Key figures, events, and concepts of ancient Greece
20 cards · history
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| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| Polis | Independent city-state; core unit of Greek society and politics Each polis had its own government, laws, and identity, like Athens or Sparta. |
| Athens | Maritime city-state; center of art, learning, and democracy Dominant in the 5th century BC; it led the Delian League. |
| Sparta | Militarized oligarchy led by two kings and a council Helot serfs supported its warrior society and lifelong training. |
| Athenian democracy | Direct rule by citizens via assembly, councils, and juries Reforms of Cleisthenes (508/507 BC) structured broad citizen participation. |
| Ostracism | Vote to exile a citizen for ten years in Athens A safeguard against tyranny; ballots were pottery shards (ostraka). |
| Battle of Marathon | 490 BC; Athens defeated first Persian invasion Hoplite charge broke Persian lines; the victory boosted Greek morale. |
| Battle of Thermopylae | 480 BC; Spartans and allies held a mountain pass Delayed Xerxes’ advance; remembered as a symbol of heroic resistance. |
| Battle of Salamis | 480 BC; Greek fleet crushed Persia in narrow waters Themistocles lured the larger Persian fleet into cramped straits. |
| Peloponnesian War | 431–404 BC; Sparta defeated Athens Ended Athens’ Golden Age; chronicled by Thucydides. |
| Hoplite phalanx | Dense infantry formation with shields and spears Citizen-soldiers fought shoulder to shoulder with overlapping shields. |
| Olympic Games | Panhellenic athletic festival at Olympia every four years Honored Zeus; a sacred truce (ekecheiria) allowed safe travel. |
| Socrates | Philosopher known for probing questions on ethics Tried and executed in 399 BC; known mainly through Plato and Xenophon. |
| Plato | Philosopher; founded the Academy and wrote dialogues Explored justice, forms, knowledge, and ideal states. |
| Aristotle | Philosopher; systematized logic and science; taught Alexander Founded the Lyceum; wrote on ethics, politics, biology, and more. |
| Sophocles | Tragedian; author of Oedipus Rex and Antigone Added a third actor and deepened plot complexity in Athenian tragedy. |
| Aristophanes | Comic playwright; satirized politics and society Notable works include The Clouds, The Wasps, and Lysistrata. |
| Pythagoras | Philosopher-mathematician; namesake of right-triangle theorem Led a religious-mathematical community at Croton in Magna Graecia. |
| Hippocrates | Physician; advanced rational medicine and ethics Associated with the Hippocratic Oath and careful clinical observation. |
| Euclid | Geometer; compiled Elements with axioms and proofs Elements dominated mathematics education for over two millennia. |
| Archimedes | Mathematician-engineer; buoyancy principle and levers From Syracuse; famed for “Eureka!” and ingenious war machines. |