Western Civ: Chapter 2 Online Questions
1. Choose the sequence that places historical developments in the correct chronological order in the Rise of Greece.
Minoan period, Age of Colonization, Greek Dark Ages
Minoan period, Greek Dark Ages, Age of Colonization
Age of Colonization, Greek Dark Ages, Minoan period
Greek Dark Ages, Minoan period, Age of Colonization
2. The Mycenaean civilization collapsed because of
internal conflict and pressure from outside invaders.
the invasion of the Dorians.
a plague.
the volcanic eruption of Thera.
3. How did the Mycenaeans differ from the Minoans?
Actually, they were similar.
They were more interested in beauty and truth.
They were more warlike.
They were more dependent on trade.
4. The Homeric epics refer to
Oedipus Rex and the Odyssey.
Works and Days and the Theogony.
The Iliad and the Odyssey.
The Iliad and the Golden Fleece.
5. Which qualities would a Homeric hero prize most dearly?
Individual skill, courage, excellence
Charity, individual skill, speaking ability
Wealth, love of country, the good life
Strength, teamwork, artistic ability
6. The polis developed
just prior to the Age of Colonization.
near the start of the Greek "Dark Ages."
during the Trojan Wars.
at the height of Mycenaean civilization.
7. The rise of the hoplite phalanx created
class tensions which later resulted in civil war.
a demand for an all-powerful tyrant.
a bond between the aristocrats and the peasants.
a strong oligarchical state in Athens.
8. The Greek colonization movement around 750 B.C.E. occurred primarily because of
overpopulation of Greek lands.
fear of the Dorian invasion.
need to escape from internal disputes between city-states.
desire to trade and make money.
9. The Greeks held an open-air assembly in a place called the
acropolis.
tholos.
arete.
agora.
10. The two main factors which determined the character of Spartan society were the
Persian Wars and the collapse of trade.
rigorous training of a Spartan warrior and the desire for glory. (but I think this answer is also correct, in a different way)
rivalry with Athens and the Persian Wars.
conquest of Messenia and the enslavement of the Helots.
11. The Spartans felt compelled to make the army the primary focus of their society because
of the threat of conquest by Corinth.
of the danger of a Persian invasion.
they wanted to conquer the Peloponnesus.
of the threat of rebellion by their slaves.
12. An important factor in the political life of Athens appears to have been the rivalry between
nobles.
tyrants.
priests.
generals.
13. What lay at the root of Athens' problems in Solon's day?
The threat of a Persian invasion.
Overproduction of olives.
Soil exhaustion and indebtedness.
All of the above.
14. Democracy in Athens is best represented by
the Council of 500.
the board of ten generals.
the people's right to ostracize.
the assembly of citizens.
15. The origin of the Persian Wars is generally attributed to
Persia's attempt to take advantage of the rivalry between Athens and Sparta.
Greek support for the Ionian rebellion.
internal political problems in Athens.
internal political problems in Persia.
1. Wanax was the title of a Minoan king.
TRUE
FALSE
2. A short sword was the normal weapon of a hoplite.
FALSE
TRUE
3. Spartan boys normally began their military training at the
age of seven.
FALSE
TRUE
4. During the Persian Wars, the Athenian Themistocies urged
his city-state to rely on the navy.
FALSE
TRUE
5. The most important military advance during this early period
of Greek history was the creation of the phalanx.
TRUE
FALSE
1. Crete was the site of the earliest Bronze Age settlements, and modern scholars have called the civilization that arose there Minoan,
after the legendary king of Crete.
2. For a picture of society in the Greek "Dark Ages," the best source is Homer.
3. The characteristic Greek institution was the "polis," sometimes translated as "city state," but more accurately thought of as a
community of relatives.
4. A tyrant was a monarch who had gained power in an unorthodox or unconstitutional, but not necessarily wicked, way and who
exercised a strong one-man rule that might well be beneficent and popular.
5. Faced with the choice of making drastic changes and sacrifices or abandoning their control of Messenia, the Spartans chose to
introduce fundamental reforms that turned their city forever after into a military academy and camp.
6. Sparta became the leader of an alliance that included every Peloponnesian state but Argos; modern scholars have named this
alliance the Peloponnesian League.
7. It is fair to call Clisthenes the father of Athenian democracy.
8. A literary work called Works and Days by Hesiod gives some idea of the life of a small farmer.
9. Dionysus was the god of nature and fertility, of the grapevine, drunkenness and sexual abandon.
10.The Persian Empire had been created in a single generation by Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty.