Deck 5: The Hellenistic Age: Cultural Diffusion

Question 1

Alexander seems to have personally met a member of which philosophic school, who told him to stop blocking his light?

A)Platonist
B)Skeptic
C)Cynic
D)Stoic
E)Epicurean

Answer 1

Cynic

Question 2

Hellenistic literature and theater included

A)plays by Menander.
B)a belief by some that poets should limit themselves to short, finely crafted works.
C)a poem by Theocritus showing great sensitivity to the beauty of nature.
D)a new epic called Argonautica.
E)All of these

Answer 2

All of these

Question 3

The plays of Menander show

A)the growing cynicism of an alienated population lost in a world over which they had no control.
B)a warm concern for people and a sympathetic understanding of human weaknesses.
C)the continued popularity of biting political satire.
D)a fascination with the unusual, the grotesque and the exotic.
E)that Greek plays could be written by non-Greek writers.

Answer 3

a warm concern for people and a sympathetic understanding of human weaknesses.

Question 4

During the Hellenistic Age, as an institution, the polis

A)declined in importance.
B)lost its power over foreign affairs but retained a large degree of autonomy in domestic matters.
C)was dominated by monarchy.
D)no longer gave people the same degree of security and sense of belonging.
E)All of these

Question 5

Common to all Hellenistic kingdoms was

A)the notion that law was seen as the will of the people.
B)a sharp division of cultures and the absence of cultural cross-pollination.
C)an extensive royal support of the arts and learning.
D)Hellenization of the bulk of the population.
E)All of these

Question 6

Which of the following statements about the cities founded by the Seleucids is least valid? They were

A)essentially fortress towns with minimal trade.
B)modeled after Greek city-states.
C)inhabited by large Greek populations.
D)contained Greek architecture, temples, and theatres.
E)often included gymnasia that combined sports and intellectual/cultural activities.

Question 7

According to the author, Hellenistic society was characterized by

A)a mingling of peoples and an interchange of culture.
B)a Hellenization of culture and the near-disappearance of native traditions, especially religious beliefs.
C)declining trade and growing regional isolation.
D)a sense of civic responsibility that permeated all social strata.
E)a decline of Greek culture except in Greece itself.

Question 8

Which is the most correct statement about Alexander's death?

A)Alexander's genius and reputation were so great that not even his untimely death disrupted his empire.
B)Alexander's death came on his campaign in India and ended the eastward expansion of the Hellenistic world.
C)Having learned the virtue of moderation from his teacher Aristotle, Alexander lived to a ripe old age and was buried in Alexandria.
D)Alexander died from an illness after a drinking party at age 32.
E)Legend holds that Alexander ascended into heaven as a cloud enveloped his military headquarters.

Question 9

Each of the following is true about the Hellenistic Age except

A)economic activity, including trade, occurred on a much grander and sophisticated scale than it had in Hellenic times.
B)competition for wealth and power increased greatly and there was a concentration of wealth unknown among Greeks in Hellenic times.
C)cities throughout the Hellenistic world served as centers and agents of Hellenism.
D)a new form of common Greek called Koine became the common language in the Hellenistic world.
E)Hellenism effectively penetrated the countryside throughout the Hellenistic world but the movement of peoples was limited.

Question 10

Alexander's campaigns were extensive, covering about

A)2,000 miles.
B)5,000 miles.
C)7,000 miles.
D)10,000 miles.
E)13,000 miles.

Question 11

The Hellenistic Age corresponded to the period

A)from the Greek Dark Age to the time of Alexander.
B)of the Peloponnesian War to Alexander's death.
C)from Alexander's rise to the time of the Seleucids.
D)from the death of Alexander to the formation of the Roman Empire.
E)form the kingdom of Pergamom to the formation of the Roman Empire.

Question 12

Which of the following was not true of the changing mentality of the Hellenistic Age?

A)Greek philosophers shed their traditionally narrow view of humanity.
B)The individual was consciously empowered by freedom for the tight community of the polis.
C)Philosophers came to regard the civilized world as one city.
D)Active citizenship and social responsibility declined.
E)A sense of alienation made freedom from emotional stress a major goal.

Question 13

The author does not make which of the following connections?

A)Alexander the Great's proud, fiery temperament and Alexander's mother
B)Alexander's ambition/inspiration and the Homeric heroes
C)Alexander's appreciation of Greek culture and Aristotle
D)Alexander's determination to defeat Persia and Herodotus
E)Alexander's military skills/leadership abilities and Philip II

Question 14

Which of the following was not part of the cultural exchange in the Hellenistic world?

A)Some Jewish scholars identified God with reason.
B)Greeks became fascinated with Near Eastern religious cults.
C)In Egypt and Syria, native urban elites adopted the Greek language, fashion, and customs.
D)The Hellenized elite adopted Near Eastern artistic styles.
E)Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek.

Question 15

Which of the following is the correct sequence of ages?

A)Hellenistic, Hellenic, Greco-Roman
B)Hellenic, Hellenistic, Greco-Roman
C)Greco-Roman, Hellenistic, Hellenic
D)Hellenic, Greco-Roman, Hellenistic
E)Hellenistic, Greco-Roman, Hellenic

Question 16

Which power came to control all the Hellenistic kingdoms, though not all their territories?

A)Rome
B)Ptolemaic Egypt
C)The Seleucids
D)The Parthians
E)The Antigonids

Question 17

Alexander's accomplishments did not include

A)winning every battle.
B)conquest of an empire stretching from Greece to India.
C)establishing his own dynasty.
D)attempts to blend together Greek and Persian elites.
E)creating a lasting fame for him through the ages.

Question 18

Scholars would agree that the Seleucid Empire

A)was too widespread to have an absolute monarchy.
B)founded cities in the East patterned after Greek city-states.
C)covered Egypt and the Mediterranean area.
D)was the foremost power in the Hellenistic world.
E)was the weakest of the Hellenistic powers.

Question 19

Based on the author's presentation, which of the following does not apply to Polybius?

A)Praise for Rome's balance of aristocratic and democratic elements
B)Belief that a historian should show the facts and not try to teach moral lessons
C)His origins and subsequent loyalties exemplify the universalism of the Hellenistic Age
D)Criticism of Thucydides
E)A systematic world history that "examine[s] the general and comprehensive scheme of events"

Question 20

The Hellenistic kingdoms that succeeded Alexander's empires included

A)Pergamum.
B)the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt.
C)the Seleucid kingdom stretching from the Mediterranean to the frontiers of India.
D)the Antigonid kingdom in Macedonia.
E)All of these

Question 21

Who, among the scientists of Antiquity, anticipated the ideas of Copernicus, the founder of the Scientific Revolution?

A)Eratosthenes
B)Aristarchus
C)Theophrastus
D)Archimedes
E)Euclid

Question 22

Eratosthenes' map of the world shows all the following except

A)a connection between all the world's oceans.
B)India.
C)Africa.
D)Australia.
E)Rhodes.

Question 23

Which of the following statements would contradict the author of the textbook?

A)Alexander helped to stimulate an outburst of scientific activity.
B)Hellenistic science "stood on the threshold of the modern world.When modern science began in the sixteenth century, it took up where the Greeks left off."
C)Hellenistic scientists applied scientific principles to mechanical devices and grasped the theory of experiments.
D)Attempts to integrate vast amounts of knowledge were accompanied by greater specialization.
E)None of these

Question 24

Which Hellenistic scholar systematized geometry and developed hundreds of geometry proofs?

A)Pythagoras
B)Euclid
C)Hipparchus
D)Archimedes
E)Aristarchus

Question 25

The Stoics' concept of Logos led them to conclude that

A)the universe is ruled by natural law.
B)natural law is knowable and can teach each person what is good and what is evil.
C)since all people, regardless of conventional distinctions, share in the Logos, all people have dignity and all are fundamentally equal.
D)living in agreement with nature means conforming to the dictates of reason.
E)All of these

Question 26

The Epicureans believed that

A)the gods probably existed but they had no influence on people's lives.
B)fear of the gods' punishment in this life or the next is a principle source of anxiety.
C)a person should not worry about the gods.
D)life should be ordered by each individual thinking for himself.
E)All of these

Question 27

Which was the greatest center of scientific and humanistic research center in the Hellenistic world?

A)The Academy at Athens
B)The Museum and Library at Alexandria
C)The Library at Pergamom
D)The Lyceum at Athens
E)The University at Bologna

Question 28

The Stoics perceived God as

A)the creator and sustainer of live who seeks a positive relationship with his people.
B)reason, the fundamental force in the universe, not a personal deity as the Hebrews believed.
C)a human invention to defend the status quo.
D)a being engaged in a struggle against irrationality represented by darkness.
E)None of these

Question 29

In its description of the world, Epicureanism looked back to which philosopher of the Hellenic Age?

A)Thales and his theory that water was the primary element of the world
B)Anaximander and his theory of the Boundless
C)Democritus and his theory of atoms
D)Plato and his theory of Forms
E)Aristotle and his theory that form and matter existed together

Question 30

Among the scientific work of the Greeks during the Hellenistic Age, one may find

A)the reemergence of ideas that magic influenced the natural world
B)a predominance of non-Greek ideas.
C)an attempt to organize scientific knowledge rationally.
D)a neglect of botany and zoology.
E)a lack of state sponsorship.

Question 31

The main focus of Hellenistic philosophy was

A)the structure of the universe.
B)providing the individual with practical guidelines of living.
C)the reconciliation of the tension in Hellenic philosophy between those who thought reality was physical and those who thought it was not.
D)integrating the knowledge of Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
E)producing technological invention and practical knowledge for the state.

Question 32

Which Stoic beliefs have had a lasting impact on Western civilization?

A)By nature, all people are one family.
B)Each person has significance.
C)Human law should not conflict with natural law.
D)Distinction of rank and race has no significance.
E)All of these

Question 33

Epicurus would agree with all of the following positions except

A)pleasure was central for happiness, therefore, unbridled hedonism should be sought.
B)a person should withdraw from civic life nor should he seek wealth or fame.
C)philosophy is important in a person's search for a good life.
D)most important for achieving a good life is the company of friends.
E)unjust behavior burdens a person with troubles and should be avoided.

Question 34

Who studied physics, probably even employing experiments?

A)Strato
B)Theophrastus
C)Aristarchus
D)Theocritus
E)Zeno

Question 35

Hellenistic art displayed which of the following tendencies?

A)A movement away from idealism and towards a more dynamic, emotion-laden, and uncompromising realism
B)Increasing stagnation as creative energies flowed more into economic activities
C)A declining concern with the individual
D)A growing concern with the perfect beauty
E)A growing tendency to discard Greek aesthetic and adopt older Mesopotamian and Egyptian motifs and forms

Question 36

Which of the following was not one of the four principle schools of Hellenistic philosophy?

A)Neo-Platonism
B)Stoicism
C)Epicureanism
D)Cynicism
E)Skepticism

Question 37

Among the core beliefs of the Stoics was the idea that

A)Divine Reason orders the universe through law.
B)the world is the city of humanity and each person is a citizen.
C)self-mastery is essential for happiness.
D)reason gives people dignity.
E)All of these

Question 38

Most Hellenistic philosophies exhibited all of the following tendencies except a/an

A)response to the general anxiety and sense of alienation that permeated Hellenistic society.
B)attempt to "expel the suffering of the soul."
C)quasi-religious quality.
D)rejection of rational knowledge as necessarily "empty words," useless and vain.
E)focus on the individual's relationship to humanity and a complex world.

Question 39

Who studied in Alexandria, was a mathematician, established the science of hydrostatics, and created many ingenious inventions but dismissed his practical inventions as unimportant?

A)Archimedes of Syracuse
B)Euclid
C)Aristarchus of Samos
D)Eratosthenes
E)Philo of Alexandria

Question 40

Hellenistic medical knowledge was not surpassed until the 16th century A.D., Alexandrian doctors apparently did

A)identify the brain as the center of intelligence.
B)grasp the distinction between veins and arteries.
C)dissect human bodies or develop surgical techniques.
D)separate medicine from magic.
E)All of these

Question 41

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Skepticism

Question 42

The Skeptic Carneades of Cyrene held all the following beliefs except

A)all theory is worthless.
B)all ideas are probability, not absolutes; there is only probability, never certainty.
C)morality must derive from practical experience not rigid ideas.
D)the universe may show signs of order but that does not justify belief in God.
E)the problem of reason should be considered.

Question 43

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Diaspora

Question 44

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
cosmopolitanism

Question 45

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Hellenization

Question 46

Which of the following did the Cynics not reject?

A)Property and work
B)Religion, philosophy, and literature
C)Family, community, and the state
D)Social norms, polite language, and good manners
E)Freedom and individualism

Question 47

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Stoicism

Question 48

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
natural law

Question 49

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Logos

Question 50

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Koine

Question 51

The Hellenistic school of philosophy, called Skepticism, held that

A)the Epicureans were right about disengaging from the world, but the Stoics were right about the Logos.
B)the Stoics were right about the brotherhood of all people, but the Epicureans were right about the company of friends bringing the greatest pleasure.
C)the Cynics were right to renounce all possessions, but the Epicureans and the Stoics were right about the role of reason in human life.
D)nothing can be known for certain.
E)an honest religious belief is more powerful than any philosophy.

Question 52

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Alexandria

Question 53

According to the author, which feature(s) of the Hellenistic Age most facilitated the rise of Christianity?

A)Scientific inquiry and blending of Greek and Near Eastern technologies
B)Hellenistic philosophies and the individual search for happiness/salvation
C)Divine monarchy
D)Oppression and civil war
E)The spread of Judaism

Question 54

Zeno may be remembered for

A)rejecting Greek thought.
B)encouraging Jew to rebuild the Temple.
C)teaching that the world is a single society.
D)ruling with a gentle hand.
E)creating extremely realistic sculptures such as "The Drunken Old Woman."

Question 55

Which philosophy best expressed the world-mindedness of the Hellenistic Age?

A)Epicureanism
B)Stoicism
C)Cynicism
D)Platonism
E)Skepticism

Question 56

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Epicureanism

Question 57

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
oikoumene

Question 58

The author connects the Stoic idea of natural law with all the following except

A)Roman law.
B)English common law.
C)Christian thought.
D)the modern principle of inalienable rights.
E)modern liberalism.

Question 59

Ptolemaic Egypt could lay claim to all the following except

A)the greatest commercial center of the Hellenistic world.
B)the birthplace of the most important Hellenistic philosophy.
C)the greatest intellectual institution of Hellenistic times.
D)temporary control of Phoenicia and Palestine.
E)a city that, at the beginning of the Christian era, had a population of a million.

Question 60

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Cynicism

Question 61

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain Stoicism and its place in the history of Greek philosophy.

Question 62

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Describe Alexander the Great, his life and his accomplishments.How did he change the world?

Question 63

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
If you were to choose one Hellenistic philosophy to guide your life, which one would you choose? Explain the reasons for your choice.

Question 64

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Draw in and clearly label the four major Hellenistic states.

Question 65

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the chief characteristics of the Hellenistic societies, paying attention to their economies, social systems and everyday life, political systems, and the intellectual/religious spheres.

Question 66

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain Skepticism and Cynicism.Discuss their position in the history of Greek thought.

Question 67

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
In what ways did Hellenistic civilization lay the groundwork for Christianity?

Question 68

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the parallels between today's world and the Hellenistic world.

Question 69

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Seleucids

Question 70

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain Epicureanism and its place in the history of Greek philosophy.

Question 71

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Mark the sites of three of the following: Alexandria, Rhodes, Athens, and Alexandria Eschata.

Question 72

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the main characteristics and accomplishments of Hellenistic science.

Question 73

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Antigonids

Question 74

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Locate and clearly mark the following: Alexander's home country, the furthest point Alexander reached in his campaigns, and the center of the empire he conquered.

Question 75

Instructions: Please use this outline map of the Near East to answer the question(s).
Draw in Alexander's empire at its height.Clearly mark the locations of Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.Also mark the locations of present-day Iraq, Israel, and Afghanistan.

Question 76

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
The author has been emphasizing the importance of Greek civilization in the development of the West.What has the Hellenistic phase of Greek civilization added to that influence?

Question 77

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Compare the Hellenic and Hellenistic periods of Greek civilizations.

Question 78

Instructions: Please write a thorough, well-organized essay to answer each question.
Explain the main characteristics of Hellenistic literature, art, and historical writing.

Question 79

Instructions: Please define the following key terms.Show Who? What? Where? When? Why Important?
Ptolemies