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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. Challenged Athena to a weaving contest and was turned into a spider for her excessive pride






2. Writing after the body of a letter






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






4. 'This for that &' a fair trade






5. Literally refers to the heel of Achilles (a character from the Iliad who killed Hector)


6. The arena for gladiatorial games in Rome (also known as the Flavian Amphitheater)






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






8. Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the responsibilities of a parent






9. A bundle of wooden sticks and an axe blade that the attendants of Roman magistrates carried; symbolized the magistrates' power to inflict capital punishment






10. 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.






11. The 15th of March & the day in 44 BC Julius Caesar was assassinated






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






13. Site of the Apollo's oracle at Delphi; home of the Muses






14. 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






15. Religion in Which many gods are worshipped (from Greek poly 'many' and theoi 'gods')






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






17. Goddess of grain & the harvest & and the seasons; mother of Persephone/Proserpina






18. 'With highest honors' graduating from college in the highest grade scale






19. Blind poet Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey






20. Goddess of the hearth






21. A long poem that narrates the deeds of a hero or the history of a nation & e.g. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey






22. One of the seven hills of Rome & south of the forum; the site of the imperial palace






23. 'The one who says farewell' -- the student with the highest grade point average & Who is chosen to give a speech at the end of graduation






24. The golden wool of a ram sought by Jason and the Argonauts






25. 'per head' 'per person'






26. Home of the Greek gods






27. The messenger god; god of thieves and travelers; son of Zeus; invented the lyre; escorted people to the Underworld when they died






28. Literally refers to the heel of Achilles (a character from the Iliad who killed Hector)


29. Temple devoted to Athena; located on the Acropolis of Athens






30. 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






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')






32. 'from the library of' used as an inscription on a bookplate to show the name of the book's owner: ex libris Mark Twain.






33. The technical biological term for the human species


34. 'seize the day'






35. Daughter of Demeter; kidnapped by Hades to make her his queen






36. Sea to the west of Greece; named after King Aegeus after he drowned himself in the sea thinking his son Theseus was dead






37. 'by mouth' - used on prescription medicines that have to be taken orally






38. Refers to the legal responsibility of a person or organization to take on some of the responsibilities of a parent






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






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






41. 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






42. 1






43. 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






44. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome






45. 'The other way around'






46. 'To the point of sickness' - doing/saying something over and over until everyone is sick and tired of it






47. 100






48. Writing after the body of a letter






49. 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.






50. 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')