What the Hellas was I Thinking? Quiz

Answer: Pythagoras

The belief that every celestial body produces a distinct tone became the basis for the "harmony of the spheres." Pythagoreans believed in a rather complicated numerology system. The number one (.) stood for unity and was represented by a dot. Number two (//) was female because it could be divided; male (///) could not be divided, so it was represented by the number three. Four (X) stood for justice because it was a perfect square, and five, the union of two plus three stood for love.

Answer: Hippocrates

Hippocrates made medicine a profession. He separated religion from illness at a time when people thought they became sick because the gods were punishing them. Known for his professionalism and his gentle treatment of patients, he was the first to describe many diseases and medical conditions.

He believed, however, that body humors - blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm - caused illness if they were out of balance. This belief carried through until the Middle Ages, when doctors would commonly "bleed" patients in order to "restore body balance".

Answer: water

Thales was a member of a group of early philosophers who were looking for primal stuff - the basic thing of which everything is made. They were looking for an explanation in nature, rather than the supernatural. Some believed that primal stuff was air, fire, or earth. Finally Democritus came up with the atomic theory, which is still accepted today.

Answer: Pericles

The name of Pericles' first wife is unknown, but together they did have two sons. When their marriage dissolved, Pericles fell in love with Aspasia. They did not marry, and she became his mistress. Together they had one son, Pericles the Younger, who, according to Athenian law, could never become a citizen.

Although women could not participate in government, they did pass on citizenship if they were a native born Athenian. The law required that citizens be born to native Athenian parents. In fact, Pericles himself had proposed the law - and then had to ask for it to be repealed. Sadly, Pericles soon died of the plague, and his son (a noncitizen then a citizen) was executed during the Peloponnesian War.

Answer: Socrates

After making some of the wisest men of Athens look foolish, Socrates was accused of misleading the youth and undermining religious beliefs. At the trial, his defense apparently showed that he actually believed the right time had come for him to die. Socrates believed that no true philosopher was afraid of death.

When friends suggested that he should leave the city he replied that he had agreed to live under the city's laws and fleeing would break his contract with the city.

Answer: Cleon

Cleon was a very persuasive speaker, and after the death of Pericles there was no one in the Athenian Assembly who could counter his arguments. The order to massacre the people of Mytilene was rescinded the next day when the Assembly met again to reconsider their decision.

He also advocated a more aggressive policy in war with Sparta, which had a disastrous affect on all of Greece. The Greek historian Thucydides believed that under Cleon's leadership, the spirit that had made Athens great had begun to deteriorate.

Answer: Thucydides

During the Peloponnesian War, Sparta besieged Amphipolis, an Athenian colony. Thucydides was a general in charge of seven Athenian ships, who arrived too late to save the city. He was tried, found guilty, and ostracized for twenty years. Using this unique opportunity to travel and collect information, Thucydides wrote "The History of the Peloponnesian War", taking care to gather correct information and check the reliability of sources.

Answer: Aeschylus

Aeschylus was from Eleusis and was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries cult of Demeter, which was in existence for over two thousand years. Sworn to secrecy on penalty of death, initiates believed they would have divine power, as well as rewards in the afterlife. An angry mob tried to kill Aeschylus, and the only thing that saved him was his heroic service to Athens during the Persian Wars.

In fact, when he died his epitaph praised his success as a soldier, and didn't say anything about his contribution to theater.

Answer: Jason

Medea, often depicted as a priestess of Hecate or as a witch, was directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of several family members while assisting Jason. In spite of her sacrifice and the fact that she was the mother of his children, Jason left her to marry another woman.

The new wife was burned to death by a dress that Medea made; distraught and filled with hatred for her faithless husband, Medea also killed their sons.

Answer: Alcibiades

Alcibiades was born in Athens, but fled to Sparta, where he was, surprisingly, accepted as a strategic adviser. After making an enemy in Sparta (there was some kind of scandal involving the king's wife) he fled to Persia, and was an adviser to the satrap until he was recalled to Athens. Alcibiades eventually died while in exile in Asia Minor. About his teacher he once said, "Socrates is the only man in the world that can make me feel ashamed. Because there's no getting away from it, I know I ought to do the things he tells me to, and yet the moment I'm out of his sight I don't care what I do to keep in with the mob."