Deck 3: The Civilization of Greece,1000–400 B.C.E

Question 1

After Hoplites were introduced in Greece:

A) the Dark Age ended and the Age of Enlightenment began.
B) aristocrats lost their monopoly on military prowess.
C) foot soldiers could not withstand armed men on horses.
D) individual soldiers did not have to keep armor and weapons.
E) democracy became the type of government for all of Greece.

Answer 1

aristocrats lost their monopoly on military prowess.

Question 2

Homer's poetry describes a world in which:

A) the traditional Greek gods are no longer visible or accessible.
B) there are no social distinctions in Greece and men are judged by their combat skills alone.
C) warrior aristocrats reinforce social ties through hospitality and gift-giving.
D) the Greek people are largely united, and only fight rival ethnic groups.
E) an individual's status was set by his ability as a poet and philosopher.

Answer 2

warrior aristocrats reinforce social ties through hospitality and gift-giving.

Question 3

Panhellenic festivals in ancient Greece included:

A) national memorial days to honor those killed in wars.
B) devout expressions of the entrepreneurial spirit.
C) open invitations to other peoples to join the feasts.
D) poetic competitions and parades only.
E) athletic contests honoring the gods.

Answer 3

athletic contests honoring the gods.

Question 4

The Greeks became literate again during the ninth century B.C.E.by adopting:

A) cuneiform script from the Assyrians.
B) Egyptian hieroglyphics.
C) the Phoenician alphabet.
D) the Hebrew alphabet.
E) the Etruscan alphabet.

Question 5

Those Greeks who were able to accumulate wealth during the Dark Age:

A) eventually emerged as the Greek aristocracy.
B) carefully avoided acts of piracy and military confrontation.
C) founded the first religious temples and rejected the "heroic ideal."
D) are known to historians today as "pre-Socratic" philosophers.
E) colonized the islands of the Aegean Sea.

Question 6

A Greek aristocrat who seized power and ruled outside the traditional constitutional framework was called:

A) a monarch.
B) a demagogue.
C) a Hoplite.
D) a tyrant.
E) a philosopher king.

Question 7

Hubris is:

A) excessive pride, which was punished by the gods.
B) excessive wealth, which was punished by the gods.
C) excessive strength, which was punished by the gods.
D) excessive wrath, which was punished by the gods.
E) excessive beauty, which was punished by the gods.

Question 8

By the sixth century B.C.E.,Greeks founded numerous colonies around the Mediterranean basin.Where were the most historically significant colonies located?

A) France and North Africa
B) Anatolia and Italy
C) Syria and the Black Sea
D) Egypt and Palestine
E) the Levant and Mesopotamia

Question 9

During the Archaic Age,respectable aristocratic women:

A) took part in athletic contests and symposia.
B) replaced men who were absent on voyages and at war in public life.
C) made most major economic decisions on their own.
D) were excluded from politics.
E) were among the best actors on the Greek stage.

Question 10

The growing class of aristocrats at the end of the Dark Age made their wealth by:

A) heavy taxation of the temples.
B) engaging in trade and commercial enterprises.
C) conquest and colonization.
D) exploiting the discovery of new silver mines in the highlands.
E) piracy and plundering the peasant class.

Question 11

The Greek polis was:

A) a collective group or community organized around a city.
B) a well-armed militia of all adult men aged twenty-one to sixty.
C) a central marketplace close to the harbor.
D) a protected area around the temple.
E) the highest fortified ground within a city.

Question 12

In the symposium,Archaic Age Greek aristocrats:

A) enjoyed wine and listened to poetry.
B) were introduced to respectable women who might become future wives and confidantes.
C) discussed matters of state and edited important political documents.
D) competed in athletic games against men from all social levels.
E) engaged in philosophical debates concerning aesthetics.

Question 13

The Archaic Age of Greece begins with the emergence of the polis and the return of writing,but most of what we know of the period comes from the particular perspective of the:

A) Corinthians.
B) Spartans.
C) Thebans.
D) Athenians.
E) Persians.

Question 14

The relationship of the Greeks to their gods was:

A) one of trust and familial loyalty.
B) one of suspicion and appeasement.
C) an impersonal relationship that cultivated independence in the Greek people.
D) a personal relationship with gods who were considered to be positive forces in Greek culture and individual welfare.
E) ambivalent as the Greeks never completely accepted the existence of gods.

Question 15

The ancient Greek synoikismos or synoecism meant:

A) borrowing useful inventions from Egypt, Israel, Assyria, and Persia.
B) combining the best of ancient cultures to make a better society.
C) building towns and cities, often around temples, into small states.
D) disbelief in the goodness of the gods.
E) the act of banishing a citizen from a city for a limited period of time.

Question 16

Since every polis needed Hoplites:

A) production increased dramatically.
B) more athletic contests and public spectacles were required.
C) the men who took part began to demand a role in politics.
D) farmers suffered losses at their expense.
E) taxes needed to increase in order to arm them.

Question 17

The Greeks referred to some people with whom they came into contact as barbarians because they:

A) were from lands that exported berries.
B) fought without any regard for the formalities of war.
C) worshiped gods different from the Greeks.
D) were nomadic peoples.
E) did not speak Greek.

Question 18

Although Dark Age Greece is largely undocumented and therefore difficult to study thoroughly,it seems clear that:

A) the population of mainland Greece rose steadily throughout the period.
B) early Greeks had no developed concept of heroic ideals or epic poetry.
C) early Greeks had little interest in religion or the gods.
D) early Greeks were economically stagnant and cut off from other Near Eastern civilizations.
E) early Greeks traded extensively with the rest of the ancient world.

Question 19

The Iliad and the Odyssey:

A) are epic poems with no foundation in historical events.
B) provide evidence for the heroic ideal of late Dark Age Greece.
C) were composed in the Classical Period but were based on older, oral sources.
D) are the first examples of epic poetry from the ancient world.
E) all of these

Question 20

The Greek ideal of hospitality is exemplified by the encounter related by Homer in the Iliad between:

A) Hector and Achilles.
B) Glaucus and Diomedes.
C) Diomedes and Patroclus.
D) Hector and Patroclus.
E) Glaucus and Achilles.

Question 21

For much of the Archaic Age,the aristocrats held power in Greece but differing forms of government developed.Among these forms of government were all of the following except:

A) democracies.
B) monarchies.
C) oligarchies.
D) tyrannies.
E) theocracies.

Question 22

During the second Persian War,Themistocles persuaded his fellow Athenians to:

A) invade and attack Persian settlements deep within Anatolia.
B) abandon naval defensive schemes and rely on ground-based forces.
C) temporarily suspend democratic government and be ruled by a military dictator.
D) rely on the Spartans for their defense.
E) abandon the city of Athens and let the Persians burn it.

Question 23

The period of time known as the "Golden Age of Classical Greece" was bounded in time by:

A) the democratic reforms in Athens by Drakon and the end of the Peloponnesian War.
B) the battle of Salamis and the execution of Socrates.
C) the end of the Persian Wars and the beginning of the Peloponnesian War.
D) the death of Pericles and the execution of Socrates.
E) the founding of the Academy by Plato and the death of Alexander the Great.

Question 24

Sparta:

A) required all citizens to do manual labor, in order to preserve equality between them.
B) depended on the enslaved labor of helots.
C) relied on an elite, professional, mercenary army.
D) relied on its navy for self-defense.
E) devoted itself to the arts and to the preservation of the culture of the past.

Question 25

The Delian League helped to transform which city-state into an empire?

A) Sparta
B) Corinth
C) Athens
D) Miletus
E) Thebes

Question 26

Cleisthenes is important in the history of Athenian government because he:

A) defeated Sparta in a series of brilliant naval campaigns.
B) rejected the practice of ostracism, which allowed Athenians to banish a citizen for ten years.
C) championed the cause of the demos and took steps to limit the power of aristocrats.
D) defeated Persia at the battle of Marathon.
E) championed the cause of the aristocrats and took steps to limit the power of the demos.

Question 27

The Greek innovation in shipbuilding,the trireme,was so called because it had:

A) three sails.
B) three ramming prows.
C) three captains: one for each watch.
D) three banks of oars on each side.
E) an elevated main mast.

Question 28

Lyric poetry from Archaic Greece:

A) ignores or even mocks traditional military virtues and heroism.
B) expresses the individual feelings of the poet.
C) expresses romantic longing and sexual desire.
D) dealt with themes such as beauty, love, and ambition.
E) all of these

Question 29

Democracy originated in Greece from the idea of the demos,which literally meAnswer:

A) the mob.
B) neighborhood.
C) clan.
D) tribe.
E) family.

Question 30

The Persian Wars were begun by:

A) the imperial concerns of the Persians.
B) a revolt instigated by the Ionian Greeks against the Persians.
C) the imperial concerns of the Greeks.
D) a dispute between Sparta and Athens that the Persians were asked to resolve.
E) the unprovoked invasion of Euboea by the Persians.

Question 31

The Persian Wars might be said to be ideologically based as they were waged between:

A) the democratic Persian confederation and the monarchies and tyrannies of Greece.
B) the stoical Persians and the skeptical Greeks.
C) the Greek empire and the Persian empire.
D) the Greeks who believed they should rule themselves and the Persian empire.
E) isolationist Greeks and the cosmopolitan Persians.

Question 32

The first historian of the Western world was:

A) Hesiod.
B) Thucydides.
C) Herodotus.
D) Themistocles.
E) Socrates.

Question 33

The "Ionian revolution in thought" can best be described as:

A) communism.
B) cynicism.
C) relativism.
D) philosophical universalism.
E) Neoplatonism.

Question 34

The modern term to describe the relationship between a same-sex female relationship may be traced back to the lyric poet Sappho because of her:

A) relationship with a young Athenian aristocrat.
B) place of residence.
C) family name.
D) husband's occupation.
E) occupation.

Question 35

The origins of Greek democracy can be identified,in part,in the rule of the Athenian aristocrat:

A) Areopagus.
B) Solon.
C) Drakon.
D) Hectares.
E) Peisistratos.

Question 36

Greek sculpture evolved from the rather stiff likenesses resembling Egyptian statuary to a style labeled as:

A) naturalism.
B) realism.
C) mannerism.
D) objective abstraction.
E) magical realism.

Question 37

Drama in classical Athens was transformed when:

A) Aeschylus introduced additional characters and a chorus to stage presentations in order to present human conflict and conversation.
B) Aristotle encouraged playwrights to set aside traditional epics and tragic works for political satire.
C) Aristophanes introduced Greek tragedy, designed to inspire the emotions of pity and fear.
D) Herodotus constructed the first amphitheater with seating benches and a stage for performers.
E) all of these

Question 38

The decisive Greek military victory over the Persians at Salamis was won by:

A) the Athenian fleet.
B) the Spartan phalanx.
C) the Greek Hoplites.
D) the diplomatic efforts of Themistocles.
E) the Theban Sacred Band.

Question 39

Which sentence best describes the structure of the Spartan government

A) Sparta was organized and led by a core of military generals who were elected annually before the spring campaigns.
B) Sparta was ruled by a citizen assembly, a council of elders, and two kings.
C) Sparta was a democracy modeled after the government of its rival, Athens.
D) Sparta was ruled by a cadre of military officers from the Spartan secret service (the criteria).
E) Sparta was an oligarchy ruled by a small group of wealthy merchants.

Question 40

The growth of Athenian democracy,with its emphasis on equality between citizens,led to:

A) greater equality between men and women.
B) greater inequality between men and women.
C) greater social freedoms for women, but no new political rights.
D) greater equality between all individuals by abolishing slavery.
E) distrust of all non-Athenians and isolationism.

Question 41

The aristocracy of eighth- and seventh-century Athens gained their power and wealth from the land,not the sea.

Question 42

Why was the Peloponnesian War deadlocked for an extended period of time?

A) The Athenian Plague was used as a form of early "germ warfare" against Sparta.
B) Athens could not defeat Persia on land, and Persia could not defeat Athens at sea.
C) Athens could not defeat Sparta on land, and Sparta could not defeat Athens at sea.
D) The philosophy of the Pythagoreans and the Sophists contradicted each other.
E) The leadership of Pericles throughout the war allowed Athens to hold out against the superior Spartan army.

Question 43

Athens was the leading commercial city of Greece.

Question 44

According to Plato,Socrates learned the meaning of love from a woman named:

A) Diotima.
B) Sappho.
C) Hetaeras.
D) Aphasia.
E) Symposius.

Question 45

The Olympic Games did little to stop the rivalry between the poleis.

Question 46

Same-sex female relationships were encouraged in order to educate and promote young women in society.

Question 47

The Sophist claim that "Man is the measure of all things" meAnswer:

A) mathematics is the key to the secrets of the universe.
B) architecture should be proportioned to the human form.
C) goodness, truth, and justice are not absolutes, but vary according to the needs and interests of human beings.
D) nature is unknowable; only human beings can be understood.
E) all human measurements of the universe are relative to the individual making the measurement.

Question 48

Socrates' most important pupil was:

A) Pythagoras.
B) Plato.
C) Aristotle.
D) Isocrates.
E) Zeno.

Question 49

The vast majority of Athenian citizens were of the merchant/artisan class.

Question 50

Spartan soldiers were forbidden to engage in trade.

Question 51

Solon was an aristocrat who had made his name and fortune as a Hoplite soldier and thus had the respect of every faction in Athenian society.

Question 52

Tyrannies were long-lasting forms of government in which familial dynasties took root.

Question 53

The philosophical tradition founded by Pythagoras believed that the ultimate essence of the universe was:

A) material.
B) mathematical.
C) intangible.
D) unknowable.
E) chemical.

Question 54

According to the historian Thucydides,the Peloponnesian War began:

A) as a way to permanently remove the Persian threat from the Aegean Sea.
B) because of the growing power of Athens, and the fear and envy this inspired in Sparta.
C) to facilitate the expansion of Athens into Syracuse (Sicily).
D) because Athens failed to support the Delian League.
E) when Sparta's imperial ambitions threatened the Greeks north of the Peloponnese.

Question 55

"Hellenism" led to political cooperation between the poleis.

Question 56

The politician who took up the cause of the thetes in their quest for citizenship was:

A) Cleisthenes.
B) Cimon.
C) Drakon.
D) Themistocles.
E) Pericles.

Question 57

Due to the Persian Wars,the center of Greek philosophical speculation shifted from Ionia to:

A) the Greek colonies surrounding the Black Sea.
B) the Peloponnesus.
C) Athens.
D) the Greek "far west."
E) the Phoenician colony of Carthage.

Question 58

What form of government did Sparta impose on the defeated Athenians and their allies?

A) democracy
B) oligarchy
C) aristocracy
D) tyranny
E) monarchy

Question 59

The Phoenicians introduced the Greeks to seafaring as a means of trade.

Question 60

Socrates' aim was to show:

A) that there are no absolutes in the universe: everything is relative.
B) that the Sophists were undermining the Athenian war effort.
C) that philosophers could be respectable members of society.
D) that the laws of the polis, if unjust, should be disobeyed.
E) that truth is real and absolute standards of goodness and virtue do exist.

Question 61

The Corinthian League was the first political and religious confederation of independent poleis pledged to support each other in times of need.

Question 62

What were the effects of depopulation on Dark Age Greece?

Question 63

What was the effect of rising democracy on the position of women in Athens?

Question 64

What was the effect of Hoplite warfare on the Greek poleis?

Question 65

The Peloponnesian War was a response to Athenian oppression,superiority,and aggression.

Question 66

Why were the Sophists considered to be dangerous?

Question 67

What changes occurred in ninth century B.C.E.that contributed to the rise of the polis?

Question 68

What were the motives for Greek colonization in the eighth and seventh centuries,and what were the effects of colonization on the ancient world?

Question 69

Miltiades persuaded Athens to use the newly discovered silver vein in the Attic countryside to build a navy in order to counter a future Persian invasion.

Question 70

How can it be said that though Sparta won the Peloponnesian War,they also lost?

Question 71

In what ways did the new genre of comedy act as a vent for societal tensions?

Question 72

The Spartans failed to come to the aid of the Athenians during the battle of Marathon because they were occupied in putting down a helot rebellion.

Question 73

How did Ancient Greek culture differ from Mesopotamian and Egyptian culture?

Question 74

The purpose of tragedy was to help the audience purge their emotions.

Question 75

What was the role of slaves in Spartan society versus Athenian society?