CHAPTER 6 REVIEW
1. What is an epic?
An epic is a long poem that tells a story.
2. What was the Iliad?
The Iliad is an epic that tells the story of the end of the Trojan War.
3. Describe the geography of Greece, including continental location, landforms, and bodies of water.
Greece is located in Southern Europe, by the Mediterranean and Aegean Sea. It is mountainous and rocky, with
little farmland.
4. Why were there so many city-states in Greece?
The geographical barriers made it difficult for people to travel by land, so they formed separate city-states.
5. Who were the aristocrats and why did they hold the most power in the beginning?
The aristocrats were powerful, wealthy people; they held the most power in the beginning because they owned
most of the good farming land.
6. Who fought in the Trojan War?
Greece and the city of Troy
7. Describe the method Greeks used to win the Trojan War.
The Greeks gifted the city of Troy with a large, wooden horse. However, there were Greek soldiers hiding inside of
the large, wooden horse. They came out at night, let other soldiers in, and destroyed the city.
8. What type of jobs did the Greeks have and why?
They were mostly traders and sailors, because there was not much land for everyone to farm; they were also
located by the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Sea, which meant they were always around water, and it was easy
to pick up those skills as they grew up.
9. Describe a citizen in Athens, including age, gender, and parentage.
To be a citizen in Athens, you had to be at least 18 years old, a male, and both parents would need to be from
Athens.
10. Describe Pericles, including his class, what he believed in, and some of his greatest achievements.
Pericles was born in an aristocratic family; however, he was a supporter of democracy. He became a great political
leader in Athens and introduced great reforms in the government, such as requiring that city officials be paid a
salary so that even poor men could serve. Another great achievement was the rebuilding of Athens, especially in
the construction of the Parthenon, a temple to Athena.
11. Were Greeks monotheistic or polytheistic? How do you know?
Greeks were polytheistic, because they worshipped more than one god.
12. Who were the gods that the Greeks worshipped?
The main gods that the Greeks worshipped were the Twelve Olympians.
13. Who was Zeus?
Zeus was the leader of the Greek gods.
14. Why did the Greeks build temples?
To honor their gods
15. What is the Parthenon?
A temple built on the acropolis in Athens to honor the goddess Athena.
16. Who is the patron god/goddess of Athens?
Athena, goddess of wisdom and war strategy
17. How did the people of Athens honor their patron god/goddess?
They built the Parthenon and prayed to her. They even named their city after her.
18. What are oracles?
Oracles are temples built for people to come to in order to pray to the gods and seek guidance.
19. Why did people visit the oracles?
People visited the oracles to help solve problems or to get a glimpse of the future.
20. Who answered the Greeks’ questions about the future and how were they answered?
Priests and priestesses answered the questions in the form of a riddle; sometimes people’s questions were
answered through dreams.
21. What is a philosopher?
A philosopher is someone who uses thought and observation to understand natural events of the world.
22. How are philosophers different from the typical Greek?
Philosophers are different from the typical Greek because they don’t believe that the gods are responsible for
natural events, such as floods and storms. Typical Greeks believed the gods were the reasons they suffered or
prospered.
23. Describe Socrates and his life.
Socrates was a Greek philosopher who taught people by asking them questions about their beliefs. He was often
found in the marketplace doing this. Sometimes this made people angry because it made them question their
beliefs or caused issues. Eventually Socrates was arrested and found guilty of misleading youth and dishonoring
the gods. He was sentenced to death by suicide. He had to drink a cup of hemlock.
24. Who is Plato?
Plato was a student of Socrates who eventually went on to write a book called The Republic that outlined his
personal beliefs of the government. He believed that the government should be separated into three groups:
workers, soldiers, and philosopher-leaders. He even opened up his own school called “The Academy”.
25. Who is Aristotle?
Aristotle was a student of Plato. He believed that reason should guide the pursuit of knowledge. He opened up his
own school called “The Lyceum”.
26. How would worshippers of the Greek gods and goddesses view philosophers and why? They would view
them as different and dishonorable because philosophers didn’t worship the gods and goddesses like the typical
Greeks did.
27. Why is the Parthenon such an important source of knowledge for today’s world?
The Parthenon shows the greatness and detail of Ancient Greek architecture. It also has many examples of statues
and paintings of how the Greeks saw people. All art shows people in action, balanced, and in a perfect form.
28. Describe the dramas put on by Greeks.
Dramas were plays of multiple acts put on by Greeks. The two most popular were tragedies and comedies.
Tragedies were plays where the main character faced misfortune and came to a bad end. Comedies were
humorous poems/plays that made fun of well-known people or policies of the time period.
29. Comedies were an example of how confident Greeks were in the freedom. How?
People were not afraid of being arrested or killed because they had opinions about the laws or made fun of
something they didn’t agree with. This showed that they were confident in their rights.
30. While the city-states thought of themselves as individual, separate governments, what is an example of
them coming together and sharing a culture? Every four years, city-state groups would join together for
Olympian festivals, which included competitions such as racing horses and boxing. These festivals honored Zeus.