World History Chap 5 Words

Front 1

Mycenaean

Back 1

The people who settled on the Greek mainlandaround 2000 B.C. The name came from their leading city, Mycenae.

Front 2

Trojan War

Back 2

A ten-year war fought between the Mycenaeansagainst Troy, an independent trading city located in Anatolia, during the 1200sB.C.

Front 3

Dorians

Back 3

A new group of people who moved into the war-torncountryside after the Trojan War. They spoke a dialect of Greek and may havebeen distant relatives of the Bronze Age Greeks. Homer- The greatest storyteller who also happened to beblind, he’s responsible for epics such as the Iliad.

Front 4

Epic

Back 4

Narrative poems celebrating heroic deeds,sometime between 750 and 700 B.C.

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Myth

Back 5

Traditional stories about the gods of a certainculture.

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Polis

Back 6

A city-state, often made up of a city and it’ssurrounding countryside which also included numerous villages.

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Acropolis

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A fortified hilltop where citizens gathered todiscuss city government.

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Monarchy

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A government in which a single person, a king,rules over all.

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Aristocracy

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A government ruled by a small group of noble, landowningfamilies. These families were very rich, and often gained political power afterserving in a king’s military cavalry.

Front 10

Oligarchy

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A government ruled by a few powerful people.

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Tyrant

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Powerful individuals, usually nobles or other wealthycitizens, who sometimes seized control of the government by appealing to thecommon people for support. (Not to be confused with the harsh and cruel kind)

Front 12

Democracy

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Rule by the people, in which citizensparticipated directly in political decision making.

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Helot

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Peasants forced to stay on the land they worked.

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Phalanx

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A fearsome military formation in which the footsolders of the army stood side by side, each holding a spear in one hand and ashield in the other to create a moving wall.

Front 15

Persian Wars

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The wars between Greece and the Persian Empire,which began in Ionia on the coast of Anatolia.

Front 16

Direct democracy

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A form of government in which citizens ruledirectly and not through their representatives.

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Classical art

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Art in which the values of harmony, order, balance, andproportion became the standard.

Front 18

Tragedy

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A serious drama about common themes such as love, hate, war,or betrayal. These dramas featured a main character, or a tragic hero.

Front 19

Comedy

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Contained scenes filled with slapsticksituations and crude humor. Playwrights often made fun of politics andrespected people and ideas of the time.

Front 20

Peloponnesian War

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The war in which the Athenians and Spartans went againsteach other after Athens grew too wealthy and prestigious, as well as powerful.The war began in 431 B.C., when Sparta declared war on Athens.

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Philosopher

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Greek thinkers who were known as “lovers of wisdom”.

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Socrates

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A critic of the Sophists who believed that absolutestandards did exist for truth and justice. He encouraged Greeks to go fatherand question themselves and their moral character. Plato- A student of Socrates, he wrote down the conversationsof Socrates. Sometime in the 370s, he wrote his most famous work, The Republic,in which he set forth his vision of a perfectly governed society.

Front 23

Aristotle

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A philosopher who questioned the nature of the world and ofhuman belief, thought, and knowledge. He came close to summarizing all theknowledge up to his time.

Front 24

Philip II

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Ruler of the kingdom of Macedonia. He dreamed oftaking control of Greece and then moving against Persia to seize its vastwealth.

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Macedonia

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A kingdom located just north of Greece, it had rough terrainand a cold climate. The Macedonians were a hardy people who lived in mountainvillages rather than city-states.

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Alexander the Great

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Son of King Philip II who became king of Macedonia after hisfather was stabbed to death by a former guardsman. His accomplishments over thenext 13 years would grant him the title of “the great”.

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Darius III

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A Persian King who vowed to crush Alexander’s army after hisvictory at Granicus. He raised an army between 50,000 and 75,000 men to facethe Macedonians.

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Hellenistic

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A culturethat came as a result of a blending of Egyptian, Persian, and Indianinfluences.

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Alexandria

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An Egyptian city which became the foremostcenter of commerce and Hellenistic civilization.

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Euclid

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A highly regarded mathematician who taught inAlexandria. His best-known book, Elements, contained 465 carefully presentedgeometry propositions and proofs.

Front 31

Archimedes

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Another important Hellenistic scientist,accurately estimated the value of pi, and also explained the law of the lever.

Front 32

Colossus of Rhodes

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The largest known Hellenistic statue was created on theisland of Rhodes. Stood more than 100 feet high and was made out of bronze,also one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. An earthquake circa 225 B.Ctoppled the statue, and it’s bronze was sold for scrap.