Test your basic knowledge |

CLEP Western Civilization Ancient Greece

Subjects : clep, history
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. ____________ - (c. 300 B.C.E) - the 'father of geometry' developed many geometrical theorems in his book called the Elements.






2. ___ - a blind poet who lived between 850 and 700 B.C.E. - has been attributed with writing the great Greek epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey






3. The ____ Empire was established by Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy after Alexander's death and included Egypt and Palestine.






4. ____ was the only Mycenaean Greek city state to survive when the Dorian Greeks invaded the Balkan Peninsula






5. Aristotle opposed ____ as a form of good government but rather - divided government into three types with the ideal rule by the majority - 'polity -' for the good of the people.






6. ____ __ ____ assumed power of the Macedonian empire in 336 B.C.E. when his father - King Philip II - died from assassination and is remembered for his conquest of the Persian Empire in 328 B.C.E. and creation of the largest empire in the world until






7. Following defeat by the Spartans in the Peloponnesian Wars - a Spartan oligarchy known as the '___ Tyrants' took control of Athens for several years






8. While the Athenian Draco is known for his strict 'Draconian' law codes - Solon is known for the _____ which he brought to Athens; Solon structured Athenian government into a Council of 400 members (boule) - a general Assembly (ekklesia) - and public






9. King _____ __ (r. 359-336 B.C.E.) established the Macedonian empire and extended this empire to the Near East






10. Like Draco - ___ (594 B.C.E.) was elected as archon and given a great deal of power to deal with the agrarian crisis facing Athens.






11. As the polis declined throughout the Hellenistic period - new religious ideas and mystery cults were brought into the region by armies returning from the Near East; the Persian cult ____ - in which religious practice centered around a cave or cavern






12. In order to deal with the socio-economic crisis occurring in Athens during the seventh century B.C.E. - a certain man known as _____ was given a tyrant-like status; this leader was faced with revolutionary-type violence and responded with a severe la






13. Plato's student ___ (384-322 B.C.E.) founded a school in Athens known as the Lyceum in which he taught many subjects and a form of logic that could be applied to all studies.






14. Famous Greek sculptor ______ (c. 490-430 B.C.E.) was hired by Pericles to design the large statue of Athena inside the Parthenon.






15. In 546 B.C.E. the Nobleman ____ emerged into power in Athens during a time of revolutionary unrest and worked to reform the structure of society and replacing the aristocratic brotherhoods (phratries) who ruled the Council with the demes (townships o






16. Greek philosopher Plato wrote _____ in order to recount - expound upon - and defend the philosophical methods of Socrates that had led to his trial and conviction






17. An elected board that was active in foreign policy and monitored the kings' and generals' exercise of military authority - Assembly of all male citizens over age 30 - two kings with limited authority - Voting using precise counts






18. During the transition in which the Mycenaens fled to Anatolia after being overrun by Dorian Greeks - their art of writing and related administrative skills were lost and thus - the cultural achievements of these Greeks declined leading to a historica






19. Pottery - which was influenced by the Mycenaean - mainly includes pottery on vases with scenes depicting anything from mythological events to everyday life.






20. The most well known Greek writer of comedies was ____ (c. 450-385 B.C.E.) - a playwright who used the medium of a comedy to make fun of other Athenians






21. In the fifth century B.C.E. - Greek ruler Pericles ordered the construction of the ___ - a temple to the goddess Athena - on the hill known as the Acropolis.






22. The ___ Sea became an important geographical core of Greek civilization in that it stood between the Balkan Peninsula and Anatolia; sea travel was much more efficient than land travel due to the terrain of the land surrounding this early Greek civili






23. After fighting with and enslaving neighboring Messenia - a Greek city-state known as Sparta came to control the...






24. Plato's Theory of ____ indicates that there is a higher realm that exists beyond the material - sensory world of our present reality and gives the empirical world its existence






25. Some of the greatest actors in the earliest form Greek drama - ____ - (sixth century B.C.E.) include Aeschylus - Sophocles - and Euripides; Athenians engaged in competitions for the best performers in this type of drama.






26. Although the most impressive towns in early Greek civilization is at ____ - a site known for the Lion's Gate - its sculpted entryway - its huge 'Cyclopean' walls - and its royal tombs with beehive shaped interiors - other early Greek towns included A






27. In 499 B.C.E. - the Ionian Greeks in Anatolia - who had been invaded by the Persians in 546 B.C.E. - rebelled against Persian control and were aided by the city-state ___ on the Greek mainland.






28. The plays of Aeschylus (c. 525-456 B.C.E.) - which have moral and religious themes - focus of ___ - exaggerated pride and self-confidence - that leads to individuals bringing nemesis - divine punishment - upon themselves.






29. Early Greek philosopher _____ (c. 400 B.C.E.) theorized that physical objects were composed of atoms (the Greek word atoma meant 'indivisible').






30. Through a series of battles at land and at sea - the Athenians were able to defeat the Persians with the assistance of the city-state of _____.






31. The Greeks prevented further westward expansion of the Persian empire when they defeated the army of King Xerxes at the battle of ___ in 480 B.C.E.






32. In order to continue the work of Socrates - Plato also founded a school in Athens called the ____ - a school which was the first institution of higher learning in the Western world.






33. Greek ____ was generally used to honor the gods - originally involved a chorus (group of singers) alternating verse with a single leader - and grew to include dialogue between actors






34. After unifying Greece - Macedonian King Philip II created the League of ____ as federation of Greek city-states as self-ruling entities who were required to give allegiance to Macedon and facilitate King Philip's use of military forces in foreign aff






35. Sparta lead a system of alliances known as the ___ League that was composed of other city-states and served to guard Sparta from outside revolts and threats.






36. Cyrus the Great expanded his Persian empire into Greece in 546 B.C.E. when he gained control of a region in Asia minor known as ______.






37. Pericles' strategy against the Spartan invasion of Attica - the peninsula on which Athens was located - in 431 B.C.E. happened early in the...






38. The ____ Kingdom - spanning from the original Macedonia - areas in Asia Minor - and Greece - was established following Alexander the Great's death by Alexander's general Antigonus.






39. The Greek tragedies of playwright _____ (c.480-406 B.C.E.) lack the moral and religious concerns of other tragedians - but rather - restructured the traditional Athenian tragedy and focused on the inner lives and motives of his characters.






40. Following the Peloponnesian Wars - bickering continued between the Greek city-states in an effort for supremacy and Sparta could not remain strong enough to control all of Greece. Philip II of Macedon won the Battle of _____ after invading Greece in






41. Greek poet ___ (c. 700 B.C.E.) wrote the Theogony - a work describing the birth of the gods - and Works and Days - which tells about the life of a farmer






42. Greek historian ____ (c. 460-400 B.C.E.) - recounts the Peloponnesian Wars in an impartial manner in which he interviews contenders on either side.






43. Athens was made into a complete democracy under the ruler Pericles and entered into a time of prosperity known as the ___ Age of Athens.






44. The socio-economic turmoil facing Athens in the seventh century B.C.E. affected these people the worst






45. As the population and trade both increased and farming declined in the ____ Greek period - a large spread developed between the rich and the poor leading to threats of anarchy between classes






46. When other methods failed to bring social conflicts - the polis would use a ___ - an individual given complete power in order to restore the polis - to mediate.






47. After the polis (city-state) of ____ decided to leave the Delian League in 465 B.C.E. - Athens invaded this city-state and overthrew its government as an example to others who may in the future try to leave the league.






48. ___ was a philosophical school of thought in Hellenistic culture that proposed that morality was relative and questioned the existence of any philosophical certainty.






49. The _____ Marbles - sculptures depicting battle scenes that originally decorated the pediments (the triangular sections enclosed above the columns and below the angled roof) of the Parthenon - were removed from this temple in the 19th century and tak






50. The Greek poet ___ (518-438 B.C.E.) is known for his poetic odes of victory for purposes of athletic contests.