic dreamer.
B) ruthless Machiavellian.
C) ruler who aspired to divine honors.
D) mediocre military commander.
E) traitor to his father's cause.

Question 56

The first Olympic Games took place in the _____ century BCE.

A) 10^th
B) 8^th
C) 6^th
D) 4^th
E) 2^nd

Question 57

Which Hellenistic Kingdom rose to succeed Alexander?

A) Seleucids in Egypt
B) Attalid Kingdom of Pergamum in Persia and the East
C) Ptolemies in northeastern Asia Minor
D) Ptolemies in Egypt
E) Etruscans in Italy

Question 58

Which statement is an accurate depiction of life in classical Athens?

A) It was a male-dominated environment that used slaves, gave a major role to the family, and accepted the practice of male homosexuality.
B) It was an environment in which total egalitarianism, wage labor, industrial production, a socialistic family structures, and female homosexuality were predominant.
C) It was a society in which men ruled, women were impotent in all areas of social life, international trade was nonexistent, and there were no public works programs.
D) It was a society emphasizing militarism, which secluded its young men at a relatively young age in order to "harden" them for war.
E) It was ruled by philosopher kings.

Question 59

 How did Aristotle's scientific philosophy differ from his teacher Plato's?

A) He believed there was an ideal form of all material objects that most cannot see.
B) He believed in universal principles that did not exist on a separate level of reality.
C) He believed that all things were made of atoms, and these were drawn together randomly.
D) He believed that humans were incapable of achieving sufficient intellect to understand the world around them.
E) The Greek philosopher Aristotle argued that the citizen was responsible exclusively to himself and his desires.

Question 60

Archimedes

A) worked on the geometry of cylinders and spheres and the value of pi
B) observed gravity through water displacement.
C) determined the value of karma, in its role as a constant in mathematics.
D) affected global location through the use of levers.
E) discovered the moon's impact upon the tides.

Question 61

The educational approach of prominent Greek philosopher Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.) involved employing a question-and-answer technique to lead pupils to understand things for themselves using their own intellectual reasoning abilities.

Question 62

Lycurgus made it his mission to transform Sparta into a military state.

Question 63

The Athenian historian who criticized the Peloponnesian War in his History of the Peloponnesian War was Thucydides.

Question 64

One of the weaknesses of Hellenistic civilization is that there were no scientific innovations to advance the culture.

Question 65

The Palace at Knossus shared similar technology with dwellings in Mohenjo-Daro.

Question 66

In ancient Athens many slaves and women had no political rights, despite Athenian political democracy.

Question 67

In spite of his hopes, Alexander lost the Battle of the Hydaspes River, and thus he was never able to set foot in India.

Question 68

Pericles expanded the Athenians involvement in democracy.

Question 69

Historians have recently discovered that Western literary forms have not been derived from Greek poetry and drama.

Question 70

Minoan civilization was strongly influenced by Mycenaean civilization.

Question 71

Serfs in Sparta were known as hoplites.

Question 72

Sparta leaders encouraged foreigners to visit, hoping they would bring ideas that might aid the city's economic development.

Question 73

Women in Sparta had greater power than women in most of the rest of Greece.

Question 74

Minoan civilization on Crete was discovered by English archeologist Arthur Evans.

Question 75

Archimedes is credited with inventing calculus.

Question 76

Ancient Athenian democracy is essentially identical modern democracy.

Question 77

Ancient Olympic Athletes competed in the dress colors that represented their city states.

Question 78

Athens, with a population of 250,000 in the fifth century B.C.E., was far larger than most Greek poleis.