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. 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.






2. ________ - a philosophical school of thought prominent in the Hellenistic period - taught that the greatest good came from seeking modest pleasures in order to reach a state of tranquility and freedom from fear (ataraxia) and absence of bodily pain (






3. 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






4. The Hellenistic system of philosophy known as ____ was founded by Zeno of Citium (c. 335-263 B.C.E.) in Athens and teaches that inner peace and clear-thinking could be obtained through self-control and suppression of passions - emotions - and desires






5. 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.






6. Which seventh century B.C.E. Greek poet devised the new poetic form of writing lyrics - short poems with themes that describe a certain human experience?






7. Greek culture established in the fourth and fifth centuries B.C.E. became known as '___' as later generations used it as a standard by which they could measure their own accomplishments; Greek culture influenced Roman literature - art - and language






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






9. 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






10. 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.






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






12. 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






13. 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






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






15. 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






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






17. After the formerly illiterate Greeks acquired literacy through trading contacts with a group known as the ____ - they were able to write down and record early poetry - which has been passed down through the generations as oral traditions.






18. 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.






19. Temples were typically very flamboyant and elaborate and included architectural structures such as pediments - friezes - and sides made of fluted columns with Doric - Corinthian - or Ionic capitals. Statues from Classical Greece included lifelike thr






20. ___ - 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






21. 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.






22. ____ __ ____ 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






23. Greek philosopher ________ (c. 530 B.C.E.) theorized that mathematical relationships could be use to describe all of reality; this philosopher is also believed to have coined the term 'philosopher -' stating that he was a 'lover of wisdom' and the mo






24. The ________ Wars (431-404 B.C.E.) are generally thought of as an attempt of Sparta - whose military power was land-based - to prevent rival Athens - whose military power was sea-based - from taking over all of Greece.






25. A characteristic of the religion of the ancient Greeks






26. 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






27. 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






28. 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.






29. 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






30. 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






31. 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






32. ____ (496-406 B.C.E.) was an ancient Greek tragedian who wrote several plays including Oedipus and Antigone which each address moral and religious issues; this playwright wrote from the perspective that humans were born into a world that lacks knowle






33. The ___ Method - which is perhaps Socrates' greatest contribution to Western philosophy - involves a didactic (answering a question with a question) method of examination to help an individual determine the extent of his or her knowledge and underlyi






34. As Phillip II and Alexander the Great extended the Macedonian empire to the Near East - the blending of eastern and western civilization led to a culture known as ____.






35. In order to protect themselves and neighboring city-states from future attacks from the Persians - the Athenians formed the ___ League (478 B.C.E.) - a naval alliance made up of over a hundred poleis (city-states) all located along the Aegean Sea sho






36. The Delian League led to the formation of the Athenian Empire as Athens - led by the general _____ conquered city-states who attempted to secede from the league; the Delian League treasury was moved from Delos to Athens in 454 B.C.E






37. 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






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






39. Ionian Greek ___ (c. 484-425 B.C.E.) - the 'Father of History -' wrote an account of the conflicts between the ancient Greeks and the Persians.






40. 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.






41. 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.






42. 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






43. Homer's epic poem the ___ describes the siege of Troy by the Mycenaeans.






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






45. ___ of Miletus (c. 600 B.C.E.) - who believed that water was the universal substance behind all things - was the earliest known Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher.






46. 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






47. 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.






48. 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






49. 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.






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