| A | B |
|---|
| peninsula | an area of land almost completely surrounded by water and connected to the mainland by a narrow strip of land |
| 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. |
| tribute | a regular payment made to the powerful state or nation by a weaker one |
| oracle | in ancient Greece, a sacred site where a god or goddess was consulted; any priest or priestess who spoke for the gods. |
| philosopher | someone who uses reason to understand the world; in Greece, the earliest philosophers used reason to explain natural events |
| tragedy | a type of serious drama that usually ends in disaster for the main character |
| Athens | a city-state in ancient Greece; the capital of modern-day Greece |
| agora | a public market and meeting place in an ancient Greek city |
| vendor | a seller of goods |
| slavery | condition of being owned by, and forced to work for, someone else. |
| Sparta | a city-state in the southern part of ancient Greece |
| helot | a member of a certain class of servants in ancient Sparta |
| Peloponnesian Wars | 431-404 BCE fought between Athens and Sparta, involving almost every other Greek city-state. |
| plague | a wide-spread disease |
| blockade | an action taken to isolate an enemy and cut off its supplies |
| barbarian | wild and uncivilized, primitive person |
| assassinate | to murder for political reasons |
| Alexander the Great | King of Macedonia from 336-323 BCE; conquerer of Persia and Egypt and invader of India |
| Hellenistic | describing Greek history or culture after the death of Alexander the Great, including the three main kingdoms formed by the break-up of Alexander's empire |
