Discovering Our Past: A History of the World

Worksheet Answer Key

Greek Civilization

Table of Contents

CHAPTER-LEVEL ACTIVITIES:
What Do You Know? Anticipation Guide.................................. 2
Vocabulary Builder Activity................................................... 2
Hands-On Chapter Project: Greek Civilization ......................... 3

LESSON-LEVEL ACTIVITIES:
Guided Reading: Lesson 1 Greek Culture................................ 3
Guided Reading: Lesson 2 The Greek Mind ............................. 5
Guided Reading: Lesson 3 Alexander’s Empire ........................ 6
Guided Reading: Lesson 4 Hellenistic Culture.......................... 6
Economics of History Activity: Lesson 1
Support for the Arts in Ancient Greece ............................. 7
21st Century Skills Activity: Lesson 2
Communication: Writing in Expository Style .................... 8
Primary Source Activity: Lesson 3
Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?............................... 8
Geography and History Activity: Lesson 3
Understanding Movement: Greek Migration ...................... 8

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Geography and History Activity: Lesson 4
Understanding Location: Hellenistic Cities ........................ 9

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Greek Civilization

CHAPTER WORKSHEETS

What Do You Know? Anticipation Guide

1. True
2. True
3. False – Greek temples with columns made of marble are examples of what is
known as the Classical architectural style.
4. True
5. False – Herodotus is known as the father of history. Hippocrates is known as the
father of medicine.
6. True
7. False – After Alexander’s death, his generals fought amongst themselves. The
empire was divided into four different kingdoms: Macedonia, Pergamum, Egypt,
and the Seleucid Empire.
8. True
9. True
10. False – Archimedes was the most famous scientist and mathematician of the
Hellenistic Era. He figured out the value of pi, studied solid geometry, and in-
vented machinery and weapons of war.

Vocabulary Builder Activity

A. Content Vocabulary

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1. Socratic method
2. Epicureanism
3. Hellenistic Era
4. myth, fable
5. oracle
6. ritual
7. drama, comedy, tragedy
8. Sophists, rhetoric
9. oral tradition
10. Hippocratic Oath
11. cavalry
12. Stoicism
13. circumference
14. solid geometry, plane geometry

B. Academic Vocabulary
1. reveal
2. conflict
3. voluntary
4. investigate
5. accurate

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6. seek
7. create
8. style
9. despite
10. method
11. community
12. pursue

C. Combined Vocabulary Reinforcement

Art and Literature: comedy, drama, fable, myth, oral tradition, style, tragedy
Philosophy, Science, Mathematics: circumference, Epicureanism, Hippocratic
Oath, investigate, method, plane geometry, rhetoric, Socratic method, solid ge-
ometry, Sophists, Stoicism
Government and War: cavalry, conflict, pursue
Religion: myth, oracle, ritual

Sentences using Vocabulary Words: Sample answer for Art and Literature: The
fables and myths of ancient Greece were passed on from one generation to the
next by being told out loud. They were part of the oral tradition. Dramas were
written down.

Hands-On Chapter Project

Greek Civilization

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Worksheet 1: Project Plan
Our group’s building model is: Groups’ selections of Greek buildings to use as
a model will vary.
Task List: Students’ task lists will vary but should be based on how the group
decides to divide up the work.
Due Date: The due date will be assigned by the instructor.

Worksheet 2: Creating a Bibliography

Sources will vary but should be formatted correctly.

Worksheet 3: Assessment Rubric

Students’ self-assessment will be based on their opinions about their performance
during the project.

LESSON WORKSHEETS

Guided Reading: Lesson 1 Greek Culture

Greek Beliefs
1. Zeus
2. the gods
3. Mt. Olympus
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Greek Civilization
4. myths
5. People came to the temple to ask questions and get prophecies. The oracle
chamber had an opening where volcanic smoke came up through a crack in the
earth. The oracle was a priestess who sat on a three-legged stool and listened to
questions and gave answers that were prophecies, often in riddles. Priests trans-
lated the oracle’s answers.
6. The Greeks honored their gods and goddesses by conducting rituals and reli-
gious ceremonies. They prayed in temples and at home and offered gifts. Every
four years, they had athletic competitions, the Olympics, to honor Zeus. They
tried to excel in everything they did in order to please their gods and goddesses.
7. Both Gods & Goddesses and Humans: got married, had children, acted like chil-
dren, looked human
Gods & Goddesses only: had great powers, could enter Mt. Olympus

Epics and Fables

8. A. fable
B. epic
C. epic
D. fable
E. epic
F. epic
G. epic
H. fable
I. fable
J. epic

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K. epic and fable
L. epic
9. Iliad: Helen is kidnapped by a prince of Troy. The Greeks attack Troy and trick
the Trojans with the Trojan horse and then rescue Helen and take her home. Od-
yssey: After the fall of Troy, Odysseus has a 10-year-long journey with lots of
adventures getting back to Greece.

The Impact of Greek Drama

10. A drama is a story that is told through the actions and spoken words of actors
who perform the drama. One type of Greek drama was a comedy, which was a
story with a happy ending. The other type of drama was a tragedy, in which a
character struggles to overcome hardships but fails, so the ending is unhappy.
11. Answers may include Aeschylus—tragedy; Sophocles—tragedy; Euripides—
tragedy; Aristophanes— comedy

Greek Art and Architecture

12. three ideals: reason, balance, and harmony
13. Greek columns

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Guided Reading: Lesson 2 The Greek Mind

Greek Thinkers
1. Philosophy is a body of knowledge found through a search for understanding
about reality and values; or the pursuit of wisdom.
2. Answers will vary, but should include four of the following items for each person
or group.
Sophists—were teachers; charged money for their teaching; taught math, sci-
ence, history; rejected idea of absolute right and wrong; did not believe gods in-
fluenced human action
Socrates—lived in Athens, taught, did not write anything down, was critical of
Sophists, believed in absolute truth, created Socratic method, was tried for urg-
ing young people to rebel, was found guilty and sentenced to death, drank poi-
son to die
Plato—was Socrates’ student, founded school called Academy in Athens, wrote
The Republic, advocated rule by philosopher kings who would place needs of
community ahead of their own needs, felt common people could not think for
themselves
Aristotle—student of Plato; studied and wrote more than 200 books on govern-
ment, astronomy, and political science; started school called Lyceum; taught the
golden mean philosophy of moderation; in his book Politics advocated system of
government combining aspects of monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy; influ-
enced the way later Europeans and Americans thought about government

New History and Science Ideas

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3. Herodotus was the first thinker to analyze events in order to explain the past.
Although he believed the gods influenced human action, he conducted careful
research and did the first investigative work to separate fact from fiction. He
questioned many people to get information and tried to find out the truth of his
sources.
4. Thucydides was different from Herodotus in that Thucydides did not believe that
the gods influenced human events. Thucydides accepted only the accounts of
actual eyewitnesses to events, and he went to battle sites and carefully exam-
ined documents. He analyzed the causes and effects of events.
5. Thales—predicted solar eclipse; Pythagoras—developed theorem used in ge-
ometry; Hippocrates— believed diseases came from natural causes
6. In order to study science in the first place, the Greeks had to start thinking that
the gods did not control and cause everything that happened. They had to start
to think that they could understand the natural world by using logic, classifying
things such as plants and animals, and investigating causes and effects. As they
studied science more, they learned some of the ways things work in the world,
and therefore their idea that the gods do not control everything turned out to be
true.

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Guided Reading: Lesson 3 Alexander’s Empire

Philip II of Macedonia
1. The Greek city-states were weak and divided from the Peloponnesian War.
2. A. bribing the leaders of some city-states to surrender; B. having some city-
states join voluntarily.
3. to destroy the Persian Empire
4. Demosthenes; tried to get Athenians to unite with other city-states to fight the
Macedonians.

Alexander Takes Over

5. Answers will vary, but accept any answer from 8 to 12 years as long as students
can provide a reasonable method they used for calculating the answer. For ex-
ample: If students subtract Alexander’s age when his father died (20) from how
old he was when he died (32), they will get 12 years. If they subtract the year
Philip died (336 B.C.) from the year Alexander died (323 B.C.), they will get 13. If
they subtract the year of Alexander’s first military victory (334 B.C.) from the year
he invaded northwest India (327 B.C.), they will get 7 years—and there are other
ways the answer could be calculated.
6. 334 B.C. Cavalry crushes Persian forces at Granicus, march across Asia Minor,
free Greek city-states.
333 B.C. Alexander and his troops fight Persians in Issus, Syria, Darius flees,
Alexander moves south along Mediterranean coast
331 B.C. Alexander conquers Egypt, builds Alexandria, invades Mesopotamia,
defeats Darius at Gaugamela.

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327 B.C. Alexander marches into northwestern India, army refuses to go farther,
starts marching toward home.
7. He destroyed the Persian Empire.

Alexander’s Legacy
8. A. the Iliad and other epics; B. courage; C. Hellenistic Era
9. His generals could not get along; they fought among themselves and divided the
empire up into 4 kingdoms.
10. Answers will vary, but accept any of the following: largest city in Mediterranean
world; had two excellent harbors; had a towering lighthouse; had a library that
contained the largest collection of writings at that time.
11. They built new cities and military posts. They encouraged Greeks and Macedo-
nians to settle in their lands. They needed architects, engineers, philosophers,
artisans, and artists. They had only people who could speak Greek in their gov-
ernments.

Guided Reading: Lesson 4 Hellenistic Culture

Hellenistic Arts
1. True
2. False - The Greek capital of Egypt was Alexandria.
3. True
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4. False - Earlier sculptors in the Golden Age of Greece had made the human form
perfect and in accord with an ideal. Hellenistic sculptors made the human form
realistic
5. True
6. c, a, b

Thinkers and Scientists

7. Epicurus / Epicureanism—Avoid pain, Avoid worry, Finding happiness is the
goal of life, Live simply, Spend time with friends.
Zeno / Stoicism—Do not be guided by emotion, Do your duty, Find happiness
through using reason, Serve your community, Use sound thinking to make de-
cisions.
8. Astronomy—Aristarchus discovered that the sun was at the center of the uni-
verse, that Earth circled the sun. Eratosthenes discovered that Earth was
round, measured Earth’s circumference, measured distance to sun and moon,
concluded that sun was larger than Earth and moon.
Mathematics—Euclid described plane geometry. Archimedes worked on solid
geometry, figured out value of pi.

Greece and Rome

9. Answers may include the following: The four kingdoms of Alexander’s Empire
fought wars with each other. Macedonia could not keep city-states permanently
under control. City-states that were independent did not have strong armies.
Rome took over the Greek lands in southern Italy. Greeks supported Rome’s
enemies, but failed to stop Rome.

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Economics of History Activity: Lesson 1
Support for the Arts in Ancient Greece

1. The two main sources of support for artists were the government and wealthy
citizens.
2. They invested in works of art for the purpose of self-glorification— demonstrate
their wealth and importance.
3. It was important for the government to support artists because most of the art
was for the public. Buildings, statues, plays, and paintings were created for a
religious purpose or to glorify the state, so it was up to the government to provide
money for the artists to do their work.
4. Some of the Hellenistic kings wanted secular art rather than art with a religious
purpose. They commissioned art to be created for their own self-glorification or
just as a display of beauty. Athletes also commissioned art to honor their own
achievements.

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21st Century Skills Activity: Lesson 2

Communication: Writing in Expository Style

1. The purpose of government as described by Aristotle was almost exactly the

same as the purpose stated in the Constitution. Aristotle said the purpose of gov-
ernment was to promote the good life, and the Constitution says to “promote the
general welfare” as one of the purposes of government.
2. In both Aristotle’s ideal state and in the U.S. Constitution, neither women nor
slaves have any rights to vote or to participate in government.

Applying the Skill

Students’ essays will vary. Each essay should incorporate most of the facts listed
about Aristotle and the Founders. Each paragraph should have a main idea and
supporting details.

Primary Source Activity: Lesson 3

Alexander the Great: Hero or Villain?
1. more than 13,000
2. Alexander sold the women and children of Tyre into slavery.
3. The Tyrians were brave. Diodorus says they kept fighting and encouraging each
other, even after Alexander’s soldiers had captured the city. The Tyrians did not
give up or surrender even though more than 7,000 of them died.

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4. Alexander is known as “the Great” because he was a great general—he con-
quered almost all the known world. He is also considered to have been a great
ruler and king. He brought Greek culture to the lands he conquered, and he built
new cities.
5. Answers will vary. Sample answer: The reading shows that Alexander was defi-
nitely a great general. He was brilliant in thinking up war strategy and he inspired
his men to follow him. He was responsible for the deaths of nine or ten thousand
people. The Tyrians might have been able to save themselves by surrendering
rather than fighting, but after the fighting stopped and Alexander had won the
battle he had more than two thousand men of military age murdered. I think he
was cruel to have those men killed after the fighting was over, and I think he was
cruel to sell all the women and children into slavery. To me, that is not “great,”
but in terms of being a good conqueror, he may have been great.

Geography and History Activity: Lesson 3

Understanding Movement: Greek Migration

1. Aegean Sea, Ionian Sea, Mediterranean Sea

2. Alexander the Great and his men
3. Greek and Macedonian veterans settled in garrisons built by Hellenistic kings

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and brought Greek culture with them; Hellenistic rulers and wealthy citizens
wanted Greek-style cities; artists, sculptors, and architects came from Greece to
help build cities; painters, playwrights, poets, writers, historians, and philoso-
phers came to live in the cities.
4. With a shared standard for gold and silver, people in different countries could
trade with each other without having to change their money or figure out how
much one kind of money was worth compared to another kind.
5. Greece’s location on the Mediterranean, Ionian, and Aegean Seas made travel
relatively easy for the Greeks. The Greek mainland was not rich in resources, so
the Greeks conquered other lands all around the shores of the seas that bor-
dered the Greek mainland and surrounded the Greek islands. They established
a pattern of traveling and conquering foreign lands, so when Alexander defeated
the Persian Empire, spreading their culture to the lands he conquered came
naturally to the Greeks.

Geography and History Activity: Lesson 4

Understanding Location: Hellenistic Cities
1. the Mediterranean Sea
2. location on the Mediterranean Sea; its location near the Nile River
3. Alexander had instilled in his generals the idea that they were heroic and larger
than life, and these ideas were reflected in the art and architecture of the times.
The architecture featured massive structures. The sculptures were of giant,
strong heroic figures showing deep passion and emotion and vigorous action.

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4. The Hellenistic style of art and architecture reflected the wider perspective of
people who were connected to a larger geographic area than the area of Greece
in the earlier Classical times. The Hellenistic style was more varied. It also re-
flected the heroic ideas of Alexander and his generals. The buildings and sculp-
tures were often huge and expressed strong emotion and passion.
5. The Hellenistic cities were all connected to each other by a shared culture, con-
nected by networks of trade. They all imported Greek culture, and the citizens
and rulers wanted their cities to be cultural centers like Athens and other Greek
cities.

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