Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. In 425 BC Athens sent out a fleet of ships to assist allies in Sicily and southern Italy. Athens named three commanders of the fleet, one of whom was a famous tragedy playwright. Who was this warrior-artist? Hint: Oedipus of Colonnus.
2. Also along with the fleet was another Athenian leader who proved to be one of the city's most resourceful and imaginative commanders during the war. Name him.
Hint: With a name like that, the "people" must have loved him.
3. As the Athenian fleet wound its way up the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese, another of the Athenian commanders, Demosthenes, wanted to stop, fortify and man a small, deserted and seemingly insignificant peninsula named Pylos. Why?
Hint: Think in politico-military, not economic, terms.
4. The Athenians began to fortify and man Pylos. What was the main Spartan army under King Agis doing at that time? Hint: Similar to slash and burn.
5. King Agis ignored the Athenian landing at Pylos.
6. The Spartans quickly assessed the situation and sent a force of around 420 hoplite warriors (heavy infantry)to a nearby, and by all appearances just as useless, island south of Pylos named what?
7. The Spartans had numerical superiority on both land and sea in the area and things appeared to be going their way, when they decided to attack Demosthenes' force on Pylos. What happened with the Spartan attack?
8. After the attack, things took a radical change in fortunes for the Athenians and Spartans. What happened next? Hint: Oopsy for the long-haired, red-caped guys who lived nearby.
9. With the Spartan force on Spacteria trapped, and the Athenian navy around, the Spartan government sent a very high level delegation to the area to assess the situation. Why was the Spartan government so worried about the small 420 man force on Sphacteria?
Hint: Think Spartan voting rights
10. A Spartan delegation quickly arrived at Pylos and asked for a temporary truce-- which was given with very strict terms. They then hurried off to Athens. What did the Spartan delegation ask for at Athens ?
11. One prominent Athenian hard-line politician rejected the Spartan offer for peace unless harsher demands were met. When the Spartans asked for some privacy to consider his demands, the Athenian hawk said no, that it must be done publicly, which the Spartans could not do for diplomatic reasons. Who was this implacable foe of Sparta?
Hint: It wasn't the tragedian and he did not have an "Age" named after him.
12. With peace talks in Athens at an end, the war back at Pylos and Sphacteria continued. What did the Athenians accuse the Spartans of?
13. The Athenian war hawk Cleon now joined Demosthenes as the other commander at Pylos/Sphacteria. After a fire destroyed the woods on Sphacteria and altered troop dispositions, Spartan troop numbers and terrain became more obvious to the Athenians, a land attack on the Spartans was pressed. What was the deciding factor in the outcome of the battle?
Hint: The Spartan spear was only 8 feet long and was generally not thrown.
14. When the Spartans surrendered at Sphacteria, what did the Athenian historian Thucydides say of this event in his history of the Peloponnesian War?
15. What became of Demosthenes' original master plan of confronting Sparta with a Messenian revolt from a base at Pylos?
Source: Author
Craterus
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bloomsby before going online.
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