Mycenaean Greece Practice Questions

Correct answer: Linear B

Linear B is the earliest attested form of the Greek language. It was used primarily for palatial records and was deciphered in the 1950s by Michael Ventris.

Correct answer: The Megaron

The Megaron was a rectangular hall with a central hearth surrounded by four columns. It served as the throne room and the heart of the political and religious life in the palace.

Correct answer: The stones were believed to be too massive for any human to move

Later Greeks believed that only the mythical one-eyed giants, the Cyclopes, could have moved the massive limestone boulders used in the walls. These stones were fitted together without mortar.

Correct answer: Agamemnon

Schliemann discovered the gold funeral mask in a shaft grave at Mycenae. While he attributed it to the leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War, modern dating suggests it is actually several centuries older.

Correct answer: Mycenae

The Lion Gate is a famous example of Bronze Age monumental sculpture. It features two lions flanking a central column above the lintel of the main entrance to Mycenae.

Correct answer: A Tholos (beehive) tomb

A Tholos tomb is characterized by a circular chamber with a corbelled dome that resembles a beehive. The Treasury of Atreus is the largest and most sophisticated surviving example of this architecture.

Correct answer: Wanax

The 'Wanax' was the high king who presided over the palace and the surrounding territory. The title 'Basileus,' which later meant king, referred to a lower-level official in the Mycenaean era.

Correct answer: The Peloponnese

The Peloponnese peninsula hosted the major centers of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos. This mountainous region allowed for the construction of easily defensible citadels.

Correct answer: The Trojan War

The Trojan War, described in the Iliad, is set during the Mycenaean Age. Archaeological evidence at Troy suggests a significant destruction level that roughly aligns with the timeframe of Mycenaean expansion.

Correct answer: Warfare, hunting, and battle scenes

Mycenaean culture was significantly more militaristic than the Minoan culture of Crete. Their frescoes and pottery frequently depicted warriors, chariots, and organized combat.

Correct answer: Bronze

The Mycenaeans were a Bronze Age civilization. They used an alloy of copper and tin to produce weapons and the famous Dendra panoply, one of the oldest complete sets of bronze armor.

Correct answer: Offset corbelling

Corbelling involves offsetting successive layers of stone inward until they meet at the top. This technique was used to span doorways and create the interiors of Tholos tombs.

Correct answer: Pylos in Messenia

The palace at Pylos is associated with the wise King Nestor from the Homeric epics. It is one of the best-preserved Mycenaean palaces and yielded a vast archive of Linear B tablets.

Correct answer: Poseidon

Linear B tablets contain names of familiar Olympian gods such as Zeus, Hera, and Poseidon. This demonstrates a direct cultural and religious continuity between the Bronze Age and later Classical Greece.

Correct answer: The military commander beneath the Wanax

The Lawagetas was the second-most powerful official after the Wanax. He is generally interpreted as the military commander-in-chief or the leader of the warrior class.

Correct answer: The Mycenaean

Around 1200 BCE, Mycenaean palaces were destroyed or abandoned, leading to a loss of literacy and centralized government. This period of decline is known as the Greek Dark Age.

Correct answer: The Linear B clay tablets

The Linear B tablets are primarily economic inventories. They record the distribution of grain, oil, wool, and the movement of livestock, revealing a highly centralized palace economy.

Correct answer: The Dorians

The 'Dorian Invasion' theory suggests that Greek-speaking tribes from the north moved south and overthrew the Mycenaean citadels. While modern archaeology debates the scale of this invasion, it remains a classic historical explanation.

Correct answer: Rectangular burial pits cut into the ground

Shaft graves were the burial sites of the early Mycenaean elite. They contained an incredible wealth of gold, silver, and weapons, marking the rise of Mycenae's power.

Correct answer: The Greek mainland

Archaeologists use 'Helladic' to categorize the Bronze Age cultures of the Greek mainland. The Mycenaean period specifically corresponds to the Late Helladic period.