Herodotus
Greek Historian, considered the father of History. He came from a Greek community in Anatolia and traveled extensively, collecting information in western Asia and the Mediterranean lands.
Homer
A Greek poet, author of the Iliad and the Odyssey
Plato
(430-347 BCE) Was a disciple of Socrates whose cornerstone of thought was his theory of Forms, in which there was another world of perfection.
Aristotle
A Greek Philosopher, taught Alexander the Great, started a famous school, studied with Plato
Euripides
480 to 406 BC; Wrote many famous Greek tragedies, such as "The Trojan Women" which showed the misery that war brings
Sophocles
A writer, Is one of three ancient Greek tragedians (writers) whose plays have survived. Famous play writer, dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens.
Parthenon
A large temple dedicated to the goddess Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. It was built in the 5th century BCE, during the Athenian golden age.
Persepolis
an ancient city that was the capital of the ancient Persian Empire
Socrates
(470-399 BCE) An Athenian philosopher who thought that human beings could lead honest lives and that honor was far more important than wealth, fame, or other superficial attributes.
Socratic Method
way of teaching developed by Socrates that used a question-and-answer format to force students to use their reason to see things for themselves
logic
An implied comparison resulting when one thing is directly called another. To be logically acceptable, support must be appropriate to the claim, believable and consistent.
empiricism
(philosophy) the doctrine that knowledge derives from experience
Zoroastrianism
Persian religion founded by Zoroaster; taught that humans had the freedom to choose between right and wrong, and that goodness would triumph in the end
Cyrus the Great
king of Persia and founder of the Persian empire (circa 600-529 BC)
Delian League
An alliance headed by Athens that says that all Greek city-states will come together and help fight the Persians
Darius I
(550-486 BC) King of Persia from 522 to 486 BC; he reorganized and strengthened the Persian Empire by reforming the army and the government.
Xerxes
(c. 519-465 BC) King of Persia; his armies invaded Greece but were eventually defeated by the Greeks.
Peloponnesian League
Formed from the surrounding city-states near Sparta. It was formed to defeat democracy in Athens.
Phillip II
336 BC, was an ancient Greek king of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great
son of Philip II; received military training in Macedonian army and was a student of Aristotle; great leader; conquered much land in Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, and Mesopotamia; goal was to conquer the known world
Solon
Athenian reformer of the 6th century; established laws that eased the burden of debt on farmers, forbade enslavement for debt
Pericles
Athenian leader noted for advancing democracy in Athens and for ordering the construction of the Parthenon.
polis
A city-state in ancient Greece
monarchies
an autocracy governed by a monarch who usually inherits the authority
aristocracy
A government in which power is in the hands of a hereditary ruling class or nobility
oligarchy
A form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.
tyrants
A leader in ancient Greece who seized power by force rather than by inheriting it.
democracy
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives
direct democracy
A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. Also known as a popular vote, majority rules.
representative democracy
A system of government in which citizens elect representatives, or leaders, to make decisions about the laws for all the people.
Crete
A large, Greek island that sepereates the Mediterranian and the Aegean Seas from each other. Inhabited by the Minoans
Knossos
an ancient town on Crete where Bronze Age culture flourished from about 2000 BC to 1400 BC
Minoan civilization
a distinctive culture (c. 3000-1400 BCE) that came into being on the island of Crete around 3000 BCE; its legend came from a much later legend that told of Minos, a king who ruled from the palace at Knossos. The Minoan civilization reached its peak about
Mycenae
A civilization that replaced the Minoans and were part of the trade network of the Late Bronze Age; at war with others around them
Persian Wars
5th century B.C.E wars between the Persian empire and Greek city-states; Greek victories allowed Greek civilization to define identity.
Marathon
a battle in 490 BC in which the Athenians and their allies defeated the Persians
Battle of Thermopylae
(480 B.C.E.) Battle in which Spartan king Leonidas and his army of 300 Spartans and other Greeks refused to surrender to the numerically superior Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae; they were annihilated to the man but allowed the other Greek forces
Battle of Salamis
480 B.C.E. The battle that effectively ended the Persian war. The Greek fleet, although vastly outnumbered, defeated the Persian fleet. This helped end the Persian war, freeing Greece.
Persians
Ethnic group that settled in what is now Iran. They were rivals for control of Mesopotamia with the Greeks, and later the Arabs.
Seleucids
One of the regional dynasties that followed the death of Alexander the Great; founded in Mesopotamia
Achaemenid empire
First great Persian empire (558-330 B.C.E.), which began under Cyrus and reached its peak under Darius.
Athens
A city-state of ancient Greece that was first to have a democracy; also known as the birthplace of Western civilization; the ancient capital of present-day Greece.
Sparta
Greek city-state that was ruled by an oligarchy, focused on military, used slaves for agriculture, discouraged the arts
Alexandria
City in Egypt founded by Alexander the Great, center of commerce and Hellenistic civilization
Hellenistic Period
300 BCE - 31 BCE; Greek culture is spread; Greek power shifts from Athens to Alexandria, Alexander the Great, cosmopolitanism, Library at Alexandria