Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

318 Glossary of Greek Terms
hippodrome — Horse track.
homoios — Spartan peer or citizen.
hoplite — Heavy-armed infantryman who carried a round bronze shield
or hoplon, from which the name derives. Hoplites fought in strict battle
formation, a style of warfare that dominated land battles from the seventh
century b.c.e. onward.
Ionian — Term used to identify one of the two principal ethnic groups.
Ionians, who occupied Attica, Euboia, the Cyclades, and the central western
coast of Asia Minor, spoke a common dialect. See also Dorian .
Ionic — Term used to describe both one of the orders of Greek architecture
and one of the dialects of ancient Greece.
Kerameikos — Cemetery outside Athens on the west side of the city where
some of the most prestigious tombs have been discovered (literally “potters’
quarter”).
kithara — Stringed instrument somewhat resembling a modern guitar.
klêros — Apportionment of land in Sparta sufficient to support a single
family, passed down from one generation to the next.
klinê — Couch or bed.
klismos — Chair.
koinê — Greek dialect based primarily on Attic (the dialect spoken by
Athenians). Koinê became universal in the Hellenistic Period as a result of
the conquests of Alexander the Great.
kômos — Band of revelers.
kouros — Term meaning youth that is used by art historians to describe
marble Archaic statues of nude males that stood either in temples or
beside graves.
krypteia — Spartan organization resembling a secret police.
liturgy — The act of subsidizing important public programs by wealthy
citizens or metics (from leitourgia, meaning public service). Liturgies
included financing a chorus in a dramatic performance, maintaining a trireme,
and paying for the upkeep of a gymnasium.
metic — Legal resident alien (from metoikos, meaning living among). Metics
were obliged to serve in the army and pay metic tax, but they could not
own property. Although metics probably existed throughout the Greek
world, we only hear of them in Athens.
miasma — Ritual pollution caused primarily by the shedding of blood.
mina — Unit of currency worth 100 drachmas.
obol — Coin worth one-sixth of a drachma.
oikia, oikos — Household or family. It comprised not only the family
members but also the buildings, property, slaves, and animals.