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Test your basic knowledge |
Classical Literacy
Start Test
Study First
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. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome
e.g./exempli gratia
Zeus/Jupiter
Excelsior!
Circus Maximus
2. 'before midday &' in the morning & before noon
Dionysus/Bacchus
e pluribus unum
p.o./ per os
A.M./ante meridiem
3. The ferryman for the river Styx going into the underworld
Charon
cornucopia
C (Roman numeral)
Dionysus/Bacchus
4. 500
magnanimous
sine qua non
D (Roman numeral)
aqueduct
5. 1000
aqueduct
et al./ et alii
labyrinth
M (Roman numeral)
6. A teacher Who is like a parent; comes from the Mentor & Odysseus' old friend & whom he left in charge of his son Telemachus when he went off to the Trojan War
pontifex maximus
mentor
Iliad
Eros/Cupid
7. A state of disorganized matter from which the gods and the world were created
Athena/Minerva
Chaos
Trojan Horse
the furies
8. Sorceress & wife of Jason; killed their children to get revenge on Jason for leaving her
rara avis
Medea
Pantheon
Odysseus/Ulysses
9. God of the sea
Hercules/Heracles
Poseidon/Neptune
summa cum laude
quid pro quo
10. 'To infinity &' to continue forever & without limit
Cronus/Saturn
Mt. Parnassus
ad infinitum
P.M./post meridiem
11. God of the sea
e pluribus unum
Poseidon/Neptune
sub rosa
Etruscans
12. The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the Underworld
Charon
Palatine Hill
Cerberus
X (Roman numeral)
13. '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.
sic semper tyrannis
in loco parentis
verbatim
Colosseum
14. Daughter of Demeter; kidnapped by Hades to make her his queen
Persephone/Proserpina
vice versa
Chaos
carpe diem
15. 'Always prepared'
et tu & Brute?
semper paratus
vice versa
Elysian Fields/Elysium
16. 'per head' 'per person'
per capita
consul
marathon
sic transit gloria mundi
17. The Underworld; in early mythology & everyone went to Tartarus after they died; in later mythology & only bad people went to Tartarus after they died
rara avis
A.M./ante meridiem
pax vobiscum
Tartarus
18. The plebs were the free but non-aristocratic citizens of Rome; today & plebeian means 'of a low class'
p.o./ per os
Sisyphus
jovial
plebeian
19. 'my fault' ; tua culpa -'your fault'
Augustus
mea culpa
Spartacus
Cyclops
20. 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
papyrus
per capita
finis
per annum
21. After midday/noon
Hector
verbatim
P.M./post meridiem
Gorgons
22. King punished in Tartarus by having to roll a stone up a hill continuously for eternity; when he reached the top & the stone rolled to the bottom again
Persephone/Proserpina
aqueduct
puerile
Sisyphus
23. 'That is' used for further explanation: 'in other words...'
quid pro quo
Aphrodite/Venus
Jason
i.e./id est
24. 'one out of many' - found on most US minted coins and the back of the dollar bill
mellifluous
Hera/Juno
e pluribus unum
Aphrodite/Venus
25. 10
omniscient
post mortem
X (Roman numeral)
Dionysus/Bacchus
26. Religion in Which many gods are worshipped (from Greek poly 'many' and theoi 'gods')
polytheism
Cerberus
Homer
verbatim
27. Lived in the Labyrinth; fed off of Athenian youths; killed by Theseus
Minotaur
Palatine Hill
magnum opus
Etruscans
28. The king of the gods; god of thunder and lightning
Zeus/Jupiter
p.o./ per os
mea culpa
M (Roman numeral)
29. One-eyed children of Ouranos/Uranus and Gaea (Mother Earth); sided with Zeus during the war with the Titans; were helpers of the smith-god Hephaestus
via
omniscient
atrium
Cyclops
30. The god of the sky; created the Titans with Gaia & Mother Earth
Jason
Atlas
Cerberus
Uranus
31. Speaker's platform in the forum & which was decorated with the prows of ships the Romans captured in war (rostrum means 'beak & prow of a ship')
errare humanum est
rostra
Circus Maximus
homo sapiens- 'wise man'
32. 1
Cyclops
Tiber
I (Roman numeral)
Achilles' heel
33. A town on the western coast of Italy destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuius in AD 79
the furies
patrician
Pompeii
A.D./anno Domini
34. Greek island in the Ionian Sea; the home of Odysseus
Jove
Hydra
Ithaca
mores
35. Gladiator who led an uprising of slaves against the Romans in the 1st c. BC
patrician
N.B./nota bene
Spartacus
Gorgons
36. 'under penalty' a written order for a person to come testify in court
the Odyssey
sub poena
the Odyssey
ad nauseam
37. 'doctor/teacher of philosophy' - an advanced academic degree
Ph.D./Philosophiae Doctor
mosaic
terra incognita
Chaos
38. Inventor who created the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived
Sisyphus
Nike/Victoria
Daedalus
Mt. Vesuvius
39. 'To the point of sickness' - doing/saying something over and over until everyone is sick and tired of it
Achilles' heel
ad nauseam
Hephaestus/Vulcan
Aphrodite/Venus
40. 'I'
et al./ et alii
Icarus & Daedalus
Hydra
ego
41. Sea to the west of Greece; named after King Aegeus after he drowned himself in the sea thinking his son Theseus was dead
Aegean Sea
Theseus
D (Roman numeral)
mosaic
42. 'The things that must be done' - a to-do list
Arachne
Ithaca
tribune
agenda
43. 'Higher!' -- the state motto of New York
Excelsior!
pax vobiscum
mores
labor vincit omnia
44. 'unknown land'
cave canem
status quo
Gorgons
terra incognita
45. King of Ithaca who came up with the idea of using the Trojan horse to defeat the city of Troy; hero of the Odyssey
Cyclops
pontifex maximus
errare humanum est
Odysseus/Ulysses
46. Volcano which erupted in AD 79 and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum
Mt. Vesuvius
pro tempore
Pantheon
Excelsior!
47. Site of the Apollo's oracle at Delphi; home of the Muses
Persephone/Proserpina
Mt. Parnassus
Elysian Fields/Elysium
Gorgons
48. 'from the office &' 'by right of office' - used to refer to someone Who is a member of a group (a board & committee & council & etc.) because they hold another office/position
Aphrodite/Venus
cornucopia
Uranus
ex officio
49. 'That is' used for further explanation: 'in other words...'
i.e./id est
sub rosa
e.g./exempli gratia
per diem
50. In early mythology & the resting place of heroes; the later mythology & where good people went in the afterlife
Daedalus
Mt. Parnassus
the furies
Elysian Fields/Elysium