Headline News Trivia Quiz

Answer: Marathon

The battle of Marathon between the Athenians and their allies against the invading Persians, took place in August or September in 490 BC. The Persian army, under the leadership of Datis and Artaphernes, had occupied the Cyclades islands and destroyed the town of Eretria in Eoboea before camping on the plain of Marathon.

The Athenian army, under the leadership of Miltiades and aided with a small force from the city of Plataea, attacked from the flanks and managed to rout the Persian army. The battle of Salamis was fought in 480 BC during the second Persian invasion. Issus and Gaugamela were battles during Alexander's military campaign against the Persians.

Answer: Thermopylae

The battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC. 300 Spartans, 400 Thebans and 700 Thespians blocked the pass at Thermopylae to prevent the invading Persian army from moving towards the south of Greece. The Greek forces initially managed to hold off the greatly superior Persian forces. Unfortunately the Persians, aided by a local goat herd, managed to find a mountain path that by-passed the pass and attacked the Greek forces from behind.

The Spartans and their allies fought to the last man. The battle of Plataea was fought in 479 BC during the same Persian invasion, and the battles of Megara and Mantinea occurred during the Peloponnesian war.

Answer: Aristophanes

Aristophanes (446-386 BC) was an Athenian comedy writer who, with his comedies, satirised leading people and their works. "Lysistrata" was written towards the end of the Peloponnesian war and deals with a woman's attempt to stop the war by persuading the Athenian women to stop having sex with their husbands. All options are Athenian writers. Menander wrote comedies, Euripides and Aeschylus wrote tragedies.

Answer: Sophocles

Sophocles,one of the three major Athenian tragedy writers, was born in Athens in 497 BC. "Oedipus at Colonus" was one his Theban tragedies dealing with Oedipus and Antigone. Sophocles died in 406 BC and his last work was produced by his grandson, also named Sophocles, during the festival of Dionysus in 401 BC. Menander was an Athenian comedy writer, Plautus and Terence were Roman dramatists.

Answer: Pericles

The famous Athenian politician and military leader, Pericles, lived in Athens in the 5th century BC (495 - 429 BC). During his leadership Athens reached great heights in the arts and literature. The temples that we now can see in Acropolis were built during his lifetime. Socrates was a philosopher, Theseus was the legendary Athenian hero and Miltiades the winner of the battle at Marathon.

Answer: Socrates

The great philosopher Socrates was accused "of denying the gods recognised by the state and corrupting the youth" and was sentenced to death. The death sentence was carried out by Socrates himself by drinking a cup of hemlock. Plato was one of Socrates' students and he wrote a lot of books about Socrates and his teachings; Solon was one of the seven ancient wise men and Draco was an Athenian law giver.

Answer: Thebes

In July 371 BC the Boeotian forces under the leadership of Thebes met the Spartan forces at the village of Leuctra in Boeotia. Epaminondas was the leader of the cavalry and Pelopidas was the leader of the Sacred Band of Thebes. The Spartan forces and their allies were soundly beaten and Sparta's hegemony over Greece was shattered.

Answer: Philip II

Philip II was the father of Alexander the Great. He was king from 359 BC until his death. His name means "friend of horses". Philip, after a lot of fiercely fought battles, managed to unite all the Greek city-states by forming the League of Corinth in 337 BC.

He was elected by the league as the leader of the intended invasion against the Persians. In 336 BC he was murdered by one of his bodyguards during the wedding festivities of his daughter Cleopatra with king Alexander of Epirus. Alcetas was an early Macedonian king (576-547 BC), Cecrops and Erechteus were ancient kings of Athens.

Answer: Granicus

Granicus was the site of the first major battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian Empire. It was fought in Asia Minor near the river with the same name in May 334 BC. The battle of Hydaspes River was fought by Alexander in 326 BC, the battles at Sphacteria and Tanagra were fought during the Peloponnesian war.

Answer: Archimedes

Archimedes was a mathematician, engineer and astronomer. He was born in Syracuse in 287 BC and studied mathematics in Alexandria. During the siege of Syracuse by the Romans, Archimedes caused a lot of damage to the Roman naval and land forces. He was killed by a Roman soldier while he was drawing geometrical patterns in the sand. Anaximander was a philosopher from Miletus, Herodotus and Thucydides were Athenian historians.