2. Review Questions
1. Describe the Minoan civilization of Crete.
How did the later Bronze Age Mycenaean
civilization differ from the Minoan
civilization in political organization, art
motifs, and military posture? How
valuable are the Homeric epics as
sources of early Greek history?

3. Review Questions
2. Define the concept of polis. What role did
geography play in its development, and
why did the Greeks consider it a unique
and valuable institution?

4. Review Questions
3. Compare the fundamental political, social,
and economic institutions of Athens and
Sparta about 500 B.C.E. Why did Sparta
develop its unique form of government?
What were the main stages in the
transformation of Athens from an
aristocratic state to a democracy between
600 and 500 B.C.E.?

5. Review Questions
4. Why did the Greeks and Persians go to
war in 490 and 480 B.C.E.? What benefit
could the Persians have derived from
conquering Greece? Why were the
Greeks able to defeat the Persians, and
how did they benefit from the victory?

6. Review Questions
5. How was the Delian League transformed
into the Athenian Empire during the fifth
century B.C.E.? Did the empire offer any
advantages to its subjects? Why was
there such resistance to Athenian efforts
to unify the Greek world in the fifth and
fourth centuries B.C.E.?

7. Review Questions
6. Why did Athens and Sparta come to
blows in the Great Peloponnesian War?
What was each side’s strategy for
victory? Why did Sparta win the war?

8. Review Questions
7. Using examples from art, literature, and
philosophy, explain the tension that
characterized Greek life and thought in
the Classical period. How does Hellenistic
art differ from that of the Classical period?

9. Review Questions
8. Between 431 and 362 B.C.E. Athens, Sparta,
and Thebes each tried to impose hegemony
over the city-states of Greece, but none
succeeded except for short periods of time.
Why did each state fail? How was Philip II of
Macedon able to conquer Greece? Where does
more of the credit for Philip’s success lie: in
Macedon’s strength or in the weakness of the
Greek city-states? What does your analysis
reveal about the components of successful
rule?

10. Review Questions
9. What were the major consequences of
Alexander’s death? Assess the
achievements of Alexander. Was he a
conscious promoter of Greek civilization,
or just an egomaniac drunk with a lust for
conquest?