The Ancient Greek World Trivia Quiz

Answer: True

Attic Greek is still taught and is thought of as being "classical Greek". Homer wrote partly in Old Ionic and Aeolic. Doric Greek originated from the mountains of northwestern Greece and spread as a result of the Dorian migrations (sometimes called invasions) during in the 1150s BC in some areas of Greece and colonization in others.

Answer: The Archaic Period

The invasions of the Dorians was very destructive in ancient Greece, so much so that it caused the Greek Dark Ages, which was followed over time by the Archaic Period. The major achievement of the Archaic Period was the development of the polis, or city-state, which was the key political institution of the ancient Greeks.

A polis always consisted of an urban area and a rural area. Athens and Sparta are probably the best known of the over 1,000 ancient Greek city-states. During the Archaic Period culture, the arts, and trade also thrived.

Answer: Draco

Before Draco, Athens had been governed by oral law and violence. Draco codified the laws and posted them, creating the first constitution of Athens. The laws were harsh, "Draconian", but Athens was ruled by laws and a law court. The death penalty was used liberally, even for minor offenses. Most of Draco's laws were repealed a short time later, but he ended the cycle of revenge that previously had been used to settle disputes among the people.

Answer: Herodotus

Herodotus (c. 485-425 BC) was born in present day Turkey. He was fascinated by how the Greeks managed to defeat the Persians during the Persian Wars. In order to find the answer Herodotus traveled to Persia. History to him meant researching, investigating and interviewing. He wrote a long history about The Persian Wars in his most famous work, "The Histories" (c. 430 BC).

Answer: False

The Greeks invented philosophy, which is a Greek word meaning love of wisdom, as an intellectual discipline. Socrates taught Plato; Plato taught Aristotle. Socrates (470-399 B.C.) was apparently not a likeable person. He was smug, pompous, and cantankerous, but he was brilliant. Much of what we know of him comes from his most famous student, Plato. After one of his students defected to Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, he was put to death for corrupting his pupils by teaching about false gods and opposing the state religion.

Plato (429-347 B.C.) was one of Socrates' students. He focused on two issues: What is knowledge? and How is it obtained and retained? Plato was Aristotle's (384-322 B.C.) teacher. Aristotle based his ideas on observation and close study as opposed to pure thought. For Aristotle, the goal of life is happiness.

Answer: Sparta

The Athenians had a stronger navy, while the Spartans had the stronger army. The war was split into two phases. The Athenians won the first phase, which lasted for ten years, causing the Spartans to sue for peace. An uneasy peace lasted for six years until the Athenians attacked Sicily effectively ending it.

The second phase lasted eleven years. The attack was devastating for Athens, which saw its army and navy decimated.

Answer: Philip II

Philip II of Macedon (382-336 BC) was an ambitious, accomplished soldier, who in 338 BC defeated the Greeks in a decisive battle in which his 18 year-old son, Alexander, played a major part. Alexander (356-323 BC) became king when his father was murdered. During his 13 year reign Alexander managed to conquer the Persian Empire and beyond to India.

Answer: Demosthenes

Demosthenes (384-322 BC) was an Athenian. In his speeches he opposed the expansion of Macedonia. He played an important role in leading the Athenian uprising against Alexander the Great. When the uprising failed and Demosthenes committed suicide to avoid being captured.

Answer: The Hellenistic World

The Hellenistic World lasted from 332 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. It was a time of kingdoms and empires, not city-states. The arts and sciences became segregated during this period. It was a time of important scientific discovery by people such as Euclid (geometry), Archimedes (calculus), and Ptolemy (astronomy), to name but a few.

The arts were also prominent. Apollonius wrote of love and adventure. Menander wrote comical plays. The concentration was on how to live rather than how or what to know.

Answer: Epicurus

Epicureanism held that happiness was the absence of pain from body and soul and the conditions of life were not to be regretted, nor death to be feared. He urged withdrawal, avoidance of stress and avoidance of highs and lows. Epicurus began to develop his philosophy at age fourteen. Like Aristotle, he believed that all knowledge comes from the senses. On the entrance to his school in Athens were the words, "Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest goal is pleasure." Epicurus' definition of pleasure was to lead a life of quiet contemplation, eat and drink moderately, and avoid stress by forgoing the wants and worries of life.