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






2. Goddess of wisdom






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






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






5. 500






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






7. '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






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






9. 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)






10. God of wine and revelry; son of Zeus and Semele






11. 'And others'






12. Perseus slayed Medusa the Gorgon






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






14. Blind poet Who wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey






15. Titan who had to hold up the heavens on his shoulders as punishment for rebelling against Zeus






16. Writing after the body of a letter






17. 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')






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






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






20. 10






21. 'Work conquers all'






22. Temple in Rome dedicated to all the Roman gods






23. 500






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






25. Home of the Greek gods






26. 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






27. Doctor of medicine






28. 'All-knowing'






29. 'beware of the dog'






30. '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.






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






32. 1






33. 50






34. Temple in Rome dedicated to all the Roman gods






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

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /var/www/html/basicversity.com/show_quiz.php on line 183


36. 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)






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






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






39. 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






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






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






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






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 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.






45. The god of the sky; created the Titans with Gaia & Mother Earth






46. The 200 year period of peace which began under the rule of Augustus






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






48. 'per head' 'per person'






49. A king Who was tortured in the Underworld by having water and grapes within his reach & but the water and grapes pulled away whenever he went to take drink or a bite






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