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






2. 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






3. 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






4. Son of Zeus; had to complete 12 labors to regain favor with the gods after killing his family; when he died & he became a god






5. Carthaginian general who attacked Italy by crossing the Italian Alps in the 2nd Punic War; He was eventually defeated by Scipio at the Battle of Zama






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






7. 'Word for word'






8. The ferryman for the river Styx going into the underworld






9. Greek god of nature; had the torso and head of a man & but the legs and horns of a goat






10. 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)






11. Athenian prince who killed the Minotaur






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






13. Festival of Saturn held on December 17th & during which social roles were temporarily reversed (slaves enjoyed relaxed discipline & etc)






14. 'per head' 'per person'






15. 'for the time being' - temporary






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






17. 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






18. 'The end'






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






20. 'All-knowing'






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






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






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






24. 1






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






26. 'Higher!' -- the state motto of New York






27. 'Work conquers all'






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






29. 'for the sake of an example' - abbreviation used when providing an example






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






31. 'I'






32. 'I refuse &' used by the president of the US to stop any bill he sees unfit from passing






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






34. The city in Northern Africa that the Romans fought and destroyed during the Punic Wars (264-146 BC.)






35. Through & by way of (from via- road & way)






36. The highest political office in the Roman Republic; 2 were elected every year






37. Writing after the body of a letter






38. 'one out of many' - found on most US minted coins and the back of the dollar bill






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






40. 100






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






42. God of the Underworld/Tartarus






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






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






45. 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






46. Used on documents & coins & monuments & etc. as an official signature of the Roman government






47. 'doctor/teacher of philosophy' - an advanced academic degree






48. Lived in the Labyrinth; fed off of Athenian youths; killed by Theseus






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






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