Ancient

Greek
Literature
 Ancient Greek Literature

 Classical (900 B.C. to 323 B.C.)

 Hellenistic (323 B.C. to 146 B.C.)
 Greco-Roman (146 B.C to 395 A.D.)
 Byzantine Period (395 A.D. to 1453 A.D.)
 Classical (900 B.C. to 323 B.C.)
 This period of Greek literature stretches from Homer
until the 4th century BC and the rise of Alexander
the Great.
 This period saw the birth of original works.
 In the classical period many of the genres of western
literature became more prominent.
 The main literary types were developed to express
the needs and ideals of the communities of which
the writer was a member.
 The earliest known Greek writings are Mycenaean.
 Literary Types:
Epic poetry Comedy
Lyric poetry Historiography
Tragedy Philosophy
Types of Literature Famous People
Homer
Epic Poetry
Hesoid
Sappho
Lyric Poetry
Pindar
Aeschylus
Tragedy Sophocles
Euripides
Aristophanes
Comedy
Menander
Herodotus
Historiography
Thucydides
Socrates
Philosophy Plato
Aristotle
 Hellenistic (323 B.C. to 146 B.C.)
 By 323 BC many of the key Greek city-states had
been conquered by Philip II of Macedon. Philip II's
son Alexander the Great extended his father's
conquests greatly.
 Later Greek poetry flourished primarily in the 3rd
century BC. The chief poets were Theocritus,
Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes.
 Theocritus, was the creator of pastoral poetry, a
type that the Roman Virgil mastered in his
Eclogues.
 One of the most valuable contributions of the
Hellenistic period was the translation of the Old
Testament into Greek. The work was done at
Alexandria and completed by the end of the 2nd
century BC.

 The name Septuagint means "seventy," from the

tradition that there were 72 scholars who did the
 Greco-Roman (146 B.C to 395
A.D.)
 The significant historians in the period after
Alexander were Timaeus, Polybius, Diodorus
Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian of
Alexandria, Arrian, and Plutarch. The period of
time they cover extended from late in the 4th
century BC to the 2nd century AD.
 Eratosthenes of Alexandria, who died about 194
BC, wrote on astronomy and geography, but his
work is known mainly from later summaries.
 The physician Galen, in the history of ancient
science, is the most significant person in
medicine after Hippocrates, who laid the
foundation of medicine in the 5th century BC.
 Patristic literature was written in the Hellenistic
Greek of this period. Syria and Alexandria,
especially, flourished.
Byzantine Period (395 A.D. to 1453
A.D.)
 If Byzantine literature is the expression of the
intellectual life of the Byzantine Greeks during the
Christian Middle Ages, then it is a multiform
organism, combining Greek and Christian
civilization on the common foundation of the
Roman political system, set in the intellectual and
ethnographic atmosphere of the Near East.

 Byzantine literature partakes of four different

cultural elements:
Greek Christian
Roman Oriental

 Chronicles, distinct from histories, arose in this

period.
 THE
GREEK
MYTHOLOGY
CHARACTERS
the titans
The titans
also known as the
elder gods and ruled the
earth before the
Olympians overthrew
them.
 GAEA | CRONUS | URANUS | RHEA

OCEANUS | TETHYS | HYPERION | CRIUS

MNEMOSYNE | THEMIS | IAPETUS | COEUS

PHOEBE | THEA | ATLAS | METIS

PROMETHEUS | EPIMETHEUS
 The
Olympians
The Olympians
a group of 12 gods who
ruled after the overthrow of
the titans.
they are named after
their dwelling place, the
mount Olympus.
Aphrodite | Apollo | Ares | Artemis |
Athena

HADES | HERA | HERMES | HeSTIA

Hephaestus | Poseidon | Zeus |

 The
Lesser gods of the
earth
Demeter pan
Persephone nemesis
Dionysus the graces
Eros the muses
Hebe the erinnys
Eris the fates
Helios
thanatos
 The Heroes

Achilles | Aeneas | Diomedes | hector

Hercules | Jason | Odysseus

Perseus | THeseus
 THE CREATURES

CYCLOPES | HECATONCHEIRES |
ASH TREE NYMPHS | TYPHOEUS |
GIANTS | CERBERUS | SIRENS |
CENTAUR
Aether God of the Upper Air
Goddess of Love, Lust and
Aphrodite Beauty
Apollo God of Music
Ares God of War
Artemis Goddess of the Hunt
Athena God of Wisdom
Cronus Titan of Eternal Time
Coeus Titan of Intelligence
Demeter Goddess of Fertility
Dionysus God of Wine and Parties
Erebus God of Darkness and Shadow
Gaea Earth Goddess
Hades God of the Underworld
Hebe Goddess of Youth
Hemera Goddess of Daylight
Hephaestus God of Fire
Hera Goddess of Marriage
Hermes God of Flight
Hestia Goddess of Hearth and Home
Hyperion Titan of Light
Mnemosyne Titan of Memory
Goddess of Darkness and
Nyx Night
Phoebe Titan of the Moon
Poseidon God of the Sea
Prometheus Protector of Man
Themis Titan of Justice
Uranus Sky God
Zeus King of the Gods
 THE PRINCIPAL
GODS’ FAMILY TREE
 The principal gods’ family tree

((( (< heaven> Uranus = Gaea <earth>

Cronus = Rhea Coeus = Phoebe Oceanus = Thethys

Leto = Zeus Tapethus

Poseidon Demeter=Zeus
Hestia

Hades Apollo
Zeus = Hera Artemis Prometheus
Atlas Epimetheus
Athena
Zeus=Maia Zeus=Dione
Persephone
Hermes Aphrodite
 URANUS GAEA

Cronus Rhea Coeus Phoebe Oceanus Tethys

Hestia Poseidon Demeter Leto Zeus Iapetus

Apollo Artemis Prometheus Atlas Epimetheus

 VOCABULARY WORDS
 Supplication – To ask humbly or earnestly through praying
 Luscious – Sweet and pleasant to taste or smell.
 Mutter – To speak or utter in a low voice or to complain.
 Plunder – To rob of goods by force, especially in time of
war.
 Hades – A place they call the Underworld or Hell.
 Weep – To shed tears or to express sorrow, joy or emotion.
 Bid – To request, offer or propose something.
 Resist – To work against or actively oppose.
 Solemn – Very serious, sacred and characterized by dignity.
 Grove - A small group of trees lacking undergrowth.
 Tyrant – An absolute , unjust, and cruel ruler.


IMPORTANCE OF
GREEK
MYTHOLOGY
 Greek Mythology serves several
purposes, such as:
 Helping rationalize natural phenomena, like someone
already stated. They help to explain the unexplainable.
They teach us about different cultures and history, as well as
science and religion.
In the case of creation myths, they try to provide an
explanation for the origin of our universe and all the intricacies
that make it up.
They often provide lessons ("Moral of the Story") or
guidelines for life.
 MORAL OF THE STORY
 "Greek mythology is quite generally supposed
to show us the way the human race thought
and felt untold ages ago. Through it, according to
this view, we can retrace the path from civilized
man who lives so far from nature, to man who
lived in close companionship with nature;
and the real interest of the myths is that
they lead us back to a time when the world
was young and people had a connection
with the earth, with trees and seas and flowers
and hills, unlike anything we ourselves can feel.
When the stories were being shaped, we were
given to understand, little distinction had yet
been made between the real and the unreal. The
imagination was vividly alive and not checked
by the reason, so that anyone in the woods might
see through the trees a fleeing nymph, or
bending over a clear pool to drink, behold in the
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 EDITH HAMILTON
 A WORLD RENOWNED CLASSICIST

 SHE WAS BORN IN DRESDEN, GERMANY AND

SPENT HER CHILDHOOD IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA

 SHE WAS MADE AN HONORARY CITIZEN IN ATHENS

 she became a writer on mythology. Her most famous

books are The Greek Way (1930) and Mythology (1942).

 SHE BECAME THE HEAD MISTRESS OF BRYN

MAWR SCHOOL IN MARYLAND WHERE SHE
GRADUATED AND RECEIVED BOTH B.A AND M.A.


 Gaea

 Gaeais the Earth goddess. She

mated with her son Uranus to
produce the remaining Titans.
 uranus

 Uranus is the sky god and first ruler.

He is the son of Gaea, who created
him without help. He then became
the husband of Gaea and together
they had many offspring, including
twelve of the Titans.
 cronus
 Cronus was the ruling Titan who came to
power by castrating his Father Uranus. His
wife was Rhea. There offspring were the
first of the Olympians. To insure his safety
Cronus ate each of the children as they
were born.
 Cronus managed to escape to Italy, where
he ruled as Saturn. The period of his rule
was said to be a golden age on earth,
honored by the Saturnalia feast.
 rhea
 Rhea was the wife of Cronus. Cronus
made it a practice to swallow their
children. To avoid this, Rhea tricked
Cronus into swallowing a rock, saving
her son Zeus.
 oceanus
 Oceanus is the unending stream of
water encircling the world. Together
with his wife Tethys produced the
rivers and the three thousand ocean
nymphs.
 tethys

 Tethys is the wife of Oceanus.

Together they produced the
rivers and the three thousand
ocean nymphs.
 hyperion
 Hyperion is the Titan of light, the
father of the sun, the moon, and the
dawn.

mnemosyne
 Mnemosynewas the Titan of
memory and the mother of
Muses.
 themis
 Themis was the Titan of justice and
order. She was the mother of the
Fates and the Seasons.

iapetus
 Iapetus
was the father of
Prometheus, Epimetheus, and
Atlas.
 coeus
Titan of Intelligence. Father of
Leto.

phoebe
Titan of the Moon. Mother of
Leto.
 prometheus
 thewisest Titan. His name means
"forethought" and he was able to
foretell the future.

 Prometheus is known as the

protector and benifactor of man. He
gave mankind a number of gifts
including fire.
 atlas
 Atlaswas the son of Iapetus. Unlike
his brothers Prometheus and
Epimetheus, Atlas fought with the
other Titans supporting Cronus
against Zeus. Due to Cronus's
advance age Atlas lead the Titan's in
battle. As a result he was singled out
by Zeus for a special punishment and
made to hold up the world on his
back.
 epimetheus
 Epimetheus was a stupid Titan,
whose name means "afterthought".
 He is delegated, along with his
brother Prometheus by Zeus to
create mankind. He also accepted
the gift of Pandora from Zeus, which
lead to the introduction of evil into
the world.
 metis
 Metiswas the Titaness of the forth
day and the planet Mercury. She
presided over all wisdom and
knowledge.
 APHRODITE

 Aphrodite is the goddess

of love, desire and
beauty.
 APOLLO

god of light, truth,

music, and
healing
Twin sister of
artemis
 ARES

The God of
War
 ARTEMIS
 Her twin brother is
Apollo.
 Goddess of Wild
things
 Goddess of Chastity
and protector of the
young.
 ATHENA
 She is the
goddess of the
city, handicrafts,
and agriculture.

 Sheis the
embodiment of
wisdom, reason,
and purity.
 HADES
 Hades is the brother
of Zeus.
 lord of the underworld
, ruling over the dead.
 He is also the god of
wealth
 His wife is
Persephone
 HERA
 Zeus wife

 Goddess of
Marriage and
married women.
 HESTIA
 Goddess of the
Hearth, the symbol
of the house around
which a new born
child is carried
before it is received
into the family.
 HERMES
 Heis the fastest of
the gods. He wears
winged sandals, a
winged hat, and
carries a magic
wand.

 He is the god of
thieves and god of
commerce.
 HEPHAESTUS
 He is the god of
fire and the forge.
He is the smith and
armorer of the
gods.
 His wife is
Aphrodite.
 POSEIDON
lord of the sea

 He is second
only to Zeus in
power amongst
the gods.
 ZEUS
 The supreme ruler of
the gods.
 He is lord of the sky,
the rain god.
 His weapon is a
thunderbolt which he
hurls at those who
displease him.
 He is married to Hera
but, is famous for his
many affairs.
 DEMETER
 TheGoddess of
Corn, Grain, and
the Harvest. She is
the daughter of
Cronus and Rhea.

 Demeter is
intimately
associated with the
seasons.
 PERSEPHONE

 Thedaughter of Zeus and Demeter.

After her abduction by Hades she
became his wife and Queen of the
underworld.
 DIONYSUS

 Dionysus is the god of

the vine. He invented
wine and spread the art
of tending grapes. He
has a dual nature. On
the one hand bringing
joy and devine ecstasy.
On the other brutal,
unthinking, rage.
 EROS
 Erosis the son of Aphrodite. Eros is
the god of love. In particular erotic,
romantic, love. He is often
represented blindfolded because,
love is often blind. His "weapon" is
darts or arrows.
 HEBE

 Hebe is the daughter of Zeus and

Hera. She is the goddess of youth.
She, along with Ganymede are the
cupbearers to the gods. Hebe is
Hercules wife.
 ERIS

 She is the goddess of discord. In

addition to her main activity of
sowing discord, she frequently
accompanies her brother Ares to
battles. On these occasions she
rides his chariot and brings her
son Strife.
 helios

He was the son of Hyperion

and the Greek Sungod.

THANATOS
 Thanatosos was the greek god of
death.
 PAN
 Panis the son of Hermes. He is the
god of goatherds and shepherds

NEMESIS
 Nemesismeans righteous anger, due
enactment, or devine vengence. This
god helped to avenge those who
were wronged.
 THE MUSES

 They are the daughters of Zeus and

Mnemosyne. They are known for the
music of their song, which brings joy to
any who hear it. There are nine Muses,
each with her own specialty: Clio
(History), Urania (Astronmy), Melpomene
(Tragedy), Thalia (Comedy), Terpsichore
(Dance), Calliope (Epic Poetry), Erato
(Love Poetry), Polyhymnia (Songs to the
Gods), Euterpe (Lyric Poetry).
 THE GRACES

 They are the daughters of Zeus and

Eurynome. There are three Graces:
Aglaia (Splendor), Euphrosyne
(Mirth), and Thalia (Good Cheer).
The are known for singing and
dancing for the gods.
 THE ERINNYS
 Alsoknown as the Furies, punish
crime. They persue wrong doers
relentlessly, until death, often driving
them to suicide. They are particularly
concerned with matricide. There are
three Erinnyes, Tisiphone, Megaera,
and Alecto. The Erinnyes came from
the blood of Uranus when he was
castrated.
 THE FATES
 The Fates have the subtle but, awesome
power of deciding a mans destiny.

 There are three Fates. Clotho, the spinner,

who spins the thread of life. Lachesis, the
measurer, who choses the lot in life one
will have and measures off how long it is
to be. Atropos, she who can not be turn,
who at death with her shears cuts the
tread of life.