Greek Literature

C

Other Forms

Another genre developed in the 6th century bc was a type of philosophical poem related to the epic and written by such Greek philosophers as Empedocles, Xenophanes, and Parmenides. Towards the end of the 5th century bc some of the earliest Greek prose works now surviving were produced, the most notable being those on medicine attributed to the physician Hippocrates.

III

The Attic Period, 6th-4th Centuries bc

Drama had been developing meanwhile in Athens during the 6th century bc (see Drama and Dramatic Arts). In its earliest form the drama consisted of a chorus of men who sang and danced choral odes. Later, an actor who engaged in dialogue with the chorus was added.

A

Tragedy

Tragic drama as we know it today is said to have been originated in the 6th century bc by the Athenian poet Aeschylus. Aeschylus introduced the role of a second actor, apart from the chorus. His tragedies, numbering about 90, treat such lofty themes as the nature of divinity and the relations of human beings to the gods. Only seven of his tragedies are extant, including Prometheus Bound, the story of the punishment of Prometheus, one of the Titans, by the god Zeus; and the Oresteia, a trilogy portraying the murder of the Greek hero Agamemnon by his wife, her murder by their son Orestes, and Orestes's subsequent fate.

The second great Greek tragedian was Sophocles. The fine construction of his plots and the manner in which his themes and characters aroused both pity and fear led Aristotle as well as other Greek critics to consider him the greatest writer of tragedy. His Oedipus Rex is the epitome of the tragic genre. Of the more than 100 plays that Sophocles wrote, only 7 tragedies, a satyr play (a type of comedy), and more than 1,000 fragments are extant. His particular contribution to tragedy was the introduction of a third actor on the stage, an innovation that was adopted later by Aeschylus.

Euripides, a younger contemporary of Sophocles, was the third great Greek playwright. He wrote about 92 plays, of which 18 tragedies (one of doubtful authorship) and one complete satyr play, The Cyclops, are extant. His works are considered more realistic than those of his predecessors, especially in the psychological acuteness of his characterizations. Because of this some critics consider him the most modern of the Greek tragedy writers. Among his major works are Medea, whose plot revolves around the revenge taken by the enchantress Medea on her husband Jason; and Hippolytus, about the love of Phaedra for her stepson Hippolytus and his fate after rejecting her.

B

Comedy

One of the greatest comic poets was Aristophanes, whose first comedy, Daitaleis, now lost, was produced in 427 bc. Using dramatic satire, he ridiculed Euripides in The Frogs and Socrates in The Clouds. These works represent the Old Comedy of Greek literature.

Later Greek comedy is grouped into two, Middle Comedy (400-336 bc) and New Comedy (336-250 bc). In Middle Comedy, exemplified by two later works of Aristophanes, Ecclesiazusae and Plutus, both written between 392 and 388 bc, personal and political satire is replaced by parody, ridicule of myths, and literary and philosophical criticism. The chief writers of Middle Comedy were Antiphanes of Athens and Alexis of Thruil; only fragments of their works are extant.

In New Comedy, satire is almost entirely replaced by social comedy involving family types, plot and character development, and the themes of romantic love. The chief writer of New Comedy was Menander. His comedies had a strong influence upon the Latin dramatists of the 3rd and 2nd centuries bc, notably Plautus and Terence. One complete play by Menander is extant, The Curmudgeon, as are fragments of others.

C

History

The earliest Greek historian, Herodotus, writing in the Ionic dialect, gave an account of the Persian Wars (500-449 bc). His great work, History, is valued for the wealth of information it presents about ancient Greece and for its charming style. Thucydides was the first great Attic prose writer, and in his History of the Peloponnesian War he emerges as the first critical historian. The chief literary works of the soldier-historian Xenophon were Anabasis, an account of Greek mercenaries attempting to escape from Persia; Memorabilia, a refutation of the charges brought against Socrates, together with personal reminiscences, in the form of conversations, of his character and philosophy; and Hellenica, in which Xenophon continued Greek history from the point at which Thucydides had finished. A later historian, Timaeus, wrote a history of Sicily and reportedly devised the method of reckoning time by the Olympiads.