Greek Vocabulary

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Mycenaean

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an Indo-European person who settled on the Greek mainland around 2000 B.C

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TrojanWar

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a war fought around 1200 B.C in which an army led by Mycenaean kings attacked the independent trading city of Troy in Anatolia

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Homer

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blind man storyteller who wrote narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds, sometime between 750 and 700 BC. One of his great epic poems was the Iliad,

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Myth

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a traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a

society

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Tragedy

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a serious form of drama dealing with thedownfall of a heroic or noble character

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Peloponnesian War

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a war lasting from 431 to 404 BC in which Athens and its allies were defeated by Sparta and its

allies.

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Philosopher

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a thinker who uses logic and reason to investigate the nature of the universe, human society and

morality

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Socrates

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felt that absolute standards did exist for truth and justice. However, he encouraged Greeks to go father and

question themselves and their moral character. Brought to trial for “corrupting the youth of Athens” and “neglecting the city’s gods”

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Plato

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student of Socrates. Most famous work “The Republic” , which explained his

vision of a perfect governed society

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Polis

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a Greek city-state-the

fundamental political unit of ancient Greece after about 750 BC

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Oligarchy

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a government in which power is in the hands of a few people-especially on in which rule is based upon wealth

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Tyrant

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in ancient Greece, a powerful individual who gained control of a city-state’s government by

appealing to the poor for support.

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Monarchy

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government in which power is in the hands of a

single person.

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phalanx

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a military formation of foot

soldiers armed with spears and shields

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Persian Wars

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a series of wars in the fifth century BC in which Greek city-states battles the Persian Empire

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Macedonia

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located north of Greece had rough terrain and a cold climate. The

Macedonias were hardy people who lived in mountain villages rather than city states. Looked down by Greeks and thought of as uncivilized foreigners who had no great philosophers,

sculptors or writers.