Vocabulary: Ancient Greece
*Don’t forget to skip lines!!
**When defining the words select a definition that relates to the topic above.
1. Peninsula – An area of land bordered by water on three sides.
2. Epic – a long poem that tells a story that focuses on a hero.
3. Acropolis – a high, rocky hill on or near which early people built
cities.
4. City-states – a city with its own traditions and its own government
and laws; both a city and a separate independent state.
5. Aristocrats – a member of a rich and powerful family.
6. Tyrant – a ruler who takes power with the support of the middle
and working classes; not necessarily cruel and violent.
7. Democracy – a form of government in which citizens govern
themselves.
8. Tribute – a payment made by a less powerful state or nation to a
more powerful one (bribe).
9. Immortal – someone or something that lives forever.
10.Philosophers – someone who uses reason to understand the world.
In Greece, the earliest philosophers used reason to explain natural
events.
11.Tragedy – a type of serious drama that ends in disaster for the
main character.
12. Agora – A public market and meeting place in an ancient Greek
city.
13. Plague – a widespread disease.
14. Blockade – the cutting off of an area by enemy forces that closes it
to travel and trade.
15. Barbarians – a person considered to be wild and uncivilized.
16. Assassinated – to murder for political reasons.
17. Hellenistic – A period of time in which Greek cultural influence
and power was at its zenith in Europe and Asia
18.Polytheism – the belief in many gods.