Greek Lit

GREEk Literature
IntroGreek duction * Greece is a land of islands, mountains, and peninsulas. Rocky hill tops separate parts of the territory from each other, and make the soil difficult to farm. * Their literature focuses on human body and mind.

ARCHAIC PERIOD
TO THE END OF THE 6TH CENTURY BC
The Greeks created poetry before they made use of writing for literary purposes, and from the beginning their poetry was intended to be sung or recited
HOMER
Iliad
Odyssey
Pure tragedy

Mixture of tragedy and comedy

CLASSICAL PERIOD 5TH AND 4TH CENTURIES BC
Aeschylus
Sophocles

Euripides

Aeschylus
Trilogies - group of three plays on a single theme.
Oresteia
Choeporoi
Eumenides
Persai (The Persians) – is a song of triumph for the defeat of the Persians
Prometheus Bound – a retelling of the legend of the Titan Prometheus

The Greek Gods and Goddesses

2 of the most excellent Historians
Herodotus
(father of history)
Thucydides
( the better historian)

3 names tower above the Greek Philosophers
Socrates
Plato
Aristotle

Other Prominent Writers
Hippocrates
(Father of Medicine)
Aristophanes
(playwright who wrote comedies)
Euclid
(Father of Geometry)

HELLENISTIC PERIOD between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and 146 BC
Alexander the Great
Hellenistic art focused on the real.
Translation of the Old Testament into Greek
(2nd Century B.C)
Septuagint
Apocrypha

The genres
Epic Narrative
Lyric Poetry
Tragedy
Comedy
History
Rhetoric and Oratory

Qualities of Greek Literature
Permanence and Universality
Artistry
Originality
Diversity of Talents
Intellectual

Aesop
FABLES
The tortoise and the Hare
The north wind and the Sun
The boy who cried wolf
The Ant and the Dove
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The ass and his masters
The bath, the birds, and the beast
The cock and the Pearl
The crow and the Raven
The Dog and the Wolf
The Eagle and the Arrow
The Dog and the Shadow
The Dancing Monkeys
The Bad Man and the Fly
The thief and the Innkeeper
The wolf and the kid
The Farmer and the Stork
The Goose with the Golden Eggs

Roman Literature

Roman Literature
In the 8th century B.C., the inhabitants of some small Latin settlements on hills in the TIBER VALLEY united and established a common meeting place, the FORUM, around which the city of Rome grew.
In terms of the arts, Roman citizens were practical people who spent less time on art, literature, and philosophy and more time on ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, and MILITARY OPERATIONS
Known for there dominant and destructive ways
[Image 4.7]
Bust of Cicero
Religion played a very important role in the daily life of Ancient Rome. The Romans believed that GODS CONTROLLED THEIR LIVES and, as a result, spent a great deal of their time worshipping them.
The most important god was JUPITER. He was the king of gods who ruled with his wife JUNO, the goddess of the sky.
Other gods includes MARS, MERCURY, NEPTUNE, JANIS, DIANA, VESTA, MINERVA, VENUS.
After the reign of the EMPEROR AUGUSTUS (27 BC to AD 14), the emperor was also considered to be a god and he was worshipped on special occasions.
TEMPLES to worship the gods were built throughout the Roman Empire.
Each family home would also have a small altar and shrine. The Romans had
PERSONAL HOUSEHOLD GODS or spirits which were worshipped every day at home. The shrine contained statues of the spirits and the head of the household led family prayers around the shrine each day.
The chief of the gods, for the Romans, was Jupiter. His name is related to the name of the Greek god Zeus, and Jupiter is similar to Zeus in many ways. Zeus in Greek mythology was the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky and thunder. Jupiter in Roman mythology was the king of the gods, and the god of sky and thunder.
Aphrodite in Greek mythology was the goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. Venus was a major Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty and fertility.
Latin literature
Latin literature, the body of written works in the Latin language, remains an enduring legacy of the culture of ancient Rome. The Romans produced many works of poetry, comedy, tragedy, satire, history, and rhetoric, drawing heavily on the traditions of other cultures and particularly on the more matured literary tradition of Greece. Long after the Western Roman Empire had fallen, the Latin language continued to play a central role in western European civilization