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Famous Ancient Greek People

Based on a clue, can you name these famous Greek speaking people from the ancient world?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 2, 2021
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First submittedNovember 2, 2021
Times taken12,442
Average score55.0%
Rating4.48
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Clue
Answer
Blind poet who supposedly wrote "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"
Homer
Philosopher who drank hemlock when convicted of corrupting the youth of Athens
Socrates
Founder of the Academy of Athens
Plato
Philosopher who has been called the father of logic, biology, rhetoric, and more
Aristotle
She was the last active pharaoh of Egypt
Cleopatra
"Great" conqueror of Persia
Alexander the Great
Father of the above, king of Macedon
Philip II
Mother of the conqueror, who claimed the actual father was Zeus
Olympias
A2 + B2 = C2, he theorized
Pythagoras
Known as the father of history (and also the father of lies)
Herodotus
King who led 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae
Leonidas
Philosopher who commanded the "the ten thousand" Greek mercenaries
Xenophon
His many fables include "The Tortoise and the Hare"
Aesop
Known as the father of geometry
Euclid
Inventor who cried "Eureka!" while sitting in the bathtub
Archimedes
General who was the "first citizen" of Athens during its Golden Age
Pericles
He coined an oath for doctors which is still in use today
Hippocrates
Poet born on Lesbos from whom the term "lesbian" takes its modern connotation
Sappho
Most influential astronomer in history until Copernicus came along
Ptolemy
Playwright who wrote "Antigone" and "Oedipus Rex"
Sophocles
+2
Level 72
Nov 3, 2021
Great snapshot!
+3
Level 78
Nov 3, 2021
Nice spread of questions. 16/20 on my first effort.
+3
Level 75
Nov 5, 2021
Pythagoras didn't "theorize", he demonstrated or proved.
+3
Level 92
Nov 18, 2021
And yet, it's called the Pythagorean Theorem. In mathematics, a theory is a coherent, sizable group of results within a field of study, and should not be understood as a scientific theory, which is yet to be proven.

Also, it's not universally true as it doesn't hold in non-Euclidean geometries, so there may be resistance to calling it a law on that front.

+1
Level 76
Feb 22, 2022
That definition you gave for maths also applies to scientific theory.
+1
Level 77
Dec 29, 2021
Wouldn’t the issue be that Pythagoras was probably not a real person?
+2
Level 57
Dec 29, 2021
I thought we left the "nobody in history was real" tropes back in 2015
+1
Level 77
Dec 29, 2021
I’m pretty sure 2015 wasn’t real. Seriously though, look into Pythagoras. The theorem was definitely not originated by him, and there’s a reasonable chance that the legend of Pythagoras is more abstract than you think.
+2
Level 57
Dec 30, 2021
I'm aware that Pythagoras is mostly a legendary figure. His sheer existence is undeniable though, there's records of him made by contemporaries
+6
Level 72
Dec 29, 2021
Guy goes into a Greek tailor shop with a torn pair of pants. "Euripides?" says the tailor. "Eumenides?" says the customer.

That's a head start for your next quiz on this theme.

+2
Level 72
Jan 4, 2022
I had guessed Aristarchus first, since he was most likely the primary influence on Copernicus' heliocentric model, and was certainly a huge influence on the correct answer. He even calculated the distance from the Earth to the Sun to as good accuracy as the answer, but 400 years earlier. Also, Aristarchus is best known as an astronomer, whereas the correct answer was primarily known as a mathematician. I don't think the correct answer is incorrect, but it might be worth considering rephrasing the hint so that it doesn't leave so much room for interpretation.
+1
Level 51
Mar 30, 2022
You could add Pyrrhus the king of Epirus who had two victories against Rome. He lost the third one due to heavy losses.
+1
Level 75
Jan 27, 2023
Calling Herodotus as the "father of lies" is textbook western revisionism lol
+1
Level 76
Oct 16, 2023
Ancient Greece is generally considered to be the bedrock foundation of Western culture, so calling its most well-known historian a liar would seem to be more anti-Western than pro.