Special Sub-Topic: Greeks: From Troy to Rome Click Here To Play: Greeks: From Troy to Rome

In one of the pivotal battles of the ancient world, 300 Spartans held a mountain pass against a Persian army of thousands. At the end, every Spartan lay dead, but precious time had been gained for the rest of the Greek army. Name the battle.

Thermopylae. Just about everything we know about this battle comes from the historian Herodotus, who tended to exaggerate quite a bit (especially describing how brave and good-looking all Greek soldiers were), but seems to be right on this.

What king led the Spartans in the battle described in Question 1, a famous suicidal stand against the Persians?

Leonidas. There's a story that an oracle had prophesied, before the battle, that either a king would fall or his kingdom. Leonidas, acting on this prediction, chose the suicide mission at Thermopylae so that the city-state of Sparta would survive.

According to legend, the kidnapping of what woman led to the Trojan War?

Helen & Helena & Helen of Troy & Helen of Sparta. She had been promised to Paris, Prince of Troy, by the goddess Aphrodite, in exchange for his declaring her the loveliest goddess of all. According to Giradoux's 'The Trojan War Will Not Take Place,' the abduction occurred while Helen was bathing. (She was married to Menelaus, King of Sparta, which is why there was such a big fuss.)

Name the poet who immortalized the Trojan War and its effects in 'The Iliad' and 'The Odyssey'.

Homer. Legend says that Homer was blind. Some say that the 'blind bard' did not actually write those epics -- but someone had to, right? Why not call him Homer?

Speaking of Troy: in the nineteenth century, what archeologist defied scientific opinion and dug near the Hellespont, discovering the remains of a great city believed to have been Troy?

Schliemann. Many of these prominent archeologists were seen eating crow the day after the discovery.

It seems like the Greeks were always fighting the Persians and winning, but once, the Persians almost won. What desperate naval battle saved the people of Athens and of Greece?

Salamis. Athens had already been burned, but after the war it was rebuilt more beautifully than before. The men of the city had left it defenseless so that they could trap the Persian navy; women, children, and the elderly had been evacuated.

What Athenian politician suggested the strategy that enabled the battle in Question 6, the most celebrated naval battle of the Persian Wars?

Themistocles. And the people of Athens voted in favor of it.

Who devised the laws that would later govern Sparta?

Lycurgus. According to legend, after Lycurgus developed his code he starved himself to death so as to leave more food for Sparta.

Despite the power of their army, the Spartans lived in constant terror of an uprising of their slaves, who outnumbered them 8 to 1. What were these slaves called?

helots & helot & ilotes. The helots ("ilotes" in Greek) hailed from a fertile region called Messenia, conquered by the Spartans in about 725 B.C.

Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, was king of what nation?

Macedon. He conquered Greece. The Greeks had pioneered the idea of phalanxes -- eight-rank formations of hoplites (citizen-soldiers) armed with spears -- but Philip II was able to crush Greek phalanxes by using 16 ranks in his own.

Alexander the Great had a famous horse after whom he named a city in India. What was the horse's name?

Bucephalus. The city on the Indus river was called Bucephala.

Through what defensive alliance of Greek city-states, established just after the Persian wars, did the Athenian statesmen Pericles divert funds for the beautification of Athens?

Delian League. It was with these funds that the Parthenon was built.

Once Athens's embezzlement from the above league became apparent, Sparta led other city-states in what successful war against Athens?

Peloponnesian War. Sparta was helped by a plague in Athens -- which killed Pericles -- and an overwhelming victory in Sicily.

What historian told the story of the war in Question 13?

Thucydides. His book was entitled 'History of the Peloponnesian War.'

What Athenian philosopher, who pioneered the technique of teaching by asking questions, was put to death with a poison made of hemlock?

Socrates. His question-asking style is called the Socratic Method.

What playwright wrote the first great Greek comedies, such as 'Lysistrata'?

Aristophanes. Before the Peloponnesian War, Athenians were mainly interested in tragedies. Afterwards, Aristophanes was able to find an audience for his plays.

Who wrote the 'Oedipus' trilogy, about a man doomed by fate who killed his father and married his mother?

Sophocles & Aeschylus. Sophocles's 'Oedipus' trilogy, consisting of the plays 'Antigone', 'Oedipus Rex', and 'Oedipus at Colonna' and written over a period of 35 years, are a favorite of high-school drama classes. Aeschylus, perhaps better known for his 'Oresteia' trilogy about another cursed and dysfunctional royal family, also wrote an 'Oedipus' trilogy, but only the last of those plays -- 'Seven Against Thebes' -- still survives, the first two ('Laius' and 'Oedipus' having been lost to the ravages of time.

Who wrote 'The Republic' and 'The Apology'?

Plato. Plato was one of the pioneers of the idea of a utopian society.

A Greek mathematician was killed by a Roman soldier when the Greek's city was conquered. Hard at work on a problem, the mathematician would not get up, and said to the soldier, 'Don't disturb my circles.' In a rage, the soldier ended the life of what brilliant man who calculated pi and first realized the uses of a lever?

Archimedes. In the battle of Syracuse, Archimedes was said to have invented a mirror array that reflected and focused the sun's rays onto the enemy ships -- setting them on fire.

In an event familiar to all high school math students (who repeat the calculations, again and again), what Greek scholar calculated the circumference of the Earth with amazing accuracy?

Eratosthenes. He did it by comparing the shadows in different cities at noon on the summer solstice, measuring the distance between the two cities, and extrapolating how many times longer the circumference of the globe must be.