Ancient Greek literature encompasses the literature written in the Ancient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of the Byzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the early Archaic period, are the two epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, set in an idealized archaic past today identified as having some relation to the Mycenaean era. These two epics, along with the Homeric Hymns and the two poems of Hesiod, the Theogony and Works and Days, constituted the major foundations of the Greek literary tradition that would continue into the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods.
The lyric poets Sappho, Alcaeus, and Pindar were highly influential during the early development of the Greek poetic tradition. Aeschylus is the earliest Greek tragic playwright for whom any plays have survived complete. Sophocles is famous for his tragedies about Oedipus, particularly Oedipus the King and Antigone. Euripides is known for his plays which often pushed the boundaries of the tragic genre. The comedic playwright Aristophanes wrote in the genre of Old Comedy, while the later playwright Menander was an early pioneer of New Comedy. The historians Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Thucydides, who both lived during the fifth century BC, wrote accounts of events that happened shortly before and during their own lifetimes. The philosopher Plato wrote dialogues, usually centered around his teacher Socrates, dealing with various philosophical subjects, whereas his student Aristotle wrote numerous treatises, which later became highly influential.
Important later writers included Apollonius of Rhodes, who wrote The Argonautica, an epic poem about the voyage of the Argonauts; Archimedes, who wrote groundbreaking mathematical treatises; and Plutarch, who wrote mainly biographies and essays. The second-century AD writer Lucian of Samosata was a Greek, who wrote primarily works of satire. Ancient Greek literature has had a profound impact on later Greek literature and also on western literature at large. In particular, many ancient Roman authors drew inspiration from their Greek predecessors. Ever since the Renaissance, European authors in general, including Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, John Milton, and James Joyce, have all drawn heavily on classical themes and motifs.
History
Early writings The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean, written in the Linear B syllabary on clay tablets. These documents contain prosaic records largely concerned with trade (lists, inventories, receipts, etc.); no real literature has been discovered. "The glimpse we have suddenly been given of the account books of a long-forgotten people..." Michael Ventris and John Chadwick, the original decipherers of Linear B, state that literature almost certainly existed in Mycenaean Greece, but it was either not written down or, if it was, it was on parchment or wooden tablets, which did not survive the destruction of the Mycenaean palaces in the twelfth century BC.
Hellenistic
In the Hellenistic period, after the conquests of Alexander the Great, Athens lost its preeminent status as the leader of Greek culture to the city of Alexandria, in northern Egypt. The Musaeum, or Shrine to the Muses, which included the library and school, was founded by Ptolemy I. The institution was from the beginning intended as a great international school and library.Entry Μουσείον at Liddell & Scott The library, eventually containing more than a half million volumes, was mostly in Greek. It was intended to serve as a repository for every work of classical Greek literature that could be found.
Roman While the transition from city-state to empire affected philosophy a great deal, shifting the emphasis from political theory to personal ethics, Greek letters continued to flourish under Roman rule. Romans of literary or rhetorical inclination looked to Greek models, and Greek literature of all types continued to be read and produced both by native speakers of Greek and later by Roman authors as well. A notable characteristic of this period was the expansion of literary criticism as a genre, particularly as exemplified by Demetrius, Pseudo-Longinus and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.
Poetry Early epic poetry
At the beginning of Greek literature stand the two monumental works: the Iliad and the Odyssey. Although the works as they now stand are credited to a single poet named Homer, both of these works were based on ancient legends, and it is certain that their roots reach far back before his time (see Homeric Question). The Iliad is a narrative of a single episode spanning over the course of a ten-day-period from near the end of the ten years of the Trojan War. It centers on the person of Achilles, who embodied the Greek heroic ideal.Guy Hedreen, "The Cult of Achilles in the Euxine" Hesperia 60.3 (July 1991), pp. 313–330. The Odyssey is an account of the adventures of Odysseus, one of the warriors at Troy. After ten years fighting the war, he spends another ten years sailing back home to his wife and family. During his ten-year voyage, he loses all of his comrades and ships and makes his way home to Ithaca disguised as a beggar. These works are written in dactylic hexameter verse, in the Homeric dialect of ancient Greek, a mixture of the Ionic dialect and some elements of the Aeolic and Attic dialects, the latter due to the Athenian edition of the 6th century BC.
The other great poet of the preclassical period was Hesiod, a native of Boeotia in central Greece, and is thought to have lived and worked around 700 BC.West, M. L. Theogony. Oxford University Press (1966), page 40 Hesiod's two extant poems are Works and Days and the Theogony. Works and Days is a faithful depiction of the poverty-stricken country life he knew so well, and it sets forth principles and rules for farmers. It vividly describes the ages of mankind, beginning with a long-past Golden Age.Jasper Griffin, "Greek Myth and Hesiod", J. Boardman, J. Griffin and O. Murray (eds), The Oxford History of the Classical World, Oxford University Press (1986), page 88 The Theogony is a systematic account of creation and of the gods.West, M. L. Theogony. Oxford University Press (1966)Unlike Homer, Hesiod refers to himself in his poetry.J.P. Barron and P.E. Easterling, "Hesiod" in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, P. Easterling and B. Knox (eds), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 92 Nonetheless, nothing is known about him from any external source.
The writings of Homer and Hesiod were held in extremely high regard throughout antiquity and were viewed by many ancient authors as the foundational texts behind ancient Greek religion; Homer told the story of a heroic past, which Hesiod bracketed with a creation narrative and an account of the practical realities of contemporary daily life.
Elegy and iambus Elegiac poetry and iambic poetry were both written in the Ionic dialect. Elegiac poems were written in elegiac couplets and iambic poems were written in iambic trimeter. The most important iambic poet was Archilochus of Paros (7th century BC).J. P. Barron and P. E. Easterling, 'Elegy and Iambus', in The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, P. Easterling and B. Knox (ed.s), Cambridge University Press (1985), page 117 Only fragments remain of his work, as is the case with most of the poets. The few remnants suggest that he was an embittered adventurer who led a very turbulent life.David A. Campbell, Greek Lyric Poetry, Bristol Classical Press (1982) page 136
Lyric poetry
Lyric poetry received its name from the fact that it was originally sung by individuals or a chorus accompanied by the instrument called the lyre. Lyric poems often employed highly varied poetic meters.
The most famous of all lyric poets were the so-called "Nine Lyric Poets".J. M. Edmonds - Lyra Graeca (p.3) Wildside Press LLC, 2007 [Retrieved 2015-05-06] Of all the lyric poets, Sappho of Lesbos (c. 630 – c. 570 BC), who wrote in the Aeolic dialect, was by far the most widely revered. In antiquity, her poems were regarded with the same degree of respect as the poems of Homer.Hallett, Judith P. (1979). "Sappho and her Social Context: Sense and Sensuality". Signs. 4 (3). Only one of her poems, "Ode to Aphrodite", has survived to the present day in its original, completed form.Rayor, Diane; Lardinois, André (2014). Sappho: A New Edition of the Complete Works. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. . In addition to Sappho, her contemporary Alcaeus of Lesbos was also notable for monodic lyric poetry.
The poetry written by Alcman was written in the Doric dialect. The later poet Pindar of Thebes was renowned for his choral lyric poetry.M. Davies's "Monody, Choral Lyric, and the Tyranny of the Hand-Book" in Classical Quarterly, NS 38 (1988), pp. 52–64.
Hellenistic poetry
The genre of bucolic poetry was first developed by the poet Theocritus.Introduction (p.14) to Virgil: The Eclogues trans. Guy Lee (Penguin Classics) The Roman Virgil later wrote his Eclogues in this genre.Article on "Bucolic poetry" in The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1989)
Callimachus, a scholar at the Library of Alexandria, composed the Aetia ("Causes"), a long poem written in four volumes of elegiac couplets describing the legendary origins of obscure customs, festivals, and names. Callimachus also wrote short poems for special occasions and at least one short epic, the Ibis, which was directed against his former pupil Apollonius.
The Alexandrian poet Apollonius of Rhodes is best known for his epic poem the Argonautica, which narrates the adventures of Jason and his shipmates the Argonauts on their quest to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the land of Colchis. The poet Aratus wrote the hexameter poem Phaenomena, a poetic rendition of Eudoxus of Cnidus's treatise on the stars written in the fourth century BC.A. W. Mair and G. R. Mair, trans., Callimachus and Lycophron; Aratus, Loeb Classical Library (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1921), p. 363
Late Antique epic poetry
The poet Quintus of Smyrna, who probably lived during the late fourth century AD,Thomas Christian Tychsen, Quinti Smyrnaei Posthomericorum libri XIV. Nunc primum ad librorum manoscriptorum fidem et virorum doctorum coniecturas recensuit, restituit et supplevit Thom. Christ. Tychsen acceserunt observationes Chr. Gottl. Heynii (Strassburg: Typhographia Societatis Bipontinae) 1807.Armin H. Köchly, Quinti Smyrnaei Posthomericorum libri XIV. Recensuit, prolegomenis et adnotatione critica instruxit Arminius Koechly (Leipzig: Weidmannos) 1850. wrote Posthomerica, an epic poem narrating the story of the fall of Troy, beginning where the Iliad left off.A.S. Way, Introduction 1913. About the same time and in a similar Homeric style, an unknown poet composed the Blemyomachia, a now fragmentary epic about conflict between Romans and Blemmyes.Nikoletta Kanavou (2015), "Notes on the Blemyomachia (P. Berol. 5003 + P. Gen. inv. 140 + P. Phoib. fr. 1a/6a/11c/12c)", Tyche 30: 55–60.
The poet Nonnus of Panopolis wrote the Dionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from antiquity. He also wrote a poetic paraphrase of The Gospel of John.Vian, Francis. '"Mârtus" chez Nonnos de Panopolis. Étude de sémantique et de chronologie.' REG 110, 1997, 143-60. Reprinted in: L'Épopée posthomérique. Recueil d'études. Ed. Domenico Accorinti. Alessandria: Edizioni dell'Orso, 2005 (Hellenica 17), 565-84Cameron, Alan, 2015. Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy. Oxford University Press. p.81. Nonnus probably lived sometime during the late fourth century AD or early fifth century AD.Agathias Scholasticus, Hist. 4.23. (530 580)Fornaro, S. s.v. Nonnus in Brill's New Pauly vol. 9 (ed. Canick & Schneider) (Leiden, 2006) col.812–815
Drama