Chapter 4.

1
Greek City-States
1 Markers:
Question 1.
Which is the most ancient civilization of Europe?
Answer:
Greek civilization is the most ancient civilization of Europe.

Question 2.
What is the meaning of the word ‘Hellenes’?
Answer:
Ancient Greeks were called ‘Hellenes’, as they claimed descent from a common ancestor,
Hellenes.

Question 3.
In which civilization do we find City-States?
Answer:
We find City-States in the Greek civilization.

Question 4.
In which City-State of Greece did democracy develop?
Answer:
Athens was the City-State of Greece were democracy developed.

Question 5.
Whose period is popularly called as the ‘Golden Age’ of Athens?
Answer:
Pericles’ period is popularly called as the ‘Golden Age’ of Athens.
Question 6.
Who is called as the father of Medicine?
Answer:
Hippocrates is regarded as the father of medicine.

Question 7.
Between whom was the Peloponnesian wars fought?
Answer:
The Peloponnesian wars took place between Sparta and Athens.

Question 8.
Name the battle in which Alexander defeated Porus.
Answer:
Alexander defeated Porus in the battle of Hydaspes or battle of Jhelum (326 B.C.E).

Question 9.
Which Indian King defeated Seleucus?
Answer:
Chandra Gupta Maurya was the Indian King who defeated Seleucus.

Question 10.
Who was Euripides?
Answer:
Euripides was a Greek dramatist who specialised in tragic plays.

Question 11.
Who was the author of the book ‘Peloponnesian wars’?
Answer:
Thucydides was the author of the book ‘Peloponnesian wars’.

Question 12.
Who wrote the book ‘The Republic’?
Answer:
Plato wrote the book ‘The Republic’.

Question 13.
In which year did the Olympic Games begin?
Answer:
The Olympic Games began in 776 BC.

2 markers:
Question 1.
Name any two City-States of ancient Greece.
Answer:
Sparta, Athens, Macedonia, Corinth, and Thebes were the important City-States.

Question 2.
Name any two reforms introduced by Solon.
Answer:
He helped Athenian merchants by introducing Coin-Currency and encouraged foreign artisans to
settle in Athens. He brought about a system by which the people as a whole gained the power of
electing their magistrates and judging their work. His reforms benefitted both middle and poor
class Athenians.

Question 3.
Mention any two reforms of Cleisthenes.
Answer:
Cleisthenes, from an influential family, broke the power of the ruling clans by granting
citizenship rights to male adults. Thus poor people also got the right to vote. He reorganized the
state on a democratic trend.
Question 4.
Where is the Parthenon temple? Who built it?
Answer:
Parthenon temple is in Athens. It was built by Pericles.

Question 5.
Name any two Dramatists of Periclean age.
Answer:
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the Dramatists of Periclean age.

Question 6.
Name any two important Historians of Periclean Age.
Answer:
Herodotus (485-425 B.C.E) who is regarded as the father of history and Thucydides (471¬400
B.C.E) were two important Historians of the Periclean Age.

Question 7.
Name any two battles in which Alexander defeated the Persians.
Answer:
Alexander with his 35,000 soldiers, marched against the Persian empire. He defeated them in the
battles of Granicus, Issus, and Arable.

Question 8.
Which are the two works of Homer?
Answer:
‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ were two of the works of Homer.
Question 9.
Who were the two lyric Poets of Greek Civilization?
Answer:
Pindar and Sappo were the two lyric Poets of Greek Civilization.

Question 10.
Name the two works of Aeschylus.
Answer:
‘Prometheus Bound’ and ‘Agamemnon’ were two of the works of Aeschylus.

Question 11.
Mention any two works of Sophocles.
Answer:
‘Oedipus Rex’, ‘Antigone’ and ‘Electra’ were the works of Sophocles.

Question 12.
Who were the famous mathematicians of ancient Greece?
Answer:
Pythagoras and Euclid who had made many contributions to mathematics, especially to
Geometry were the famous mathematicians.

Question 13.
Mention any two styles of ancient Greek Architecture.
Answer:
Doric, Ionic, and the Corinthian were the styles of ancient Greek Architecture.
Question 14.
Mention any two important Philosophers of ancient Greece.
Answer:
The most famous Philosophers of ancient Greece were Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

Question 15.
Mention any two works of Plato.
Answer:
‘Republic’ and ‘The laws’ are two works of Plato.

Question 16.
Mention any two works of Aristotle.
Answer:
His important works are ‘The Politics’ and ‘History of animals’.

5 Markers:
Question 1.
Write a short note on City-States of ancient Greece.
Answer:
The city-state was the outstanding political achievement of the Greeks. Topographical features of
the country and the tribal characteristics of the people were important factors in the development
of the City-States. The Polis originated as a fortified site but later was interpreted as a Sovereign
State. It included the fort, the city, and the surrounding country side. Around 800 B.C.E, a group
of Greek villages began joining into larger units to form City-States.
At the highest point in a city-state, an Acropolis or Citadel was built for defence and the city
spread around the Acropolis. Sparta, Athens, Macedonia, Corinth, and Thebes were important
City-States. Though the Greek City-States were independent, jealous and quarrelsome, all the
Greeks strongly believed that they were all Hellenes. Another bond that united them was the
common language and literature. One more factor that united them was the worship of Gods like
Zeus, Apollo, and Athena.

Question 2.
Explain briefly how democracy developed in Athens.
Answer:
At first, the City-States were ruled by Monarchs. Each Monarch began to govern his City State
with the assistance of a council, consisting of nobles. Then wealthy land owners took over the
political power and abolished Monarchy. With the increase in the population of the cities, trade,
commerce and industry expanded and middle class developed.
This class joined with poor farmers to lessen the power of the land owners. This conflict resulted
in the rise of. ‘Dictators’ or ‘Tyrants’ as Greeks called them. But there were changes particularly
with regard to Sparta and Athens. Sparta turned into a Military State, her government was ruled
by few nobles. Two of these nobles became Kings.
Athens registered a remarkable progress in Politics, Laws, Literature, Art, Science and
Philosophy. Athenians were fond of trying political experiments. Monarchy and Oligarchy did
not suit their temperament. So they discarded them. With the contributions of law givers like
Draco, Solon, and Cleisthenes, democracy came into existence at Athens.

Question 3.
Why is the Periclean age called as the Golden Age?
Answer:
Athenian democracy reached its greatest height, under the leadership of Pericles. He was a great
radical in politics. It was he who completed the work of laying the foundation for democracy in
Athens. He deprived the ‘Areopagus’ of its political powers and transferred the same to the
council of five hundred. This body suggested measures to the Acclesia the assembly. It was
freely discussed by all the citizens of Athens and laws were passed.
Another important feature of the Periclean age was the jury system. Every year about 5000 jurors
were elected for a term of one year. Being a great lover of democracy, he wanted even the
poorest citizen to take an interest in political affairs. This is what we call today, the Direct
Democracy.
Athens which was destroyed during the Persian war was rebuilt by Pericles. Athens became a
centre of progress in art and architecture. Very large public buildings were constructed, which
beautified Athens. The famous Parthenon or the temple of Virgin was built of coloured marble
stones. It was the most beautiful temple. Pericles also patronized music.
To protect his beautiful city from foreign invaders, he built Tong walls’ connecting the city with
the port Piraeus. The age of Pericles produced great Philosophers like Socrates and his pupil,
Plato. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the dramatists of Periclean age. Hippocrates is
regarded as the ‘Father of Medicine’. Herodotus is regarded as ‘The Father of History’.
Thucydides was another famous historian of the Periclean age. Sappho and Pindar lived during
this period. Periclean age of Athens is regarded as the ‘School of Hellas’ and ‘The Golden Age’.

10 Markers:
Question 1.
Discuss the contributions of Greeks.
Answer:
a. Cultural Contributions:
The Greeks contributed to human civilization immensely. They believed in the principles of a
sound mind in a sound body. They imagined the human body as a thing of beauty and had great
curiosity and thirst for knowledge. They made great contributions to Literature, Sports,
Philosophy, Politics, Ethics, Science, Music, Drama, Religion, Art and Architecture. Greek
ideology so completely dominated European culture that, the western culture today is
predominantly Hellenic in its inspiration and ideas. So the legacy of Greece is vital and
universal.
b. Literature:
In the field of literature, Greeks contributed to Epics, Poetry, Drama and History. ‘Iliad’ and
‘Odyssey’ are the two works of Homer. These epics give us a fairly faithful account of the social,
economic and political conditions of early Greek culture. The shorter Greek poems were called
Lyrics, as they were primarily sung to the music of lyres. Pindar and Sappo the poetess were two
great lyric poets of Greek Civilization.
The drama is the most familiar of the Greek forms of literature. The founder of Greek tragedy
was Aeschylus, author of Prometheus Bound’ and ‘Agamemnon’. Sophocles, the greatest of the
Greek tragedians, wrote ‘Oedipus Rex’, ‘Antigone’ and ‘Electra’. These plays are admired all
over the world even today. Euripides the third of the great tragic poets, believed that in life
people were more important than Gods. Hence he concerned himself with the passions and.
emotions of human beings. One of his best-known plays is the ‘Trojan women’. Aristophanes
was the greatest comic poet. Famous historians of the period were Herodotus, Thucydides, and
Plutarch. Demosthenes was famous for his oratory skills, the art of making public speeches.
c. Science:
Greek philosophers furnished the impetus for the beginning of the study of science. Aristotle laid
the foundation for the study of natural science. Theophrastus established Botany as a recognized
science. Hippocrates known as the ‘Father of Medicine’ laid the foundations. of modern
medicine. He taught that diseases have a natural origin and not caused by evil spirits. Herophilus
is called as the ‘Father of Anatomy’.
Ptolemy believed that the Earth was the centre of the Universe. But Aristarchus propounded the
theory that Earth and other planets, revolved around the Sun. Eratosthenes calculated the
approximate circumference of earth within a small error of 320 Kilometers. He also prepared a
fairly accurate map of the world and he was the first to suggest that one could reach India from
Europe by sailing westwards. Pythagoras and Euclid made many contributions to mathematics,
especially to Geometry. Archimedes was also a famous scientist of ancient Greece.
d. Art and architecture:
In the early times, the Greeks used wood, and later they used sun-dried bricks and marbles to
build their temples. Greek architecture consists of three styles viz., Doric, Ionic, and the
Corinthian styles. The Parthenon is said to be the most beautiful temple ever built out of the
coloured marble stones. A tall marble statue of Goddess Athena carved by Phidias is inside the
temple. The temple consists of 46 Doric columns, each 34 feet high Actinus, the famous architect
of this temple blended Doric, Ionian, and Corinthian styles to make this temple a wonder of the
world.
It was built by King Pericles. Alexander’s conquest initiated several centuries of cultural
exchange between Greece and Central Asia. The Gandhara art in Ancient India developed due to
Greek influence. The Greeks expressed the human values like beauty and courage in their
sculptures. They portrayed naked, well-built and muscular bodies. Even Gods were portrayed as
human beings. Myron and Philidias were the best-known sculptors. Greeks also excelled in
Paintings on vases.