Test your basic knowledge |

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. 'peace be with you'






2. 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






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






4. 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)






5. 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.






6. 'Always faithful' - motto of the US Marines






7. 'After death'






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






9. 'great-souled & high-minded'






10. 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






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






12. 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






13. 'in the whole &' 'as a whole &' 'totally'; ex: The suggestions were adopted in toto.






14. The technical biological term for the human species


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






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






17. 50






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






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






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






21. 'Thus passes the glory of the world.' i.e. 'Worldly things are fleeting.'






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






23. 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






24. 'Work conquers all'






25. Characterized by sitting & inactive (from sedet- to sit)






26. Blind poet Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey






27. A large horse and chariot racing track in Rome






28. 'per head' 'per person'






29. '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.






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






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






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






33. 'Word for word'






34. Refers to an action or condition necessary for something to happen






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






36. 'under penalty' a written order for a person to come testify in court






37. 'This for that &' a fair trade






38. A hollow wooden horse built by the Greeks so that they could get into the walls of Troy. The Greeks pretended to pack up and leave from the war & but some hid in the horse which was later led into the walls of Troy by the Trojans (thinking it was a






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






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






41. Gladiator who led an uprising of slaves against the Romans in the 1st c. BC






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






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






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






45. Market place/business center






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






47. 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






48. 'An unwelcome person' - used in diplomacy to indicate a person Who is barred from entering a certain country






49. Goddess of the hunt






50. 'unknown land'