Classical Greece: Society and Culture

What were some different ways through which religion was expressed in Greece?

Choose all answers that apply:

• sporting events

• festivals

• fortifications

Which of these choices best describes ancient Greece?

• a network of similar city-states often separated by geographic barriers

• a nation fully unified by roadways and common language

• a society that valued the Olympic Games above all else

he main purpose of the agora was to

• create a shared space that helped cement a social identity

• limit interactions between the wealthy elite and the poor

• keep members of a polis confined to the city and not living in the surrounding farm area

Before answering the next question, please re-read the following excerpt from this article.

"Religion was also an important component in Greek life. In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. It revolved around myths which explained the origins of mankind and gave the gods a human face. As temples dominated the urban landscape, with frequent city festivals and national sporting and artistic competitions, religion was never far from the mind of an ancient Greek. While the individual may have made up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may have been completely skeptical, certain fundamentals must have been sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to function: the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

The temple was the place where, on special occasions, religion took on a more formal tone. Gods were worshipped at sacred sites and temples in all major Greek communities in ceremonies carried out by priests and their attendants."

Which of the author’s statements provides the best evidence for the argument that similarities in religious belief unified Greece?

• “. . . the individual may have made up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may have been completely skeptical . . .”

• “It revolved around myths which explained the origins of mankind and gave the gods a human face.”

• “. . . certain fundamentals must have been sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to function . . .”

• “Religion was also an important component in Greek life.”

Before answering the next question, please re-read the following excerpt from this article.

"Religion was also an important component in Greek life. In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. It revolved around myths which explained the origins of mankind and gave the gods a human face. As temples dominated the urban landscape, with frequent city festivals and national sporting and artistic competitions, religion was never far from the mind of an ancient Greek. While the individual may have made up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may have been completely skeptical, certain fundamentals must have been sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to function: the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

The temple was the place where, on special occasions, religion took on a more formal tone. Gods were worshipped at sacred sites and temples in all major Greek communities in ceremonies carried out by priests and their attendants."

How do you think the author would most likely respond to the question “Did ancient Greece have a unified culture?”

• It didn’t; Greek city-states were separated from each other geographically.

• It didn’t; people had a variety of different ideas.

• It did; basic similarities in religious belief unified Greece.

• It did; people were unified solely by their love of sports and competition.

Before answering the next question, please re-read the following excerpt from this article.

"Religion was also an important component in Greek life. In the ancient Greek world, religion was personal, direct, and present in all areas of life. It revolved around myths which explained the origins of mankind and gave the gods a human face. As temples dominated the urban landscape, with frequent city festivals and national sporting and artistic competitions, religion was never far from the mind of an ancient Greek. While the individual may have made up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief and some may have been completely skeptical, certain fundamentals must have been sufficiently widespread in order for Greek government and society to function: the gods existed, they could influence human affairs, and they welcomed and responded to acts of piety and worship.

The temple was the place where, on special occasions, religion took on a more formal tone. Gods were worshipped at sacred sites and temples in all major Greek communities in ceremonies carried out by priests and their attendants."

The author most likely mentions that Greek religious myths “gave the gods a human face” in order to

• suggest that sculptures and other visual representations of gods were important.

• indicate a shift from abstract to concrete religious thought and practice.

• make it harder for individuals to “ma[k]e up their own mind on the degree of their religious belief”.

• show that ancient Greeks may have found the religion easily relatable.

Read the passage below and answer the question.

"But is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right, or rather is not all slavery a violation of nature? There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule....Again, the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind."

From Aristotle: Politics: On Slavery, written c. 330 BCE

Aristotle’s views are best understood in the context of which of the following ideas in Ancient Greece?

• The ideas of philosophers were not directly related to real-world events

• The problems that came from social inequality were challenged by many people

• The use of empirical observation was the best way to study the natural world

• The distribution of political power and social hierarchy reflected the natural order

Read the passage below and answer the question.

“I suppose if [Sparta] were to become desolate, and [only] the temples and the foundations of the public buildings were left . . . [people would not believe the extent of] her power. Even though [the Spartans] occupy two-fifths of Peloponnese and lead the whole . . . [with] numerous allies beyond . . . because the city is neither built in a compact form, nor is it adorned with magnificent temples and public edifices (but instead is composed of villages after the old fashion of Hellas) there would be an impression of inadequacy. . . If Athens were to suffer the same misfortune, I suppose that any inference would make her power seem twice as great as it is.”

From: Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War.

Which of the following could be used as evidence to support why the cities of Sparta and Athens looked so different, despite both being powerful states?

• Thucydides was from Athens, so he invented the differences to insult Sparta

• Sparta’s empire relied economically less on trade than did Athens’s empire

• Social hierarchies between citizens and unfree workers existed in Sparta, but not Athens

• Unlike Athens, Sparta had allies to trade with, so the city didn't need to develop itself

Read the passage below and answer the question.

”It is clear then that those constitutions that aim at the common advantage are in effect rightly framed in accordance with absolute justice, while those that aim at the rulers' own advantage only are faulty, and are all of them deviations from the right constitutions; for they have an element of despotism, whereas a city-state is a partnership of free men.”

From Aristotle, Politics

Aristotle advocated an approach to governance most similar to the government of which of the following?

• Roman Empire

• Athens

• Achaemenid Persia

• Sparta

Read the passage below and answer the question.

"Is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right? Or, rather, is not all slavery a violation of nature? There is no difficulty in answering this question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule . . . Again, the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled; this principle, of necessity, extends to all mankind."

From Aristotle, Politics: On Slavery, written c. 330 BCE

The views expressed in the excerpt are best seen as evidence of which of the following in ancient Greek society?

• Most enslaved people were women

• Specialization created defined social hierarchies

• Women had limited property rights

• Men and women had unequal power