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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. Challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was turned into a spider for her excessive pride
Cerberus
Romulus and Remus
Arachne
omniscient
2. Good-humored & jolly (ancient astrologers thought that the planet Jupiter fostered cheerfulness)
Demeter/Ceres
Jove
Golden Fleece
jovial
3. 'After death'
post mortem
Theseus
I (Roman numeral)
Ithaca
4. 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
apple of discord
the furies
Hydra
semper fidelis
5. 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
Sisyphus
Cyclops
Apollo/Apollo
Theseus
6. Festival of Saturn held on December 17th & during which social roles were temporarily reversed (slaves enjoyed relaxed discipline & etc)
Mt. Parnassus
terra firma
Cyclops
Saturnalia
7. Goddess of the hunt
sedentary
fasces
fresco
Artemis/Diana
8. 'in the year of the Lord &' designating the time period after Christ's birth
Carthage
A.D./anno Domini
Hades/Pluto
labyrinth
9. 'To infinity &' to continue forever & without limit
Sisyphus
Hermes/Mercury
Palatine Hill
ad infinitum
10. The wife of Odysseus; a model of faithfulness to one's husband
Hector
Penelope
in loco parentis
Mt. Vesuvius
11. 'by mouth' - used on prescription medicines that have to be taken orally
Persephone/Proserpina
Helen
L (Roman numeral)
p.o./ per os
12. God of the sun & light & reason & and the lyre
P.S./post scriptum
Colosseum
Apollo/Apollo
Excelsior!
13. 'With highest honors' graduating from college in the highest grade scale
consul
et tu & Brute?
p.o./ per os
summa cum laude
14. 'Word for word'
magnum opus
Styx
verbatim
Hector
15. 'for the sake of an example' - abbreviation used when providing an example
e.g./exempli gratia
per capita
Hydra
the Fates
16. 'I came & I saw & I conquered &' famous words of Julius Caesar
mosaic
marathon
veni & vidi & vici
verbatim
17. Refers to an action or condition necessary for something to happen
ambrosia and nectar
tempus fugit
sine qua non
vice versa
18. Literally 'the greatest bridge' -- the chief priest of Roman religion (later & the emperor took on this role); now used to refer to the Pope & the head of the Catholic Church
the Fates
sedentary
pontifex maximus
Parthenon
19. Religion in Which many gods are worshipped (from Greek poly 'many' and theoi 'gods')
Ge/Gaea
polytheism
Aegean Sea
tribune
20. The 15th of March & the day in 44 BC Julius Caesar was assassinated
Saturnalia
Ides of March
status quo
Tiber
21. Gladiator who led an uprising of slaves against the Romans in the 1st c. BC
Excelsior!
Spartacus
A.D./anno Domini
errare humanum est
22. Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the responsibilities of a parent
rostra
Ph.D./Philosophiae Doctor
in loco parentis
Ariadne
23. A state of disorganized matter from which the gods and the world were created
Aegean Sea
Chaos
Poseidon/Neptune
Hades/Pluto
24. First emperor of the Roman Empire; adopted son of Julius Caesar; member of the 2nd Triumvirate; also known as Octavian
Augustus
Etruscans
N.B./nota bene
Achilles' heel
25. The ferryman for the river Styx going into the underworld
Charon
Cronus/Saturn
Icarus & Daedalus
Penelope
26. Mother Earth; the wife of Uranus & the sky; she gave birth to the Titans & the Cyclopes & and the Hundred-Handed Ones
Minotaur
Ariadne
D (Roman numeral)
Ge/Gaea
27. Greek island in the Ionian Sea; the home of Odysseus
Chaos
Ithaca
SPQR
Tantalus
28. 'horn of plenty' a symbol of food and abundance
Trojan Horse
cornucopia
pontifex maximus
consul
29. Spirits who carry out curses and torture for wrongdoing toward one's family member (s)
the furies
fasces
via
Mt. Vesuvius
30. 'per day'
atrium
SPQR
per diem
Penelope
31. 'Time flies/flees'
SPQR
status quo
Eros/Cupid
tempus fugit
32. Perseus slayed Medusa the Gorgon
Perseus & Medusa
ego
Orpheus & Eurydice
valedictorian
33. Eurydice died on their wedding day. Orpheus went down to the Underworld to bring her back. Hades agreed & on the condition that Eurydice would follow behind Orpheus on their way up to the mortal world and he couldn't check to make sure She was behind
p.o./ per os
Uranus
Orpheus & Eurydice
Cerberus
34. The technical biological term for the human species
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35. A mural painted directly onto wet plaster (fresco means 'fresh' in Italian)
fresco
Mt. Vesuvius
Paris
cornucopia
36. Out of her curiosity & she opened a box containing all the bad things in the world; she put the lid on just in time & so that hope did not escape from the box & too
Hephaestus/Vulcan
Pandora
marathon
Pantheon
37. 'Always prepared'
Hestia/Vesta
SPQR
semper paratus
per annum
38. The golden wool of a ram sought by Jason and the Argonauts
aqueduct
Golden Fleece
Penelope
A.M./ante meridiem
39. Blind poet Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey
ambrosia and nectar
I (Roman numeral)
tempus fugit
Homer
40. A picture made from small bits of glass or pottery
A.M./ante meridiem
mosaic
sedentary
Penelope
41. 'my fault' ; tua culpa -'your fault'
magnum opus
Aegean Sea
mea culpa
Ge/Gaea
42. 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)
Priam
Hephaestus/Vulcan
paterfamilias
Cronus/Saturn
43. 'And others'
A.D./anno Domini
et al./ et alii
Hector
Styx
44. Usually referring to Julius Caesar & the Roman dictator Who was assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15th) 44 BCE
iota
Caesar
Aegean Sea
Hydra
45. 'And the rest' usually seen at the end of a list of things & instead of listing everything
etc./et cetera
terra firma
V (Roman numeral)
Augustus
46. 'After death'
post mortem
Helen
Cronus/Saturn
Ariadne
47. '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.
Colosseum
Pegasus
Atlas
sic semper tyrannis
48. Maze under the palace of Palace of Minos at Crete & where the Minotaur (half man & half bull) was thought to have been imprisoned
labyrinth
Homer
semper paratus
Sicily
49. 'before midday &' in the morning & before noon
ego
tempus fugit
A.M./ante meridiem
Delphic Oracle
50. 'That is' used for further explanation: 'in other words...'
Aphrodite/Venus
Persephone/Proserpina
muses
i.e./id est