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Greece Test 2 Study Guide Name ____________________________
DINNER
In ancient Greece dinner was often spent with GUESTS who would have their SANDALS removed and feet
washed by slaves. After the main course which was usually FISH, or MEAT, if the family was rich, dessert
would be eaten. One of the Greeks’ favorite desserts was CHEESECAKE. After dessert they would
DANCE, TALK, and play games.
WORK
Ancient Greeks were usually FARMERS or SHOPKEEPERS who sold their goods at the marketplace or
AGORA. Name two things that you might over-hear at the agora. SHOUTING AND BARGAINING OVER
PRICES POLITICAL DISCUSSIONS. The Greeks exported things like WINE, OIL, WOOL,
MINERALS, MARBLE, and works of ART. They had to import things like NUTS, METALS, LUXURY
goods, and GRAIN.
METICS or foreigners living in Athens were often SHOPKEEPERS, MERCHANTS, BANKERS, AND
ARTISTS. Most of the difficult work was done by SLAVES who were often PRISONERS of war. They
worked as SERVANTS in the home, ARTISANS in shops, TEACHERS, business MANAGERS, or in slave
GANGS at the state-owned SILVER mines. During the Golden Age of Athens about 100,000 people were
slaves. Slaves and metics were needed so that citizens could spend their time running the GOVERNMENT,
conducting or training for WAR, READING, exercising in the GYMNASIUM, or THINKING about life.
HOMES
Most citizens lived in homes built close together on NARROW streets. These homes were made of SUNDRIED bricks. The rooms faced a courtyard where there was usually an ALTAR to their family god. These
houses had WINDOWS with shudders on the second floor. The houses had very SIMPLE (LITTLE)
furniture inside.
FAMILY
Like many other civilizations that we have studied, Greek homes had EXTENDED families living in them.
Athenian women rarely ever left their HOME. Their main job was to manage the HOUSEHOLD which
meant RAISING the kids, keeping the SLAVES in line, and managing the money.
EDUCATION
Athenian law forced parents to educate their sons but did not provide public SCHOOLING Therefore, boys
went to PRIVATE school from age 6 to 16. There they learned READING, WRITING, ARITHMATIC,
music, and GYMNASTICS. Gymnastics was very important because citizens needed TO BE FIT FOR
WAR. Gymnastics included WRESTLING, SWIMMING, using the BOW, and using the SLING. Girls
stayed at HOME where they learned from their mothers or slaves. They were taught reading, writing, and
arithmetic, as well as how to SPIN and weave, dance, sing, and play an instrument. At eighteen, young men
became CITIZENS. They learned MUSIC, RHETORIC, LITERATURE, and GEOMETRY. Rhetoric is the
art of SPEAKING and WRITING effectively. At twenty-one a Greek citizen could choose to continue his
education by hiring a SOPHIST or traveling teacher. A young man would learn rhetoric, grammar, LOGIC,
and PHILOSOPHY at this time. Sometimes, if his family wasn’t wealthy, the youngster would have to work
at night in order to pay for this SOPHIST.
SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS
In the area of astronomy there were many famous Greeks. Many of them lived in the Egyptian center of
learning and culture ALEXANDRIA. ERATOSTHENES found a way to estimate the circumference of the
earth. ARISTARCHUS believed that the earth revolves around the sun. PTOLEMY on the other hand
believed that the earth was the center.
Geometry was the specialty of EUCLID. His famous book ELEMENTS is still used worldwide today.
ARCHIMEDES explained the lever and developed the compound PULLEY. HYPATIA was a female
astronomer and mathematician.
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Greece Test 2 Study Guide Name ____________________________
PHILOSOPHERS
Philosopher means “lover of WISDOM (THE TRUTH)” One of the first and greatest philosophers was
SOCRATES who had many followers, one of whom was PLATO. He would walk around the AGORA in
Athens asking questions to anyone around him. His influence may have helped the brilliant Plato choose
philosophy over POETRY and POLITICS as a career choice. Perhaps he decided after contemplating
Socrates’ famous line “KNOW THYSELF”. Since Socrates did not write, much of what we know about him
comes from Plato’s DIALOGUES which were conversations between Socrates and others. From these
writings the SOCRATIC METHOD of questioning has evolved. In 399 B.C., Socrates was tried and
sentenced to death for teaching the YOUNG to think and question too much. At the trial Socrates put on no
real defense and refused to give in to earn his freedom. He could have brought up the fact that Athens had
the concept of freedom of SPEECH. Secondly, he could have admitted to the wrongdoing and agree to live
out the rest of his life outside of Athens. Thirdly, there is much evidence that he could have escaped captivity
with the help of his many friends and students. Above everything though, Socrates prided himself in being an
ATHENIAN and refused to cave in. He drank poisoned HEMLOCK as his punishment. In about 387 B.C.,
Plato founded the great ACADEMY which would be the center of learning in Greece for about 900 years. It
was named after the hero, AKADEMOS whose land it was built upon. One of Plato’s dialogues studied there
was THE REPUBLIC which was about the ideal society and government in Plato’s mind. His ideas have
greatly influenced the world since. The other important subject studied there was GEOMETRY. Plato’s most
famous student there was ARISTOTLT who developed LOGIC or scientific reasoning. He also added a step
to the SCIENTIFIC METHOD which the Greek scientist, THALES created. Aristotle also started to
CLASSIFY plants and animals according to their similarities. He also created the logic problem, the
SYLLOGISM.
GREEK THEATER
Athens was the home to the great theater of DIONYSUS. Theater began as a RELIGIOUS ceremony in
honor of this god of wine and merriment. Men dressed as GOATS would SING and DANCE. The first actor
to speak on stage was probably THESPIS from whose name we get the modern term for an actor. By this
time the theater was an extremely important part of every Athenian’s life. EVERYONE was allowed to come
to the open-air theater or AMPITHEATER which was at the base of the ACROPOLIS. Wealthy Athenians
would SPONSOR the production of the plays. Even the POOR would get in for free to see the plays that
would go from dawn to dusk. The festival and competitions would sometimes last an entire WEEK. Inside
the theater, the first few rows had STONE chairs for special dignitaries. The rest of the 20,000 capacity
theater was filled with stone ROWS in the shape of a SEMI-CIRLE. The acoustics in some of the theaters
was so good that it is said you could hear a PIN if it was dropped on stage.
Only MEN were allowed to play parts in the plays. They wore MASKS which showed the SEX, MOOD, and
AGE of their character. They also had funnel-shaped mouths so THEY COULD BE HEARD.
There were two types of plays. In the morning there was a TRAGEDY which literally means GOAT
SONG”. These were plays usually about some past myth in which a hero or god is faced with a terrible
DILEMMA. They sometimes had a happy ending but usually not. They were intended to teach citizens how
to live in a MORAL way.
Athens had three very famous tragedy writers during the Golden Age. Some of their works are still being
performed in theaters worldwide. AESCHYLUS or the father of tragedy wrote Orestia. He also fought in the
PERSIAN Wars. Sophocles was a friend of the very powerful PERICLES. He wrote ANTIGONE which is
about a sister’s predicament. When Sophocles died in 406 B.C. he was 90 years old. Euripides was the third
famous playwright of the era. He wrote THE WOMEN OF TROY. He also died in 406 B.C. In the afternoon
a COMEDY was performed. Why do you think they did the tragedy in the morning and comedy in the
afternoon? PEOPLE MIGHT BE SAD AND LEARN A LESSON IN THE AM, BUT THEN STILL GO
HOME HAPPY AND IN A GOOD MOOD AT NIGHT. The most famous writer of comedies was
ARISTOPHANES who usually poked fun at leaders like PERICLES or philosophers like SOCRATES.
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