1. Greek
Literature

2. Historical and
Geographical
Background…

3. Greek
♣ ThenameGreececomesfrom the Latin
Graeciawhichin turn comesfrom the Greek
wordGraikoi,the originalnameof the people
livinginDodona.However,the wordisusedto
addresspeoplelivingin Greece.
♣ Theoriginal Greeknamewas,andstill is
Hellas.,the landof the Helens.

4. Greek
♣ Originally
,thiswasasmallarea southof
Thessalia,but it waswidelyusedfor people
with aGreekbackgroundandculture,stretching
from the West Coastof AsiaMinor, southern
Italy andSicilyto the PyrenesandNorthern
Africa.

5. Greek
♣ Influencesfrom their art andculturehave
madeagreat impactonthe Europeanand
Americanculture. Their highlyorganized
society(eventhe wordpoliticsisa Greek
word), their systemof justice, andof course
their art, the sculptures,statues,playsand
mythology have been a major sourceof
inspiration.

6. Greek
Mythology
♣ The origin of this isunclear
although it was believed to
have been influenced by the
Mediterranean whose origins
lie in Crete andAsia Minor.

7. Greek
Mythology
♣ The Greek mythological gods
and goddesseswere made out of
their own image very different
from the Egyptiansand the
others.
♣ They were believed to be the
controller of the life of human
beings.

8. Greek
Mythology
♣ Greekgodswere not supreme, almighty
beings.Theywere looked upon asidealized
humanbeings.Theywere powerful, but
looked humanand had the sameflaws
human had.
Theywere immortal,didn’t getoldor sick
and had eternal youth, but they did have
human flaws, desiresand needs,suchas
hunger and thirst.

9. Ancient Greek
Literature
-refersto literature written inAncientGreek
from the oldestsurvivingwritten worksin the
Greeklanguageuntil approximatelythe fifth
centuryADandthe riseof the Byzantine
Empire.
- arosefrom the proto-Indo-European
language,thoughroughlyone-thirdof its
wordscannotbederived from various
reconstructionsof the tongue.--

10. Ancient Greek
Literature
♣ Atthe beginningof Greekliterature standthe
two monumentalworksof Homer,the Iliad and
the Odyssey
.Theother great poet of the
preclassicalperiodwasHesiod.Histwo surviving
worksare WorksandDaysand Theogony
.

11. Ancient Greek
Literature
-30%of the wordsinaordinarydictionarycomes
from the ancientGreeklanguage.
Ancient Greekswere the first to usevowels.
Thevowelsmadethe languageeasierto learn
andspeak.
- Ouralphabetcamefromthe Greeklanguage.
Forexample:the word“alphabet”camefrom
ancientGreekwords“alpha” “beta”.

12. Ancient Greek
Literature
AncientGreekliterature hadfour major writings;
epictraditions,lyricpoetry,tragedyandcomedy.
Anexampleof the epictraditionsare the Iliad
andthe Odyssey
.
Lyricpoemsgotits namefrom agroupof
individualssingingwhile playingthe lyre.
T
ragediesandcomedieswere dramasandused
to honourGreekgodDionysus.

14. Theseare the five main dialectsof ancient
Greekthat havebeenfoundon inscriptions:
Attic-IonicGreek
Achaean
Aeolic
Doric
NorthwestGreek

15. Greek
Mythology..

16. Greek
Mythology..

17. Zeus(Romanname: Jupiter)
Themostpowerful of all,
♣ godof the skyandthe kingof
Olympus.
♣ Histemper affectedthe weather,
andhethrew thunderboltswhenhe
wasunhappy
.
♣ Hewasmarried to Herabut had
manyother lovers.
♣ Hissymbolsincludethe oakand
the thunderbolt.

18. Hera(Romanname: Juno)
d
♣ Herawasgoddessof marriage an
the queenof Olympus.
♣ ShewasZeus'swife andsister;
manymythstell of howshesought
revengewhenZeusbetrayedher
with hislovers.
♣ Her symbolsincludethe peacock
andthe cow.

19. Poseidon(Romanname: Neptune)
♣ Poseidonwasgodof the sea.
♣ He lived in a beautiful palace under
the sea and caused earthquakes when
hewasin a temper.
♣ Hissymbolsincludethe horseand
the trident (a three-pronged
pitchfork).

20. Aphrodite(Romanname: Venus)
♣ Aphroditewasthe goddessof love
andbeauty
, andthe protector of
sailors.
♣ She may have been the daughter of
Zeus and the Titan Dione, or she may
haverisenfrom seafoam.
♣ Hersymbolsincludethe myrtletree
andthe dove.

21. Apollo
♣ Apollowasthe godof musicand
healing.
♣ Hewasalsoanarcher,andhunted
with asilverbow.Apollowasthe son
of Zeusandthe TitanLeto,andthe
twin ofArtemis.
♣ Hissymbolsincludethe laurel
tree, the crow,andthe dolphin.

22. Ares(Romanname: Mars)
♣ Areswasthe godof war.
♣ Hewasboth cruelanda coward.
♣ Areswasthe sonof ZeusandHera,
but neither of hisparentsliked him.
♣Hissymbolsincludethe vulture and
the dog,andheoften carried a
bloodyspear.

23. Artemis(Romanname: Diana)
♣ Artemiswasthe goddessof the
huntandthe protector of women in
childbirth.
♣ Shehuntedwith silverarrowsand
lovedall wild animals.
♣ Artemiswasthe daughterofZeus
andLeto,andthe twin ofApollo.
♣ Her symbolsincludethe cypress
tree andthe deer.

24. Athena(Romanname: Minerva)
♣ Athenawasthe goddessof
wisdom.
♣ Shewasalsoskilledin the art of
war, andhelpedheroessuchas
Odysseusand Hercules.
♣ Athenasprangfull-grown fromthe
foreheadof Zeus,andbecamehis
favoritechild.
♣ Her symbolsincludethe owland
the olivetree.

25. Hephaestus(Romanname: Vulcan)
Hephaestuswasthe godof fire and
the forge(a furnacein whichmetal is
heated).
Althoughhemadearmor and
weaponsfor the gods,heloved
peace.
Hewasthe sonof ZeusandHeraand
marriedAphrodite.
♣ Hissymbolsincludethe anviland
the forge.

26. Hermes(Romanname: Mercury)
♣ Hermes was the messenger
god, a trickster, and a friend to
thieves.
Hewassaidto haveinvented
boxingand gymnastics.
♣ Hewasthe sonof Zeusandthe
constellation Maia.
♣ Thespeediestof all, hewore
wingedsandalsandawinged hat
andcarried amagicwand.

27. Demeter(Romanname: Ceres)
♣ Demeter was the goddessof the
harvest. The word “cereal” comes
from her Romanname.
♣ Shewasthe sisterof Zeus.
♣ Her symbolsincludewheat.

28. Hestia(Romanname: Vesta)
♣ Hestiawasthe goddessof the
hearth (a fireplaceat the centerof
the home).
♣ Shewasthe mostgentleof the
gods,anddoesnot playarole in
manymyths.
♣ Hestiawasthe sisterof Zeusand
the oldestof theOlympians.
♣ Fireisamongher symbols.

30. GREECE
A
THENS
(MIND)
SP
ART
A
(BODY)

31. Thewaychildrenwereeducatedwasdifferentin
eachcity state.
In Sparta,readingandwriting wasunimportant.
Boyslearnedto begoodfighters.
InAthens,citizenshadto beeducatedto
take part in votingin theAssembly
.Athenian
boysalsowent to 'wrestling school'each
day,to learnmanysports,not justwrestling.
Theyhadto befit, to fight in thearmy
.

32. Schools
♣ Greekschoolswere small. Theyhadonlyone
teacherandaboutten ortwentyboys.Theschools
were not free andsoonlythe richcouldreally
afford to sendtheir childrento school.
♣ They don’t need much of
school equipments, as they
had learn everything off by
heart.
♣ Theyuseda wooden pencalled astyluswith a
sharpendforwriting andaflat endfor 'rubbing out'.

33. In ancient Athens, the purpose of
education was to produce citizens
Trained inthe arts,andto preparecitizensfor
both peaceand war.
Until age6 or so,boyswere
taught at homebytheir
mother or bya male slave.
Bookswere very expensiveandrare, sosubjects
were readout-loud, andthe boyshadto memorize
everything. Tohelpthem learn, they usedwriting
tabletsandrulers.

34. Their
In primary school,they
hadto learn two important
things– the wordsof Homer
andhow to play lyre.
Their teacher,who wasalwaysa man,
could choosewhat additional subjectshe
wanted to teach. Hemight to teachdrama,
publicspeaking,government, art, writing,
math,andhowto playanotherancientGreek
instrument – flute.

35. Following that, boysattended a higher school
for four more years. When they turned 18, they
entered military schoolfor two additional years.
Atage20, they graduated.
Girls– werenotallowedto gotoschool.
Theywere educatedinhousekeepingandhow
to lookafter thefamily
.

36. SPARTA:EDUCATION
In Ancient Sparta, the purpose of
education was to produce a well-
drilled, well-disciplined marching
army.
Spartansbelieve in alife of
discipline,self-denial,and
simplicity
.Theywere very loyal
to the stateof Sparta. Every
Spartan,male or female, was
requiredto haveaperfect body
.

37. ♣ Whenbabieswere bornin ancient
Sparta,Spartansoldierswouldcomeby the
houseandcheckthe baby.If the babydidnot
appear healthy and strong, the infant was
taken away
, and left to die on a hillside, or
taken to betrainedasaslave(a helot).
SpartanBoys: Spartanboyswere sentto
military schoolat age6 or 7. They
lived,trainedandsleptinthe barracksof their
brotherhood. Theywere taughtsurvivalskills
andother skillsnecessaryto beagreat
soldier..

38. Important
Authors

39. HOMER
Homer is best
known for the twoepic
poems the Iliad and
the Odyssey
.
the Greek blindpoet

40. Sophocles
a Greekdramatist
Wrote 123 plays (only7
survived)
Diedin 406 B.Cat
Athens

41. His main work is
The Elementswhich
is stillused as a
textbook in
mathematics.
EUCLID

42. PLA
TO
The most famous
works The Republic
and Symposium.

43. Aristophanes
He was aplaywright
who wrote comedies.
His notable
plays, TheWaspsand
Lysistrata.

44. EURIPIDES
Was a Greektragedian.
His most known works
are Alcestis, Medea and
TheBacchus.

45. Different Ages Of
Ancient Greece
Literature

46. The Homeric
Age
This age marked the creation of
the Greek epics, The Iliad and
The Odyssey. This age was
preceded by unknown literature
which were mostly unwritten.

47. The Attic Age
♣ Thisisthe periodof the emergenceof
excellent playwrightslike
Aeschylus,Soppocles,Euripides,and
Aristtophanes.;great historianslikeHerodotus
andThucitides;andPhilosopherslikeAmagoras
andSocrates
♣ Thisperiodwasthe mostgloriousinancient
historythat revolvesaroundgreat political
leaderinthe personof PericlesItisalsoknown
asPericleanAge.

48. The Hellenic
Age
♣ Thisagebeganafter the death of
Demosthenesin 322 B.C.Thefollowing
year justafter the death ofAlexander
the di8visionof hisempire. Theliterary
prominenceofAthenspassedto
Alexandria, a cityin Egyptfoundedby
Alexander.Alexandria,then becamethe
metropolisof the Hellenisticworld.

49. Modern
Greek

50. Modern Greek
Literature
♣ Recognizedasmasters of modern Greek
letters, SeferisandElytisreceivedthe Novel
PrizeLiterature,in1963and1979, respectively.
♣ The poet Maria Polydouri (1902-30) gain
renownthgroughher intense,erotic love lyrics.
♣ Theeffort of modernGreekwriters to
achieveasynthesisof the richtraditionso9f
the Greekheritageiswell representedin the
workof NikosKazantzakis.

51. Greek
Influences

52. Modern Greek
Literature
Democracy: The Greeks
created the
world’s first democracy
. Athens
started out asa monarchy and then
advanced to and oligarchyuntil it
finally reached a democracy
.

53. Modern Greek
Literature
TheAlphabet:
♣ TheGreekswere the first civilization to use
analphabet.
♣ TheAlphabetwasdevelopedafter the Dark
Agewhenthe Greeksstoppedusing their
previouswritten language.
♣ T
odaymany letters of our modern alphabet
originate from the Greek alphabet suchasthe
lettersA,B,E,and O.

54. Modern Greek
Literature
Libraries:
Thefirst library in the world, the library of
Alexandria wasactually built in Egypt,
howeverEgyptwaspretty muchGreeks
becauseafter Egyptsubmitted to
Alexander’srule the Macedonians started
spreadingthe Greekwayof life to all of the
landsheconqueredincludingEgypt.

55. Modern Greek
Literature
The Olympics:
The Olympic Games started in
ancient Greece. The participants
were the city- states of Ancient
Greece and their colonies. The
Olympic Games were held every 4
years in honor of Zeus, the king
god.

56. Modern Greek
Literature
Architecture:
We still useGreek-style architecture
today
.Atype of GreekArchitecture
that is usedtoday would be pillars.
♣ In Greece a building which pillars
were usedwould be the
Parthenon located in Athens.