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. The Athenians were defeated in 413 B.C.E. after Alcibiades - Pericles' nephew - led them in a failed invasion of Spartan allies at the city of ____ in Sicily.






2. 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






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






4. 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.






5. 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.






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






7. ___ 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.






8. The Lycurgan code of which Greek city-state dictated that all males ages 7 to 30 live in military barracks and undergo military training?






9. 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.






10. 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.






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






12. ____ (c. 469-399 B.C.E.) - an ancient Greek philosopher who is credited with laying the foundation for Western philosophy - emphasized the welfare of the soul and believed that knowledge was gained through divine dispensation rather than through inst






13. 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






14. 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






15. 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.






16. 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






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 ___ 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






19. 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 ______.






20. 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






21. 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.






22. 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 ____.






23. 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






24. 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.






25. A policy of ____ - exiling an individual for ten years - was used by the Athenians to make sure that no one politician gained too much power.






26. 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?






27. ___ - 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






28. ________ - 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 (






29. 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






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






31. 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






32. ____ __ ____ 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






33. 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






34. 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






35. 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.






36. 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.






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






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






39. 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.






40. As Greek military techniques changed from small - wealthy cavalry units to large infantry groups - soldiers who would buy spears and armor became known as hoplites who were organized into large units able known as ____ that were able to resist cavalr






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






42. 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






43. Following the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E. - many of the Greek city-states reasserted their independence and formed the ____ League as a confederation of city-states in the southern area of Greece.






44. A characteristic of the religion of the ancient Greeks






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






46. 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.






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






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






49. 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 _____.






50. ___________ (c. 276-196 B.C.E.) calculated the circumference of the earth.