Deck 8: The Greek Adventure

Question 1

Solon's constitution

A) led to perfect democracy.
B) gave power to the oligarchy.
C) was a pretext for his tyranny.
D) satisfied no one.
E) operated effectively for almost thirty years.

Answer 1

satisfied no one.

Question 2

Explain the ways in which geography has shaped Greek civilization.

Answer 2

Answers would include Asia Minor,Mediterranean Sea,mountains,islands,sea trade,natural disasters,role of geography in warfare.

Question 3

Describe the institution of the polis and explain the political developments that took place in ancient Greece and discuss the influence on the Western world today.

Answer 3

Answers would include a definition of polis,democracy,monarchy,the use of a constitution,Athens and Sparta.

Question 4

Compare and contrast Athens with Sparta highlighting social,economic,political and military issues.

Question 5

The person who tried hardest to implement true democracy in Athens was

A) Xerxes.
B) Pisistratus.
C) Darius.
D) Cleisthenes.
E) Solon.

Question 6

The first Persian War included

A) a total defeat of the Persian Navy by the Athenians.
B) an attack by Xerxes to which several Greek city-states successfully responded.
C) the famous battle of Marathon, which saw the Persian leader, Darius I, brought down in defeat.
D) a decisive victory for the Spartans at Thermopylae.
E) a coalition formed by several Greek city-states that united against a common enemy for the first time.

Question 7

Most Greeks during the Hellenic Period were

A) wealthy.
B) merchants.
C) artisans.
D) warriors.
E) peasants.

Question 8

Assess the career of Alexander the Great,and gauge the depth of his contributions to the advancement (or detriment)of civilization.

Question 9

Discuss Greek history in terms of its 3 distinct phases,elaborating on the achievements and challenges of each.

Question 10

The Greek polis could best be described as

A) a large town independent of its surrounding countryside.
B) an entity in which as much as 80 percent of the population was excluded from political life.
C) a town and its surrounding countryside in which about half the population had the right to vote.
D) a democratic place where women were allowed to participate in politics.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 11

Which of these events took place first?

A) An advanced civilization emerged on mainland Greece.
B) Mycenaeans arrived on Crete.
C) Homer wrote the Iliad.
D) The original Great Palace at Knossos was constructed.
E) The Mycenaeans defeated the Minoans.

Question 12

Homer's subject in the Iliad is

A) Athens' war with Carthage.
B) the Mycenaean War against Troy.
C) the battle of Marathon.
D) Troy's battle with the Phoenicians.
E) Sparta's participation in the Messenian Wars.

Question 13

Greece differed from places such as Mesopotamia and Egypt in its political development,mainly because of

A) the independent character of its people.
B) its relatively late settlement.
C) its concentration on free trade rather than governmental control.
D) the physical separation of its people from each other caused by its fractured geography.
E) the language differences among its people that made unification difficult.

Question 14

Greece is renowned for its

A) alpine climate.
B) political unity.
C) fertile farmland.
D) strong sense of a common culture.
E) excellent harbors.

Question 15

In modern terminology,a "polis" might best be defined as a

A) county.
B) city-state.
C) town meeting.
D) nation.
E) province.

Question 16

Which statement is true of Athenian democracy?

A) Every male citizen was free to serve in the boule, the council that made policy.
B) The ekklesia was similar to our modern-day city council.
C) The deme was the largest governmental body.
D) Participation in the boule was usually weighted in favor of the wealthy and influential.
E) The deme was similar to a town hall meeting.

Question 17

Which of these groups was/were excluded from full citizenship in the Greek polis?

A) women
B) freemen under the age of twenty-five
C) slaves
D) both A and C
E) both B and C

Question 18

Explain and evaluate the ways in which the Peloponnesian War triggered the fall of classical Greek civilization.

Question 19

In the larger Greek poleis,those who lived inside the town and those in the countryside most likely

A) envied each other.
B) believed themselves superior to the other group.
C) had a symbiotic relationship with each other.
D) fought from time to time.
E) ignored each other as much as possible.

Question 20

It would be most accurate to describe Minoan civilization as

A) a successful seafaring society.
B) militarily strong but governmentally weak.
C) consisting of the first true Greeks.
D) isolated to the island of Crete.
E) the precursor of modern Greek society.

Question 21

Who was victorious in the Peloponnesian War?

A) Athens
B) Sparta
C) the Alliance of Athens and Corinth
D) the Delian League
E) Pericles

Question 22

According to modern standards,the most surprising reaction to the Spartans from the other Greeks was

A) hatred.
B) jealousy.
C) contempt.
D) admiration.
E) indifference.

Question 23

A(n)____________________ means rule by those who are born into the leading families.

Question 24

In Homer's poem,Odysseus (Ulysses)conquered the Cyclops by

A) killing him in a duel.
B) blinding him.
C) tricking him to jump into the sea.
D) convincing him to drink a poisonous concoction.
E) tying him down while he was sleeping.

Question 25

The Spartans became unique among the Greeks for

A) practicing slavery.
B) promoting militarism.
C) abdicating freedoms.
D) fostering the arts.
E) supporting education for both males and females.

Question 26

Chaeronea marks

A) Sparta's victory over Athens.
B) Troy's destruction.
C) Greece's triumph in the first Persian War.
D) Philip's conquest of Greece.
E) Hannibal's southernmost victory in Greece.

Question 27

Conditions that allowed opponents of Athenian democracy to finally destroy it were created by the

A) wars with the Spartans.
B) supporters of the Ephors.
C) citizens who abused the process.
D) Macedonians.
E) democratic leadership of the city.

Question 28

____________________ was the leading city of the Minoan culture.

Question 29

To cement relationships with newly conquered territories,Alexander encouraged immigrant Greeks to

A) stop collecting taxes.
B) show mercy to prisoners of war.
C) choose a general to stay and supervise each newly defeated city-state.
D) marry local women.
E) bribe each village headmaster to do their bidding.

Question 30

Which statement is true of the kingdoms that emerged from the breakup of Alexander's empire?

A) The Antigonid Kingdom controlled the entire Greek mainland.
B) The Seleucids in Persia failed mainly because their kingdom was too small and poor.
C) The Antigonids controlled the richest of the three kingdoms.
D) Thousands of Greeks chose to immigrate to the Ptolemaic Kingdom, making Egypt a truly unique society.
E) All three kingdoms lasted until the arrival of the Roman in the 4th century B.C.E.

Question 31

The battle of Chaeronea effectively brought an end to

A) Philip's plans to incorporate Greece into his empire.
B) the political unity the Greeks had theretofore enjoyed.
C) the independent polis system that had long been in place.
D) Greece's rule by foreigners.
E) the expansion of the Macedonian empire.

Question 32

For the most part,the Greek poleis were united only when

A) a strong area such as Thebes took control.
B) they fought and defeated Philip's army.
C) they finally gave up on the goal of political supremacy.
D) they all viewed a particular polis as a threat to their independence.
E) they had to face the Macedonians in battle.

Question 33

Which modern-day country was not a scene of warfare as Alexander set about enlarging his empire?

A) Afghanistan
B) Turkey
C) Pakistan
D) Iraq
E) Iran

Question 34

Cleisthenes' leading contribution to Athenian democracy,designed to protect the majority,was

A) helotry.
B) aphorism.
C) ostracism.
D) ekklesia.
E) secret ballots.

Question 35

The second epoch of Greek history,spanning the time of Homer to the Macedonian conquest,is known as the ____________________.

Question 36

Alexander had to turn back after conquering India because

A) he fell ill.
B) his army could not cross the mountain ranges to go into China.
C) India was as far as he wanted to go.
D) his army refused to go any further.
E) None of the options are correct.

Question 37

The real goal in the Peloponnesian War was for

A) Athens to use its navy to defeat all of the other city-states.
B) Sparta and Persia to defeat Athens and join together in a mighty alliance.
C) Athens to conquer territory from its neighboring city-states, among other things.
D) Sparta to demonstrate to its neighbors its strong military training.
E) Athens to defeat Sparta in the end.

Question 38

According to Plutarch,Alexander most impressed his father by

A) slaying the giant Hercules.
B) riding a wild horse.
C) leading the Macedonian army.
D) constructing a bridge over the Hellespont.
E) invading the Persian Empire.

Question 39

The Dark Age was probably precipitated by the ____________________ invasions.

Question 40

The critical factor in transforming Sparta from an ordinary polis into a special one was

A) the war against the neighboring Messenians.
B) the invasions by the Persians.
C) the war against Athens.
D) its commercial rivalry with Athens.
E) its use of slavery to advance its standing as a polis.

Question 41

The three major "successor kingdoms" to the empire of Alexander the Great were in ____________________,____________________,and ____________________.

Question 42

____________________ was the condition of slavery under Spartan domination.

Question 43

During the second Persian War,Spartan troops distinguished themselves at the battles of ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 44

The Athenian leadership headed by ____________________ was responsible for bringing Athens and Sparta to war.

Question 45

The ____________________ was a 500-citizen council charged with administrative and legislative powers in Athens.

Question 46

Philip's victory over ____________________ marks the effective end of Greek independence.