History 101: Western Civilization Classical Greek Civilization: Study Questions

2. Cosmologists were so named because they
a.  were interested in astrology.
b.  wanted to learn why nature came to be the way it was.
c.  followed the dictates of their leader, Cosmo Kramer.
d.  were philosophers who wanted to understand the meaning of truth

3. Thales of Miletus believed that the basic element in nature was
a. fire
b. water
c. money
d. the city

4. Which of the following was NOT one of the early Ionian cosmologists?
a. Thales
b. Anaximander
c. Alexander
d. Anaximenes

5. Followers of this Greek thinker, who lived in southern Italy, thought that mathematics formed the core of things
a. Demosthenes
b. Pericles
c. Thucydides
d. Pythagoras

6. The philosopher Parmenides thought that
a. nature was continuously changing
b. the senses were the best guide to knowledge
c. all the universe was one, eternal, and unchanging
d. ultimate Truth could never be known

7. Which of the following speculated that the world was composed of atoms?
a.  Democritus
b.  Parmenides
c.  Thales
d.  Pythagoras

8. The Greek thinker who taught medicine was
a. Plato
b. Anaximander
c. Pythagoras
d. Hippocrates

9. Who wrote "Greeks were born to rule barbarians"?
a.  Aeschylus
b.  Aristophanes
c.  Euripides
d.  Alexander

10. _____ True or False: Sophists would agree with the above (#9).

11. What is the best description of the beliefs of the Sophists?
a. it was possible to know first principles of the universe
b. slavery was justifiable because non-Greeks were slaves by nature
c. philosophical truth is relative--"man is the measure of all things."
d. divinely created religion was the source of all law

12. _____ True or False: Socrates would agree with the Sophists.

13. According to Socrates, the essential source of knowledge was
a. solitary meditation
b. a dialogue between people
c. a lecture by a philosopher
d. a multiple-choice quiz

14. Socrates was mainly concerned with
a. teaching respect for authority
b. the perfection of the individual character
c. encouraging worship of the gods
d. all of the above

15. What happened to Socrates?
a. he was tried and executed by the Athenians
b. he became ruler of Athens
c. he became very wealthy from teaching and retired to an island in the Aegean
d. he became tutor to Alexander the Great

16. Socrates' most important student was
a. Thucydides
b. Plato
c. Diogenes
d. Zeno

17. Plato believed that ultimate reality
a. could be known through the senses
b. did not exist
c. existed only in the realm of ideas
d. was unknowable and therefore unimportant

18. Plato's greatest dialogue was
a. The Republic
b. History of the Persian Wars
c. Metamorphosis
d. Meditations on Reality

19. Plato believed that individuals could best achieve a moral, effective existence
a. by supporting Athenian leaders in the Peloponnesian War
b. by participating as citizens in a just and rational state
c. by making Athens more democratic
d. by giving power to the average person

20. What was Plato's attitude toward Athenian democracy?
a. he did not like it
b. he believed it to be the best form of government
c. though imperfect, he thought it basically good
d. he thought Athens was not democratic enough

21. How did Aristotle differ from Plato?
a. Aristotle emphasized universals more than Plato
b. Aristotle did not believe in Plato's universals
c. Aristotle thought universals could be known through experience
d. Aristotle did not differ from Plato

22. Aristotle believed the "best political community" should be composed of
a.  both men and women.
b.  the middle class.
c.  an oligarchy of the best citizens.
d.  intellectuals.

23. Which of the following was NOT an ancient Greek dramatist?
a. Aeschylus
b. Agamemmnon
c. Sophocles
d. Euripedes

24. Antigone incurs the wrath of her uncle when she
a. joins the rebel troops
b. wears makeup to a funeral
c. refuses to attend her brother's funeral
d. buries her brother

25. In The Clouds, Aristophanes makes fun of
a. Sophocles
b. Socrates
c. Hippocrates
d. Pericles

26. Thucydides thought that history
a. reflected the actions of the gods
b. was unrelated to politics
c. was determined by human actions and social forces
d. all of the above

27. The Greek historian, known as "the Father of History," who wrote The Histories dealing with the Persian Wars was
a. Policratus
b. Hippocrates
c. Aristotle
d. Herodotus

28. Basic to Greek discussions of man and society was the concept of arete, or
a. money
b. excellence
c. reading
d. caution

29. In The Republic, Plato advocated rule by
a. the people
b. priests
c. nobles
d. a philosopher-king

30. Aristotle can best be seen as
a. a strict Platonist
b. a sophistical relativist
c. a synthesis of Plato's universals and Democritian materialism
d. none of the above