| A | B |
|---|
| Phoenicians | during the Dark Ages, the Greeks adapted the alphabet from these people |
| Democracy | rule by the people; developed in Athens this government flourished under the leader Pericles |
| Sparta | Greek city-state known for militaristic government and harsh lifestyle |
| Dark Ages | time period in Greece after the fall of Mycenae; culture and learning was lost until Greeks came into contact with Phoenicians and adapted an alphabet; Homer wrote his poems then, too |
| Iliad | Homer's epic poem about the Trojan War |
| Odyssey | Homer's epic poem about Odysseus' 10-year journey home from the Trojan War |
| Homer | he was the blind poet who wrote the Iliad and Odyssey |
| Sophocles | Greek writer of tragedies who wrote three plays about Oedipus the King |
| Thucydides | Greek historian who wrote about the Peloponnesian War--between Athens and Sparta |
| Pericles | he was the leader of Athens during a Golden Age of creativity and Democracy; however he died of the plague during a war |
| Plato | he was the student of Socrates, the teacher of Aristotle; founder of the Academy in Athens; best known author of philosophical works |
| Herodotus | known as the Father of History; he wrote a history of the wars between Greece and Persia |
| city-state | the mountainous geography of Greece led them to develop many of these local centers of power rather than a large kingdom |
| polis | the Greek word for city-state |
| phalanx | Greek solciers marched in a rectangular formation holding their shields to form a wall around them |
| agora | the open area below the acropolis where people would assemble and where a market was located |
| acropolis | the fortified area on top of a hill in a Greek city-state; it was often a religious center |
| tyrants | series of Greeks who took control of Athens by force; they made changes that helped bring about democratic rule in Athens |
| arete | the Greek term for excellence--which heroes tried to attain |
| oligarchy | rule by the few--usually a small group, usually distinguished by nobility, wealth, military power, etc. |
