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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. A mural painted directly onto wet plaster (fresco means 'fresh' in Italian)






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






3. Maze under the palace of Palace of Minos at Crete & where the Minotaur (half man & half bull) was thought to have been imprisoned






4. Mother Earth; the wife of Uranus & the sky; she gave birth to the Titans & the Cyclopes & and the Hundred-Handed Ones






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






6. Goddess of the hunt






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






8. A modern day race of 26.2 miles; from Marathon in Greece & the scene of a victory over the Persians in 490 BC; the modern race is based on the tradition that a messenger ran from Marathon to Athens (26 miles) with the news.






9. The garment which signified a Roman man's citizenship






10. Titan best known for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans; He was punished by being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten by a bird everyday






11. 10






12. Writing after the body of a letter






13. 'great work'






14. The people in control of the Italian peninsula before Rome began to spread






15. Prince of Troy Who was killed by Achilles in the Iliad; Achilles tied Hector's dead body to the back of his chariot and dragged it around the city walls three times






16. 'Word for word'






17. God of the sun & light & reason & and the lyre






18. Epic poem written by Home chronicling the Trojan War






19. 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






20. 'note well' i.e. take note






21. 'The end'






22. '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.






23. 'for the time being' - temporary






24. Athenian prince who killed the Minotaur






25. Large island off the southeast coast of Italy; home of Mt. Etna & a huge volcano; where the Cyclopes lived in the Odyssey






26. 'before midday &' in the morning & before noon






27. Athenian prince who killed the Minotaur






28. 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






29. Spirits who carry out curses and torture for wrongdoing toward one's family member (s)






30. Prince of Troy Who was killed by Achilles in the Iliad; Achilles tied Hector's dead body to the back of his chariot and dragged it around the city walls three times






31. Market place/business center






32. 'peace be with you'






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






34. 'in memory of'






35. Kingdom in Asia Minor which fought against Greece in Homer's Iliad






36. Icarus was the son of Daedalus who flew too close to the sun with the wings his father made him from wax and feathers & and fell to his death






37. Literally & the apple that Eris (goddess of strife) threw in front of Hera & Aphrodite & and Athena to cause a dispute over Who was the fairest; figuratively & anything which causes a dispute






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






39. 'per head' 'per person'






40. God of love and desire; son of Aphrodite






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






42. 'To err is human' - in other words & it's normal to mess up






43. 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)






44. Homer's epic poem about Odysseus & kind of Ithaca & trying to find his way home from the Trojan War






45. 'great-souled & high-minded'






46. 'I'






47. A series of three wars between Rome and Carthage & a Phoenician city in Northern Africa & for control of the Mediterranean (264-146 BC)






48. Inventor who created the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived






49. 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






50. The daughter of king Minos of Crete & who helped Theseus escape from the labyrinth after he killed the minotaur