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Classical Literacy

Subject : literacy
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Goddess of love






2. A state of disorganized matter from which the gods and the world were created






3. Was chosen by Zeus to settle the argument of Who was the fairest of the goddesses; he chose Aphrodite because she promised him the most beautiful woman in the world if he chose her






4. Good-humored & jolly (ancient astrologers thought that the planet Jupiter fostered cheerfulness)






5. A polis (city-state) in Greece & center of art and philosophy & named after Athena (its patron goddess); the Acropolis was the hill in Athens where many temples (including the Parthenon & the temple to Athena) were located






6. A polis (city-state) in Greece & center of art and philosophy & named after Athena (its patron goddess); the Acropolis was the hill in Athens where many temples (including the Parthenon & the temple to Athena) were located






7. The technical biological term for the human species


8. Goddess of love






9. 'Thus always & to tyrants.' Allegedly said by Brutus during the assassination of Caesar. John Wilkes Booth also shouted it after shooting President Lincoln. It is now the motto of Virginia.






10. 'The things that must be done' - a to-do list






11. 'one out of many' - found on most US minted coins and the back of the dollar bill






12. God of the Underworld/Tartarus






13. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome






14. 'The end'






15. 'A rare bird' - something unique/rare






16. 'under penalty' a written order for a person to come testify in court






17. 'horn of plenty' a symbol of food and abundance






18. A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant & used in sheets throughout the ancient Mediterranean world for writing or painting on






19. The three goddesses who determine a person's life: when he will be born & how long he will live & and when he will die; one sister spins the thread of life & the second measures out a certain length & and the third cuts it at the end of the person's






20. 'under penalty' a written order for a person to come testify in court






21. The Underworld; in early mythology & everyone went to Tartarus after they died; in later mythology & only bad people went to Tartarus after they died






22. God of war






23. King of Troy during the Trojan War; father of Hector and Paris; begged Achilles to give his son Hector's body back to be properly buried (Achilles had been dragging it around the city)






24. A serpent-like monster with many heads and poisonous breath; when one head got cut off & it grew two more; killed by Hercules as his second labor






25. The three goddesses who determine a person's life: when he will be born & how long he will live & and when he will die; one sister spins the thread of life & the second measures out a certain length & and the third cuts it at the end of the person's






26. The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the Underworld






27. 'per day'






28. The technical biological term for the human species


29. The male head of a Roman family






30. Titan who had to hold up the heavens on his shoulders as punishment for rebelling against Zeus






31. 'one out of many' - found on most US minted coins and the back of the dollar bill






32. Lived in the Labyrinth; fed off of Athenian youths; killed by Theseus






33. 'great-souled & high-minded'






34. The food of the gods; some believe it kept them immortal






35. 10






36. Another name for Zeus/Jupiter






37. Blind poet Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey






38. 'boyish &' 'childlike' (from puer- boy)






39. 1






40. 'That is' used for further explanation: 'in other words...'






41. Roman officials who were charged with protecting the people (the plebeians) from oppression; they were sacrosanct & meaning no one could harm them






42. 'great-souled & high-minded'






43. 'note well' i.e. take note






44. The river surrounding the Underworld






45. Sorceress & wife of Jason; killed their children to get revenge on Jason for leaving her






46. 1000






47. 'in the year of the Lord &' designating the time period after Christ's birth






48. 'my fault' ; tua culpa -'your fault'






49. Carthaginian general who attacked Italy by crossing the Italian Alps in the 2nd Punic War; He was eventually defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama






50. Goddess of childbirth; married to Zeus; queen of the gods