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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. 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.






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






3. 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






4. The plebs were the free but non-aristocratic citizens of Rome; today & plebeian means 'of a low class'






5. Home of the Greek gods






6. Volcano which erupted in AD 79 and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum






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






8. 5






9. Half-man & half-goat creatures; companions of Pan and Dionysus






10. The three-headed dog that guarded the gates of the Underworld






11. 'Against' & used to show Who is up against who in sports matches & legal battles & etc.






12. 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)






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






14. Winged horse which flew from the neck of Medusa the Gorgon after Perseus cut off her head






15. First emperor of the Roman Empire; adopted son of Julius Caesar; member of the 2nd Triumvirate; also known as Octavian






16. A town on the western coast of Italy destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuius in AD 79






17. 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






18. Doctor of medicine






19. A state of disorganized matter from which the gods and the world were created






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






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






22. 'Always prepared'






23. Goddess of wisdom






24. After midday/noon






25. 5






26. 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)






27. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome






28. Goddess of the hunt






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






30. The 9 goddesses who looked after the arts and inspired men in those arts






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

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






33. 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






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






35. Perseus slayed Medusa the Gorgon






36. Home of the Greek gods






37. 'The end'






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






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






40. God of metallurgy (metal working); married to Aphrodite






41. Inventor who created the Labyrinth where the Minotaur lived






42. The king of the gods; god of thunder and lightning






43. 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






44. Athenian prince who killed the Minotaur






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






46. Sweet-sounding (literally 'flowing like honey')






47. The ninth letter of the Greek alphabet (i); commonly used in the phrase 'not one iota &' meaning 'not one bit'






48. The plebs were the free but non-aristocratic citizens of Rome; today & plebeian means 'of a low class'






49. Goddess of the hunt






50. 'This for that &' a fair trade