Ninth Graders' Ancient Greece: 1 Quiz

Answer: pentathlon

This event was composed of five events: Wrestling, running, discus, javelin, and jumping. The name comes from the Greek "pente" meaning "five".

Answer: agora

The agora was the center of Greek city life. Here one could purchase goods, listen to philosophers, and learn the latest gossip.

Answer: strategoi

These strategoi could be elected multiple times. Pericles was one such strategos.

Answer: archon

Each archon had different duties. For example:
The Basileus Archon presided over the law courts, arranged religious sacrifices and the renting of temple land, and supervised festivals and feasts.
The Eponymous Archon chose the men who financed the choral and drama contests.
He was also responsible for lawsuits about inheritance and the affairs of heiresses, orphans and widows.
The Polemarch Archon was in charge of athletic contests held to commemorate men killed in battle. He also dealt with the legal affairs of metics.

Answer: oligarchy

This system of government was instituted during the Archaic Period in Greece when the aristocrats were too unpopular and they chose popular people to rule in their stead.

Answer: polis

By the Archaic Period, mainland Greece was made up of a cluster of small city-states, politically independent of each other. The word the Greeks used for a city-state was "polis" - which is the origin of our word "politics". Although these states were often rivals, and sometimes fought wars against each other, they shared the same Greek identity - a common language, culture, and religion - which created strong links between them.

Answer: comedy

It was a forerunner to modern comedy shows like "Saturday Night Live".

Answer: apella

The Council's proposals had to be passed by the Assembly, or apella, which was made up of all citizens over 30. Experts think that the Assembly probably could not debate or amend anything: they could only vote for or against measures.
They did this by shouting "yes" or "no", and the loudest group won.

Answer: gymnasium

There were three types of school in Ancient Greece.
1. At the first, the boys were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic by a teacher called a grammatistes.
2. At the second school, poetry and music were taught by a teacher called a kitharistes. Boys had to learn pieces of poetry by heart, and were taught musical instruments, such as the lyre and the pipes.
3. At the third school, boys were taught dancing and athletics by a man called a paidotribes. Boys took part in competitive games at a training ground called a gymnasium.

Answer: democracy

At the end of the Archaic Period, some Greek cities overthrew their tyrants and replaced them with a radical new form of government.
The new system - which provided a model for political systems in the modern world - was called democracy, from the Greek words demos (people), and kratos (rule).
However, in Ancient Greek democracies only citizens had a say, and citizenship was restricted. Women, slaves and men born outside the city were all excluded.