GREEKLITERATURE

Greek literature constitute what was produced from the Age of Homeric

poems(about 1oth century B.C) to the Christian era.

1. The age of the epic Poetry(to the sixth century B.C)2. The age of the lyric poetry(sixth century B.C)Important writers in this period: Anacreon Sappho Pindar

3. The Attic Period(470-300 B.C)TRAGEDY Writers of Tragedy Aeschylus Sophocles EuripidesCOMEDY WRITERS Aristophanes New Comedy was reflected in the

works of Menander (342-291)

HistoryWRITERSHerodotusThucydides ORATORYDemosthenes(384-322 B.C)WRITERSSocratesPlatoAristotle

The Alexandrian Age(300-146)WRITERTheocritusThe Greco-Roman Age(146 B.C-A.D 527)Prose dominated the periodProse WritersPlutarchLucianGreek Anthology

The Greeks are recognized as an exceptional people. They are known in history as the “noble Greeks. Because of their attainments in literature, sculpture, architecture, and philosophy, the term ‘the glory that was Greece’ is particularly applicable to them.

Greek Art and LiteratureThe Greeks produced a civilization that

in many ways has never been surpassed in the world. Greek art is well-known

throughout the world. There are four majors forms of Greek art:

ArchitecturePanting

SculpturePottery

Greek history goes back to the Bronze Age, between 300 and 1200 B.C. in the Golden Age or Classical Age of ancient Greece, many of the Greek masterpieces were constructed.

3 PERIODS OF ANCIENT GREECE1. Pre-Homeric age

2. Homeric age,

3. Period of Decline,

Greek literature has the following qualitiesPermanence and

UniversalityEssentially Full of ArtistryOriginalityDiversity of talentIntellectual quality

HOMER• blind poet of

Greece,

The IliadThe Iliad begins in the tenth year of the war, there was a prophecy that in that year Troy would fall and be destroyed by the victorious Greeks. The story opens with a violent quarrel between Agamemnon, the commander in the chief of the Greek army, and Achilles, their greatest and bravest warrior. Brassies, a concubine of Achilles, is unjustly taken by Agamemnon and as result Achilles makes a sacred vow that he will no longer fight.

The Odyssey The subject matter of the Odyssey is the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War. Because of the anger of the sea God Poseidon, he is made to wander in lands beyond the range of human knowledge. He finds Ithaca, his native land, invaded by insolent suitors who seek to kill his young son, Telemachus, and marry his wife, Penelope.

GODS & GODDESSESAGLAEA (Aglaia) The goddess of beauty and

adornment. She was one of the three Charites and the wife of the god Hephaestus.

APHRODITE One of the ruling twelve great Olympians. She was the goddess of love, beauty and procreation. Alongside Zeus and Hera, she was also the leader of the Theoi Gamelioi or gods of marriage.

APOLLO (Apollon) One of the twelve great Olympian gods. He was the god of music, prophecy and healing, and the leader of both the Theoi Mousikoi (gods of music) and Theoi Mantikoi (gods of prophecy).

ARES The great Olympian god of war and conflict. He was the leader of the Theoi Polemikoi or gods of war.

ARIADNE The wife of the god Dionysos. She was granted a seat beside her husband amongst the gods of heavens.

ARTEMIS One of the twelve ruling Olympians, Artemis was the goddess of hunting, wild animals, childbirth and children. She was also a death-dealing goddess who brought sudden death to women with her arrows. Alongside her brother Apollo she was a leader of the Theoi Mousikoi or gods of music, presiding over maiden song and dance.

ASCLEPIUS The god of medicine and healing. He was originally a mortal man who was destroyed by Zeus for the crime of restoring the dead to life. Afterwards he was welcomed into Olympus as a god.

ATHENA One of the twelve great Olympians, Athena was the goddess of war, fortifications and the defense of towns, and of good counsel and heroic endeavor. She was also a patron goddess of craftsmen, presiding over the arts of weaving, pottery, carpentry and the manufacture of oil.

CRATUS The god of strength and power. He was one of four winged Daemones who stood attendant by the throne of Zeus.

DEIMUS (Deimos) The god of fear. He was a son of Ares who accompanied his father on the battlefield.

DEMETER One of the twelve great Olympian gods, Demeter was the goddess of agriculture : from the ploughing of the earth, to the milling of grain for flour.

DIKE The goddess of justice, who reported the misdemeanors of man to her father Zeus. She was one of the three Horae, goddesses of the seasons and heavenly order.

DIONE The Titaness mother of the goddess Aphrodite. She was a prophetic goddess, associated with the great oracle of Zeus at Dodona.

DIONYSUS (Dionysos) One of the twelve great Olympian gods. He was the god of wine, viticulture, and wild vegetation.

EUTERPE One of the nine Muses. She presided over lyric poetry.

HERA The Queen of the gods, and wife of Zeus. Hera was the goddess of women, and the leader of the Theoi Gamelioi or gods of marriage. She was also a goddess of the sky and stars.

HERACLES The greatest of the Greek heroes. Upon his death he was welcomed into Olympus, becoming the gatekeeper of heaven, and the god of strength and heroic endeavor and the averter of evil.

HERMES One of the twelve great Olympian gods. He was the herald of Zeus, and thegod of herds and flocks, the country arts, travel, trade, merchants, and thievery.

HESTIA The goddess of the hearth. With Zeus she was the leader of the gods of house and home, who also presided over the feast and the altar flame. Like Artemis and Athena she was a maiden goddess.

HYGEIA The goddess of good health, one of the many daughters of Asclepius.

LEUCIPPIDES (Leukippides) The goddess wives of the Dioscuri twins. They were originally mortal princesses who were carried up to heaven by the gods.

PHOBUS (Phobos) The god of panic. He was one of the Theoi Polemikoi (gods of war), a minion of his father Ares.

POSEIDON The King of the sea and one of the twelve ruling gods of Olympus. He was also the lord of rivers, lakes and other sources of fresh-water, and the god of horses and chariots. Unlike the other Olympian gods he had his residence in the sea rather than heaven, although he still attended all the councils and feasts of the heavenly gods.

THEMIS The Titan goddess of divine law and order, custom and tradition. She was also a prophetic goddess, the leader of the assembly, and the personal councilor of Zeus.

THYONE The mother of the god Dionysus. Thyone is the divine name of Semele, who was brought to Olympus by her son subsequent to her death.

ZEUS The great King of the Gods, ruler of Olympos and the Heavens, and leader of the Twelve. He was the god of the sky, weather, kings, fate, law and order.

Greek Drama The drama was the crowning

glory of the Athenian Age, which has been called by different terms. It has been called the Age of Pericles because Pericles was the ruling power in Athens at the time. It has also been called the Athenian Age because Athens became the white hot literacy center of Greece, and it has been called the Golden Age because the drama flourished during this period. There were three great tragic writers:

Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides Aristophanes