Deck 3: Greek and Hellenistic Civilization

Question 1

In the Greek world,a polis was a(n)

A)hoplites.
B)lightning bolts.
C)a specially constructed catapult.
D)a giant wooden horse.

Answer 1

a giant wooden horse.

Question 2

The Peloponnesus is

A)Athens.
B)Sparta.
C)Corinth.
D)Argos.

Answer 2

Athens.

Question 3

Aristotle valued the polis very highly because he thought

A)initiative.
B)eloquence.
C)appreciation for nature.
D)strong work ethic.

Answer 3

eloquence.

Question 4

In the Spartan government,which institution represented the democratic element?

A)fighting in the army alongside the men
B)a more restricted life than other Greek women
C)study of poetry and philosophy
D)gymnastic training and indoctrination in Spartan ideals

Question 5

The Spartans were compelled to make the army the primary focus of their society because

A)the assembly
B)board of ephors
C)the council of elders
D)the kings

Question 6

A tholos tomb

A)Minoan
B)Mycenaean
C)"Middle Age"
D)Classical

Question 7

Which of the following best characterizes the typical life of a Spartan woman?

A)had long-lasting impacts.
B)increased economic specialization.
C)made Athens dependent on imported wheat.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 8

Archeological studies of Mycenaean cities and palaces indicate that the Mycenaeans

A)consisted of many shaft graves grouped in a central area.
B)was a huge beehive-like chamber.
C)revealed the wealth and power of the Minoan kings.
D)contained cremated remains of warriors.

Question 9

The major city-state that controlled the peninsula of Attica was

A)the conquest of Arcadia and the revival of trade.
B)the conquest of Messenia and the enslavement of the Helots.
C)the rigorous training of a Spartan warrior and the desire for glory.
D)the Spartan distrust of Athens and Spartan desire to compete with the Athenians.

Question 10

From Map 3-2,which people founded colonies before and during the Greek colonial period?

A)it provided the most efficient military system.
B)it organized colonies.
C)only the polis provided law and justice.
D)the polis was more efficient than the city-state.

Question 11

According to legend,the Greeks finally destroyed the city of Troy using

A)a disciplined,closed fighting formation.
B)a large many-oared warship.
C)a new tax leveled against foreigners in Athens.
D)a Greek cavalry formation.

Question 12

In The Iliad,Homer portrays the role of women primarily as

A)natural reaction to the ease of travel throughout the Mediterranean region.
B)policy designed to prevent overpopulation in Greece.
C)byproduct of long-distance trade.
D)cause of internal disputes between city states.

Question 13

The Greek colonization movement around 750 B.C.E.can best be described as a

A)Egyptians
B)Phoenicians
C)Minoans
D)Etruscans

Question 14

Homer's epic poems,The Iliad and The Odyssey,refer primarily to which period in Greek history?

A)strength,teamwork,artistic ability
B)charity,prowess,speaking ability
C)individual prowess,courage,personal honor
D)wealth,love of country,the good life

Question 15

Solon,Pisistratus,and Clisthenes contributed to the development of Athenian government by

A)enlargement of the citizen rolls
B)elevation of the role of the assembly
C)reduction of the power of aristocrats
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 16

Solon's reforms

A)breaking down traditional allegiances.
B)establishing democratic institutions.
C)strengthening regional authority.
D)establishing a theoretical basis for monarchy.

Question 17

Hesiod believed that farmers possessed all of the following virtues except

A)a peninsula attached to mainland Greece by a narrow isthmus.
B)an island covered with mountains.
C)an island separated from Greece by the Gulf of Corinth.
D)much smaller than Attica.

Question 18

A hoplite phalanx is

A)warriors and athletes.
B)mothers and homemakers.
C)teachers and scholars.
D)shopkeepers and small traders.

Question 19

Which qualities would a Homeric hero prize most dearly?

A)independent political unit.
B)small city.
C)community sharing common ancestors and religious rites.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 20

The two main factors that determined the character of Spartan society were

A)of the threat of conquest by Corinth.
B)of the danger of a Persian invasion.
C)they wanted to conquer the Peloponnesus.
D)of the threat of rebellion by their slaves.

Question 21

The choregos was

A)political satire
B)powerful cosmic themes and thundering language
C)pride in the superiority of the Greek polis
D)the psychology and behavior of individual human beings

Question 22

The greatest concentrations of Greek cities were located in which regions?

A)satrapies,clients,and occupied poleis.
B)city-states,empires,kingdoms.
C)independent cities paying tribute,occupied cities,Persian client states.
D)independent states,dependent states,allied states.

Question 23

For most Greeks,the greatest personality flaw was that of hubris,which can be defined as

A)came despite the leadership of Miltiades.
B)facilitated the restoration of Hippias to rule.
C)did not provide permanent protection for Athens from the Persian threat.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 24

Which of the following best describes the themes of the plays of Euripides?

A)wrote the history of the Persian Wars.
B)wrote the history of the Peloponnesian War.
C)divorced himself from the influence of the Hippocratic school of medicine.
D)described the chaos of the warring Greek states in the fourth century.

Question 25

The rebellion of the island of Thasos from the Delian League in 465 B.C.E.was important because

A)the rise of Sparta.
B)Athens's growing domination over the other city-states.
C)the emergence of Thebes.
D)the threat from Philip of Macedonia.

Question 26

The Persian War battle that ultimately ensured Greek independence and instilled Athenians with confidence in their polis,their government,and themselves was

A)Sparta wanted to spend more time trading in the Mediterranean.
B)Corinth's navy had nearly been destroyed by the Persians.
C)Sparta was not willing to make a long-term commitment.
D)Athens had no outstanding leaders of its own at that time.

Question 27

The League of Corinth

A)He was a traitor who served Philip of Macedon.
B)His prescient warnings went unheard because he was such a weak speaker.
C)His warnings about the Macedonian threat distracted Athens from more serious dangers.
D)His warnings about the Macedonian threat were unheeded until it was too late.

Question 28

Clisthenes's claim to the title of "father of Athenian democracy" is based on which action?

A)arrogance that accompanies wealth or good fortune.
B)cowardice in battle.
C)disloyalty to the polis.
D)excessive sexual indulgence.

Question 29

Thucydides was an Athenian who

A)guaranteed the autonomy of the Greeks.
B)promoted piracy and civil war.
C)showed that the polis had lost control of its own affairs.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 30

The Athenians lost the Peloponnesian War because

A)Spartan leadership of the Greek world.
B)overextension of Spartan power in Asia Minor.
C)the rise of Theban and Athenian power.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 31

Which is the best summary of the role of Demosthenes in Athenian history?

A)Besiege the closest cities and wear the opposition down over a long period of time.
B)Attack Egypt first,since it was the key to Persian strength.
C)Seek quick and decisive battles to gain money and supplies from the conquered territory.
D)None of these answers are correct.

Question 32

The Athenian victory at Marathon in 490 B.C.E.

A)Marathon.
B)Salamis.
C)Thermopylae.
D)Plataea.

Question 33

At the outset of the Great Peloponnesian War,the Athenian strategy was

A)Pericles's strategy failed.
B)none of Pericles's successors could hold the state to a consistent policy.
C)the Sicilian expedition was a disastrous failure.
D)All of these answers are correct.

Question 34

According to Map 3-6,the Athenian Empire was divided into

A)it showed Athenian military weakness.
B)it reflected growing Persian influence in the area.
C)Sparta aided the rebellion.
D)for the first time,Athenian interests alone seemed to dominate league policy.

Question 35

Evidence from pictorial art,mythology and theater suggest that Athenian women's influence was

A)not to need husbands.
B)to be weak.
C)unsure of their roles.
D)to be at risk for social isolation.

Question 36

Athens became the leader of the Delian League because

A)Attica,the Peloponnesus,and Ionia
B)Attica,Thessaly,and Asia Minor
C)The Peloponnesus,Macedonia,and Thrace
D)Thrace,Asia Minor,Rhodes,and Crete

Question 37

The primary cause of the Peloponnesian War was

A)to threaten Sparta's crops and force the Spartans to defend them.
B)to allow their own land to be devastated.
C)to lure the Spartans into the port of Piraeus.
D)both to threaten Sparta's crops and to lure the Spartans into the port of Piraeus.

Question 38

Which best describes Alexander's early strategy against Persia?

A)departed Europe for Asia and never returned.
B)invaded Arabia after he finished with his Persian campaigns.
C)died of fever in Bactria.
D)conquered all of India before returning to Persia.

Question 39

In Euripides's play Medea,Athenian women seem

A)a ritual dancer.
B)the author of a tragedy.
C)a wealthy citizen who paid for a dramatic chorus.
D)one of three actors in a play.

Question 40

The period 404-371 B.C.E.was called the Spartan hegemony and is characterized by

A)greater than what the law and public pronouncements would have permitted.
B)about the same as what the law and public pronouncements would have permitted.
C)less than what the law and public pronouncements would have permitted.
D)precisely aligned with the letter of the law.

Question 41

Compare and contrast the fundamental political,social,and economic institutions of Athens and Sparta about 500 B.C.E.What were the major differences? Similarities?

Question 42

What motivated the conquests of Alexander the Great? What impact did Alexander and Greek culture have on the East? To what extent did Greek culture permeate the East?

Question 43

What impact did the conquests of Alexander have on the Greek world and poleis? How did the Greek city-states' view of their relationship to each other and to the rest of the world change after Alexander?

Question 44

According to Map 3-7,Alexander the Great

A)a mutiny by his men.
B)a lack of funds.
C)a fever,which eventually killed him.
D)his assassination.

Question 45

What were the major consequences of Alexander's death? Why did his empire fail to maintain political unity? Assess the achievement of Alexander.Was he a conscious promoter of Western Civilization or just an egomaniac,drunk with the lust of conquest? How would the world be different had Alexander never lived or had he set out to conquer the West instead of the East?

Question 46

According to Plutarch,the great Hellenistic scientist Archimedes did not write down his findings about pulleys because he

Question 47

Compare and contrast the status of women in archaic Greek culture and in Sparta and Athens.What do literary texts reveal about the status and role of women in Greece?

Question 48

Discuss the Eratosthenes map (Map 3-8).What does it say about the way Greeks viewed themselves and the world? In what ways did it correctly portray the world? In what ways did it not? Do you think that this map may have been influenced by Alexander's campaigns? If so,how?

Question 49

Explain how the Athenian Empire came into existence.Did it offer any advantages to its members? How do you explain the resistance to Athenian efforts to unify the Greek world in the fifth and fourth centuries?

Question 50

How did the Athenians reconcile their democracy with their empire? Are the two compatible,or is there a moral contradiction between them? To what extent was the empire the basis for Athenian achievement in the fifth century and the basis for decline?

Question 51

Why did the Greeks and Persians go to war? What was the cause of the conflict? What benefit could the Persians have derived from conquering Greece? What was the Greek strategy in 480 B.C.E.and why did they win?

Question 52

Define the concept of a polis.Why did the Greeks consider it to be a unique institution? What are the major differences between a Greek polis and a modern country of Western Europe or America? In what ways are they similar?

Question 53

The Classical era in Greece was a time of numerous Greek city-states and various leagues of these states.Based on the maps and texts,what do you think was the role of geography in Greek politics and society? What contributions did the sea make to the spread of Greek culture?

Question 54

Alexander was forced to end his conquest in India because of

A)pursuit of happiness,practical atheism,withdrawal from public life
B)pursuit of knowledge,belief in gods,public spiritedness
C)a life in harmony with god and nature,knowledge of good and evil,avoidance of passion
D)idealism,literary and historical studies,"indifference"

Question 55

Which best describes the beliefs of Epicurus?

A)denunciation of convention,advocacy of a crude life in accordance with nature
B)a life in harmony with god and nature,knowledge of good and evil,avoidance of passion
C)since nothing can be known,nothing matters
D)None of these answers are correct.

Question 56

Why did Sparta develop its unique system of government? What was life like for a Spartan warrior? Spartan women? Helots? Why did the Peloponnesian League develop as it did?

Question 57

Which best describes the philosophy of the Stoics?

A)was illiterate.
B)feared persecution and censorship.
C)was afraid that people would steal his ideas.
D)considered such practical applications beneath him.

Question 58

Discuss the geographical setting of ancient Greek civilization.Why did Greece's Bronze Age culture first flower on Crete? Who were the Minoans? What kinds of evidence about their civilization do we possess? Who were the Mycenaeans? What was the relationship of their culture to the Minoan culture? Why did the Mycenaean civilization fail?

Question 59

Compare and contrast the views of Epicurus,Zeno and the Stoics,and the Cynics on civic duty,virtue,and happiness.