Quiz and Ancient Greece

 Ancient Greece History

Main Points

Crete: the city had its own navy and writing system. The city fell after the eruption of a volcano. After that it was invaded by warrior like tribes. A new language emerges which is considered an early form of Greek.

Newer Cities: Walled cities like Thebes, Athens, Mycenae, Milos, were built. Life then was not peaceful. To them there was no account of precious civilizations but the Greeks.

Greeks Appropriate Everything: Greeks expand all over the seas. As a result trade grew. There often attacks by barbarian tribes.

Literacy Fell into Oblivion: But we have Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. The Iliad is paired with something of a sequel, the Odyssey, also attributed to Homer. Along with the Odyssey, the Iliad is among the oldest extant works of Western literature, and its written version is usually dated to around the 8th century BC. Ironically, Homer's characters were illiterate. During this period also Mycenae was destroyed by the Dorians who kept from Greek culture their ships and pottery.

Greeks Borrow their Alphabet: Greek alphabet is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the first alphabetic script in history to have distinct letters for vowels as well as consonants.

Ancient Greece is Born: Formed by independent cities (polis), imported everything until they began to harvest outside their territories. Expansion and colonization followed all the way to the Italian peninsula. It is here where the alphabet of what would become Latin was born.

Greeks Settled Across the Mediterranean: According to Plato, Greeks expand all over the Mediterranean. Athens and Sparta do not participate in this expansion. Spartans were descendants of the Dorians who destroyed Mycenae.

Athens vs. Sparta: The two cities were very different. Spartans conquered and prevented uprising while Athens developed democracy as a result of the people and the aristocrats coming to terms with each other.  Tyrants, who were aristocrats took and retained power. They drove away the aristocrats from the polis. To distract people from this actions, they celebrate new festivals and cults. Once the tyrants were overthrown, the aristocrats return and negotiate with the people, which gave birth to Greek democracy.

Quiz (10 points  each)


1. Why dance important in the Neolithic?

2. What is trance?

3. What is the difference between trance and ceremony?

4. How do we know there was dance in Ancient Egypt?

5. Who was Ishtar? Why is she considered an archetype?

6. Why could yoga be considered a form of cultural retention?

7. What is the importance of yoga for dance?

8. Explain the concept of flow from a Tai Chi (Taiji) point of view?

9. Explain the following statement:

10. "Tai Chi is powerful, peaceful and beautiful"

    What dance exercise have you liked best so far and why?