Classical Literacy Exam Flashcards
(148 cards)
1
Q
Aegean sea
A
Between Greece and Turkey
2
Q
Gorgons
A
3 Monsters, including Medusa
3
Q
Hector
A
Prince of Troy
4
Q
Adriatic Sea
A
East of Italy
5
Q
Danaids
A
Supposed to marry there cousins, all but one killed man
6
Q
Horatius
A
Roman general, defended Pons Sublicius
7
Q
Ichor
A
Gods’ blood
8
Q
Niobe
A
Wept for loss of her children
9
Q
Orion
A
Huntsman w/constellation
10
Q
Ostia
A
Harbor city of ancient Rome
11
Q
Palatine hill
A
Hill for palaces
12
Q
Capitoline Hill
A
Hill for temples
13
Q
Plebiscite
A
Law that applied to plebians
14
Q
Rostrum/rostra
A
Oration platform
15
Q
Tribune
A
Elected office, checked the power of the senate
16
Q
Zephyr
A
Greek god of West Wind
17
Q
Actaeon
A
Turned into deer for seeing Artemis naked
18
Q
Adonis
A
Lover of Aphrodite and Persephone, killed by wild boar
19
Q
Aeolus
A
Wind god
20
Q
Amphitrite
A
Sea-goddess, wife of Poseidon
21
Q
Andromache
A
Hector’s wife
22
Q
Andromeda
A
Supposed to be sacrificed to sea monster, saved by Perseus
23
Q
Attica
A
Part of Greece where Athens is
24
Q
Chimerical
A
Product of unchecked imagination
25
Concatenation
Series of interconnected things or events
26
Corpus delicti
Evidence of a crime
27
Corrigenda
Thing to be corrected
28
Demosthenes
Greatest of Greek orators
29
Deucalion and Pyrrha
Survived the flood for being pious
30
Errata
An error in printing
31
Fiat
Let it be done
32
1st Triumvirate
Caesar, Pompey and Crassus
33
Gracchi brothers
Tribunes who tried to enact land reforms
34
Hecuba
Priam's wife
35
Horatii
Roman male triplets who won war against 3 Alba Longan triplets
36
Iustitia omnibus
Justice for all
37
Janus
God w/ 2 faces
38
Leda
Swan girl
39
Lethe
River in underworld which causes people to forget everything
40
Maenad
Female followers of Dionysus
41
Marius
Reorganized army, consul 7 times
42
Mnemosyne
Personification of memory, mother of muses
43
Nolo contendere
Plea of no contest
44
Odium
Widespread hatred for a person
45
Onus probandi
Burden of proof
46
Otiose
Serving no practical purpose
47
Pan and Syrinx
Syrinx was a nymph chased by pan and changed herself into cattail reeds. Pan turned her into a panpipe
48
Phaethon
Rode in Helios' chariot to prove he was his father, died.
49
Phidippides
Runner of 1st marathon
50
Baucis and Philemon
Rewarded for hospitality
51
Phrixus
Helle's brother
52
Polyphemus
Cyclops
53
Pythia/Sybil
Oracle of Delphi
54
Saturnine
Slow and gloomy
55
Sine die
Without a date for resumption
56
Sinecure
Position offering status and money without work
57
Stentorian
Loud and powerful
58
Sulla
General in social war, dictator
59
Suum cuique
To each his own
60
Telemachus
Odysseus' son
61
Vademecum
Handbook or guide
62
a priori
Theoretical, not yet proven by observation
63
Achates
Friend of Aeneas
64
ad valorem
Tax in proportion to value
65
Aeschylus
Greek tragedian, wrote Agamemnon
66
Ajax
Greek hero in Illiad
67
Alcibades
Side-switching general in Peloponnesian war
68
Annuit coeptis
Motto on money, "favor our undertakings"
69
Arete
"excellence of any kind"
70
Arma togae cedant
Let the arms yield to the toga/let the military yield to diplomacy
71
Arma virumque cano
1st line of Aeneid
72
Cato the Elder
Senator and historian
73
Ceteris paribus
With other conditions remaining the same
74
Cleobis and Biton
Life-size statues at Delphi
75
Codex
Ancient manuscript in book form
76
De gustibus non disputandum est
"In matters of taste their can be no disputes"
77
De Rerum Natura
Book by Lucretius about Epicurian philosophy
78
Delian league
Association of Greek city-states under leadership of Athens, fought in Persian wars
79
Democritus
Formulated atomic theory of universe
80
Dies irae
"Day of Wrath" hymn
81
Encomium
Speech or writing that praises something
82
Epicureanism
Philosophy based on atomic theory, attacked superstition and divine intervention
83
Eris
Greek goddess of discord and strife
84
Euripides
Wrote Medea
85
Ex cathedra
With the full authority of the office (esp. the pope)
86
Exordium
Beginning/introduction
87
fl./floruit
Period when a historical figure lived or worked
88
flagrante delicto
"in blazing offense" criminal was caught in the act
89
Aristotle's four causes
Material, formal, efficient, and final explanations of change/movement
90
Gnothi seauton
"know thyself"
91
Hapax legomenon
A term of which only one instance or use is recorded
92
Heraclitus
Philosopher who believed change was central to the universe
93
infra dignitatem
Not appropriate for a person's social position
94
Ipse dixit
Dogmatic or unproven statement
95
Lacuna
Unfilled space or interval
96
Litotes
Affirmative expressed by the negative of the contrary (eg "You won't be sorry")
97
Logos
The word of god/appealing to audience w/ logic
98
Lucretia
Raped by Tarquinius Superbus
99
Lucretius
Author of De Rerum Natura
100
Lyceum
Temple dedicated to Apollo, also Aristotle's school of Philosophy
101
Lycurgus
Reformed Spartan society to be more military
102
Maecenas
Patron of Horace and Vergil
103
Martial
Poet, wrote Epigrams
104
Memento mori
Object serving as a reminder of death
105
Messianic ecologue
Work by Vergil the freemasons think prophesied Jesus
106
Mimesis
Imitation of real world in art and literature
107
Multum in parvo
Great deal in a small space
108
Nisus and Euryalus
Trojan lovers serving under Aeneas
109
Novus ordo seclorum
"New order of the ages" (appears on US seal)
110
Obiter dictum
Judge's incidental expression of opinion, said in passing
111
Palladium
Cult image on which the safety of Rome/Troy was supposed to depend
112
Parmenides
Eleatic philosopher
113
Pericles
Leader during Athenian golden age
114
Peroration
Concluding part of oration
115
Philippic
Bitter attack or denunciation
116
Philomela and Procne
Sisters, Philomena had been raped and had her tongue cut out so she wove a tapestry to tell her story to Procne, who killed her son and served him to her husband, the sisters were turned into birds
117
Pindar
Greek lyric poet
118
Pliny the Younger
Witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius and survived
119
Polemic
Strong attack
120
Preterition
Disregarding a matter, omitting something
121
Primus inter pares
"first among equals"
122
quod vide
Abbreviation to direct a reader to another part of a book or article
123
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
"who will guard the guards themselves"--Juvenal
124
Quintillian
Rhetoric teacher, wrote Institutio Oratoria
125
Quo vadis?
"Where are you going?" Saint Peter asked Jesus
126
Reductio ad absurdum
Proving something by making its denial appear absurd
127
Res gestae
"Things done" legal use: start to end period of a felony
128
Sallust
Roman historian
129
sc. scilicet
"that is to say"
130
Solon
One of the 7 wise men of Greece
131
Sophist
Paid teacher of philosophy
132
Stet
"let it stand" (an instruction telling typesetters to ignore a change)
133
Suetonius
Roman historian, wrote "12 Caesars"
134
Tacitus
Historian, wrote Annals and Histories
135
Thales
1st Greek Philosopher, thought everything came from water
136
The Academy
Aka Platonic Academy,, Plato's school of philosophy in Athens
137
The divided line
The line of the psyche is divided into conjecture, belief, thought, and understanding according to Plato
138
The golden mean
Aristotle's idea that there is always a desirable middle between two extremes. Also used as a math/art concept
139
Themistocles
Non-aristocratic Athenian politician, part of early democracy
140
Thetis and Peleus
Thetis was a nymph and Peleus was a mortal, their son was Achilles
141
Tiresias
Blind Seer
142
Ultima Thule
A distant place "beyond the borders of the known world"
143
Vae victis
"Woe to the vanquished"
144
Verbum sat.
A word is enough to a wise man, used to bring something to conclusion
145
Vercingetorix
Gallic chieftan
146
viz.
Namely
147
Vulgate
16th century Catholic latin version of the bible
148
Zeno's paradoxes
Philosophical problems that contradict what we know from physical evidence
