SUBJECTS
|
BROWSE
|
CAREER CENTER
|
POPULAR
|
JOIN
|
LOGIN
Business Skills
|
Soft Skills
|
Basic Literacy
|
Certifications
About
|
Help
|
Privacy
|
Terms
|
Email
Search
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. 'firm ground/solid earth'
rostra
terra firma
the Odyssey
Elysian Fields/Elysium
2. The daughter of king Minos of Crete & who helped Theseus escape from the labyrinth after he killed the minotaur
Ariadne
Pandora
Hector
V (Roman numeral)
3. The arena for gladiatorial games in Rome (also known as the Flavian Amphitheater)
Colosseum
Charon
Pegasus
in loco parentis
4. King of Ithaca who came up with the idea of using the Trojan horse to defeat the city of Troy; hero of the Odyssey
Odysseus/Ulysses
Minotaur
Theseus
L (Roman numeral)
5. 'I refuse &' used by the president of the US to stop any bill he sees unfit from passing
L (Roman numeral)
M (Roman numeral)
veto
I (Roman numeral)
6. 'The things that must be done' - a to-do list
Sisyphus
Minotaur
agenda
Ithaca
7. Figuratively 'secretly.' Aphrodite gave her son Eros a rose. Eros gave it to Harpocrates & the god of silence & to ensure that his mother's love affairs remained a secret.
Theseus
sub rosa
Hephaestus/Vulcan
consul
8. 'And you & Brutus?' famous last words of Julius Caesar as the Senate members assassinated him; Brutus was supposed to be a friend of his & but had a hand in the killing
per capita
etc./et cetera
V (Roman numeral)
et tu & Brute?
9. 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
Pandora
Zeus/Jupiter
consul
agenda
10. '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
Colosseum
carpe diem
mores
11. The ferryman for the river Styx going into the underworld
I (Roman numeral)
ex officio
Charon
polytheism
12. 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
Athena/Minerva
Athens/Acropolis
agenda
fasces
13. Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the responsibilities of a parent
in loco parentis
atrium
post mortem
ambrosia and nectar
14. 100
C (Roman numeral)
Parthenon
Persephone/Proserpina
patrician
15. Epic poem written by Home chronicling the Trojan War
per capita
Pax Romana
Daedalus
Iliad
16. Refers to an action or condition necessary for something to happen
ego
sine qua non
fresco
Tartarus
17. First emperor of the Roman Empire; adopted son of Julius Caesar; member of the 2nd Triumvirate; also known as Octavian
Arachne
veto
Augustus
the Odyssey
18. 'The other way around'
epic
ex libris
vice versa
Tantalus
19. 5
V (Roman numeral)
Jason
sine qua non
toga
20. Inventor who created the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived
Ge/Gaea
Persephone/Proserpina
Daedalus
Sisyphus
21. Kingdom in Asia Minor which fought against Greece in Homer's Iliad
Hestia/Vesta
Theseus
terra firma
Troy
22. Used on documents & coins & monuments & etc. as an official signature of the Roman government
SPQR
Dionysus/Bacchus
marathon
I (Roman numeral)
23. Market place/business center
etc./et cetera
Palatine Hill
agora/forum
semper fidelis
24. 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
rostra
Paris
the furies
in toto
25. 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')
Romulus and Remus
mores
the furies
rostra
26. Site of the Apollo's oracle at Delphi; home of the Muses
iota
Hermes/Mercury
Hector
Mt. Parnassus
27. Goddess of the hearth
Hestia/Vesta
Pan
the furies
carpe diem
28. Market place/business center
agora/forum
rara avis
Jove
Persephone/Proserpina
29. 'A rare bird' - something unique/rare
Demeter/Ceres
the Odyssey
post mortem
rara avis
30. Goddess of the hunt
in loco parentis
Pax Romana
Artemis/Diana
Jason
31. Usually referring to Julius Caesar & the Roman dictator Who was assassinated on the Ides of March (March 15th) 44 BCE
Romulus and Remus
Artemis/Diana
e.g./exempli gratia
Caesar
32. Lived in the Labyrinth; fed off of Athenian youths; killed by Theseus
Charon
Minotaur
mea culpa
semper paratus
33. A picture made from small bits of glass or pottery
Pax Romana
Prometheus
mosaic
etc./et cetera
34. Victorious athletes & generals & and emperors wore crowns of made of the branches of the laurel tree to symbolize their victory; now & 'laurels' refer to someone's achievements
in toto
Poseidon/Neptune
pax vobiscum
laurels
35. 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
Cyclops
Ph.D./Philosophiae Doctor
status quo
Aphrodite/Venus
36. The people in control of the Italian peninsula before Rome began to spread
mea culpa
labyrinth
i.e./id est
Etruscans
37. 1000
Ge/Gaea
M (Roman numeral)
Persephone/Proserpina
Ithaca
38. Female monsters who had snakes for hair and whose horrifying gaze could turn a man to stone if he looked at them (Medusa was one of the Gorgons)
laurels
Delphic Oracle
Gorgons
post mortem
39. 'from the library of' used as an inscription on a bookplate to show the name of the book's owner: ex libris Mark Twain.
SPQR
pro tempore
ex libris
terra incognita
40. 'To the point of sickness' - doing/saying something over and over until everyone is sick and tired of it
summa cum laude
ad nauseam
magnanimous
Pantheon
41. 'boyish &' 'childlike' (from puer- boy)
Cyclops
Hestia/Vesta
Colosseum
puerile
42. 'To infinity &' to continue forever & without limit
pax vobiscum
fasces
cornucopia
ad infinitum
43. 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
Ares/Mars
Troy
Orpheus & Eurydice
44. Doctor of medicine
Colosseum
Pandora
mosaic
M.D./Medicinae Doctor
45. 'Always faithful' - motto of the US Marines
semper fidelis
agora/forum
per diem
ex officio
46. 'before midday &' in the morning & before noon
Iliad
Nike/Victoria
sine qua non
A.M./ante meridiem
47. 'beware of the dog'
Athens/Acropolis
cave canem
i.e./id est
Punic Wars
48. A king Who was tortured in the Underworld by having water and grapes within his reach & but the water and grapes pulled away whenever he went to take drink or a bite
mosaic
M (Roman numeral)
Tantalus
ad nauseam
49. 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
Sisyphus
Hector
mentor
etc./et cetera
50. 'great work'
A.D./anno Domini
Pantheon
Gorgons
magnum opus