QUICK FIRE VOCABULARY

Question 1

agora

Answer 1

main market and civic centre

Question 2

Anthesteria

Answer 2

mid-February festival to celebrate the year’s vintage of wine - also associated with young children

Question 3

apadana

Answer 3

great audience hall in Persian royal palace

Question 4

Apis Bull

Answer 4

sacred bill of Egyptian religion which Cambyses fatally wounded

Question 5

archaic

Answer 5

‘old’ = relating to period in Greek history 750-479BC ending with the expulsion of the Persian threat from Greece.

Question 6

archon

Answer 6

one of nine senior magistrates responsible for areas of Athenian policy for year

Question 7

Arrephoroi

Answer 7

7-11 year old girls who served the cult of Athena Polias on the Acropolis

Question 8

Assembly

Answer 8

formal meeting of citizens

Question 9

aristocracy

Answer 9

group considered superior to all other groups who gained their privileges from birth

Question 10

arta

Answer 10

Persian concept of truth

Question 10

aulos

Answer 10

double reed pipe

Question 10

Athenian Empire

Answer 10

name given to the Delian League after Athens had taken control of it and placed the treasury in Athens

Question 11

ballista

Answer 11

missile weapon that launched large projectiles

Question 12

choregos

Answer 12

financial backer of plays

Question 13

City Dionysia

Answer 13

greatest Athenian drama festival - late March

Question 14

classical period (Greece)

Answer 14

479-323 BC - expulsion of Persian threat to the death of Alexander

Question 15

Council of the Areopagus

Answer 15

aristocratic council of ex-archons

Question 16

cuneiform

Answer 16

early system of writing using wedge shaped marks on clay tablets with a blunt reed

Question 17

Delian league

Answer 17

a modern name used to describe the military alliance of 477 bc of numerous Greek states, led by Athens, against Persian aggression after the Persian Wars.

Question 18

deme

Answer 18

village or district of the town of Athens which formed a single polity

Question 19

dikast

Answer 19

citizen judge and juror in the Athenian court system

Question 20

Dipylon Gate

Answer 20

one the main gates into Athens

Question 21

deify

Answer 21

to accord someone the status of a god

Question 22

dithyramb

Answer 22

choral dance sung in honour of Dionysus

Question 23

divinination

Answer 23

practice of seeking knowledge of the future through supernatural means

Question 24

dokimasia

Answer 24

test given to citizen before he could serve as a magistrate

Question 25

dowry

Answer 25

payment given by bride’s father to the groom as part of the marriage contract

Question 26

drauga

Answer 26

Persian concept of lying, ‘the lie’

Question 27

earth and water (Persian)

Answer 27

symbolic token of submission given to the Persians

Question 28

ephebe

Answer 28

young Athenian man preparing for citizenship

Question 29

epitaph

Answer 29

inscription on a tombstone remembering the dead person

Question 30

epithet

Answer 30

adjective describing a particular role or characteristic (‘white armed”, “swift”, “distant deadly archer”)

Question 31

Erechthion

Answer 31

temple of Athena and Poseidon which housed the olive wood statue of Athena Polias

Question 32

euthanal

Answer 32

magistrate’s report on his year in office

Question 33

frieze

Answer 33

horizontal band of sculptured decoration

Question 34

Great Panathenaia

Answer 34

Held every four years, larger version of the annual Panathenaia

Question 35

Hellenic League 5thC

Answer 35

Modern name given to the military alliance of thirty odd Greek cities resisting Persian incursions of Greece 480/79BC

Question 36

Hellenic League 4th C

Answer 36

Federation of Greek states created by Philip of Macedon after the battle of Chaeronea to facilitate his use of the military against Persia.

Question 37

Hellenic Treasurers

Answer 37

Athenian magistrates elected annually at Athen, responsible for collecting tribute from the Delian League allies.

Question 38

Hellenistic Age

Answer 38

From the death of Alexander in 323BC to the emergence of the Roman Empire in 31BC. It was when Greek influence was at its peak across Europe and Asia.