| A | B |
| peninsula | an area of land almost completely surrounded by water |
| acropolis | the fortified, or strengthened, hill of an ancient Greek city |
| aristocrat | a member of a rich and powerful family |
| tyrant | a ruler who takes power by force |
| democracy | a form of government in which citizens govern themselves |
| Iliad | Homer's epic about the Trojan War |
| oracle | a priest or priestess who spoke for the gods |
| philosopher | someone who uses reason to understand the world |
| tragedy | a type of serious drama that usually ends in disaster for the main character |
| Pericles | a leader who introduced reforms that strengthened democracy during Athens' Golden Age |
| tribute | a regular payment made to a powerful nation by a weaker one |
| Parthenon | an Athenian temple to the goddess Athena |
| Athens | a city-state in ancient Greece that is the modern-day capital of Greece |
| agora | a public market and meeting place in an ancient Greek city |
| vendor | a seller of goods |
| Sparta | a city-state in the southern part of ancient Greece |
| helot | a member of a certain class of servants in ancient Sparta |
| Peloponnesian War | a war fought between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece, involving almost every other Greek city-state |
| plague | a widespread disease |
| blockade | an action taken to isolate an enemy and cut off its supplies |
| immortal | not subject to death |
| barbarian | a wild and uncivilized person |
| assassinate | to murder for political reasons |
| Alexander the Great | king of Macedonia who conquered Persia and Egypt and invaded India |
| Hellenistic | describing Greek history or culture after the death of Alexander the Great, including the three main kingdoms formed by the breakup of Alexander's empire |
| King Philip | king who united Macedonia and was father of Alexander the Great |