What are the major literary figures of ancient Greece and their writings? Major philosophers and historians of ancient Greece and their writings?

Literature "Homer's Epics", "Aesop's Fables".

Mainly the highest achievements in drama

"Father of Drama" Thespis, and the three great tragedy writers were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides "Father of Tragedy" Aeschylus: The Oresteia triptych ( Agamemnon, Dionysius and Nemesis), The Beggar, The Persians, The Seven Attacks on Thebes and Prometheus.

Sophocles, the "Homer of dramatic art": Antigone and Oedipus Rex.

"The originator of psychodrama" Euripides: Medea and The Trojan Women.

There were three main philosophers, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates, his pupil Plato, and Plato's pupil Aristotle were known as the "Three Sages of Greece".

Socrates seems to have no writings Plato's most important work is the Ideal State Aristotle's writings are ancient encyclopedias, it is said that there are between four hundred and one thousand, mainly the Theory of Instruments, Metaphysics, Physics, Ethics, Politics, Poetics and so on.

Ancient Greece did not have an institution or individual similar to the ancient Chinese specialized in compiling and revising history, and the Homeric Hymns cannot be considered as historical works should be literary works we can only take it as a reference.

Expanded Information

Philosophy

Classical Greek philosophy is a summary of the wisdom of life and reflection by ancient Greek philosophers, in the view of the Greeks, philosophy and science are the same category. The main focus was on the task of debating and questioning, an important element of philosophy. Classical Greek philosophy has had a profound impact on the development of philosophy, science and religion in the West .

The history of Western philosophy begins in ancient Greece, specifically with a group of philosophers commonly known as the pre-Socratic period. This is not a rumor to deny other early philosophers who appeared in ancient Egyptian, Semitic, and Babylonian cultures.

It is true that great thinkers and writers existed in every culture, and we have evidence that some of the earliest Greek philosophers may have been exposed to at least some works of Egyptian and Babylonian thought. However, the early Greek thinkers added at least one element that set them apart from their predecessors.

For the first time in history, we find in their works that they were not dogmatic in their claims about the laws of the world, but included a variety of their arguments for these theories.

The fact that the various cosmological theories advanced by almost all the early Greek philosophers proved to be extremely and unequivocally fallacious does not diminish their importance. For instantly later philosophers immediately discarded the answers assumed by their predecessors, but they could not escape the question posed by their predecessors:

Where does everything come from?

What is it really made of?

How do we explain the nature of the mass of things that make it up?

How is it that we can describe them with a single piece of math?

And the forms Greek philosophers followed and the methods of communicating their answers became as important as the questions they asked. The pre-Socratic philosophers rejected traditional mythological explanations of the phenomena they saw around them in favor of more rational explanations. In other words, they relied on inference and observation to illuminate the real world of nature that surrounded them, and they used reasoned arguments to highlight their points to others.

While philosophers have debated about the scale of importance associated with reason and observation, for 2,500 years they have been largely unanimous in their use of the method first invented by the pre-Socratic school.

Plato

A very influential classical Greek philosopher who was taught by Socrates and taught Aristotle. His most famous work, The Ideal State (Greek: Πολιτε?α; English: The Republic), depicts his fantasy of a "perfect" state.

He also wrote the Laws and many of Socrates' dialogues. Plato became a student of Socrates at a young age, and (according to his own account) participated in the trial of his teacher, though not by him. Unlike Socrates, Plato wrote down his philosophical views and left a considerable number of manuscripts. See his writings for more information.

Aristotle

Aristotle (Greek: Αριστοτ?λη?; English: Aristotle, known as Aristoteles in most other non-English languages, and Aristotele in Italian, 384 BCE - March 7, 322 BCE), along with Plato, has been known as one of the two men who had a major influence on Western ways of thinking.

Aristotle

Their works, while related in many fundamental ways, are very different in style and thrust. Plato wrote several dozen philosophical dialogues (debates in the form of conversations, usually with Socrates appearing as a participant) and a handful of letters.

While the early dialogues are primarily concerned with methods of acquiring knowledge, and most end with justice and practical ethics, his best-known work states a summary view of ethics, metaphysics, inference, knowledge, and human life.

Striking ideas include the idea that knowledge gained through intuition (sensation) always leaves behind confused and impure views, and a boredom with the claim that "the contemplative mind can derive 'true' knowledge from the world". Only the soul can grasp the structure of knowledge, the true nature of things, and the world we see is merely a flawed copy.

Such knowledge has not only an ethical but also a scientific importance. We can see Plato as an idealist and a rationalist.

By contrast, Aristotle placed more importance on acquiring knowledge from the senses, and would relatively more often acquire the modern label of empiricist. Thus Aristotle prepared the way for the century of eventual development into the scientific method that followed. The works of Aristotle that still exist today are in the form of treatises, most of which have not been distributed by their authors.

The most important include works on Physics, Metaphysics, (Nicomachean) Ethics, Politics, Treatise on the Soul (On the Soul), Poetics, and many others.

Other classical philosophers

Cicero (Greek: Κ?κερο?; English: Cicero)

Zeno of Citium

Epicentius

Epicurus (Greek: Επ?κουρο?; English: Epicurus) and Lucretius

Empedocles

Literature and the Age

Heroic Age-Myths

The period between the 12th century BCE and the 8th century BCE was the period when the ancient Greek world was in transition from a clan-based communal system to a slavery society, historically known as the It was known as the "Heroic Age", or the "Age of Homer", and the main achievements of literature in this period were myths and epics.

Ancient Greek mythology is a spiritual product of the primitive clan society, an oral creation of the ancient Greeks, and the earliest form of literature in the Western world, which was created before the 8th century BC. It formed its basic scale on the basis of the long-term oral tradition of the primitive Greeks, and was later fully reflected in the works of Homer, Hesiod and others.

The geographic location where it arose and was reflected is the vast Aegean region from the Greek Peninsula in the west to the Asia Minor Peninsula in the east and Crete in the south. The content of Greek mythology is a vast and complicated system, the branches and factions are complicated, and there are many legends and stories, which are not completely consistent. But it has a clear family color, pregnant with a blood tie, there is a basic vein, can be roughly divided into the story of the gods and heroes of the two major parts of the legend.

The gods and goddesses in Greek mythology are like human beings, with lust, good and evil, scheming, and mutual blood relations, all of which are personified images, which is the "God, man is the same shape and homogeneity". For example, Zeus, the father of the sky, often chased down the world to seduce the mortal woman, and his wife, Hera, as a very jealous woman to persecute her rivals.

But the difference between gods and humans is also very obvious: they are immortal, can be transformed at will, each has special skills and great power, and their good and bad attitudes play a decisive role in determining the life and death of human beings in the lower world. The most prominent of these gods are the twelve principal gods who reside on Mount Olympus.

The heroes in the legend of heroes are the offspring of gods and men, half-gods and half-humans, with extraordinary talents and extraordinary perseverance, all under the protection of one of the gods and goddesses to accomplish some astonishing performance, which embodies the wisdom and strength of the collective, and demonstrates the Greek people's praise and aspiration for the spirit of industriousness, bravery and heroism.

There are many systems of heroic legends centered on different families, including the legend of Heraclitus, the legend of Theseus, the legend of Iason and so on.

Greek mythology was gradually formed over a long period of history, and the character and duties of the gods as well as the storylines evolved. It can be said that ancient Greek mythology is the source of the whole of Western literature, and almost all later writers have drawn from the ancient myths.

The Homeric Epics

The Homeric Epics are the earliest formal written literary works in the history of Western literature. The epic consists of two books, the Iliad (a translation of the Ilion Chronicle) and the Odyssey (a translation of the Odyssey), and is rumored to have been written by Homer, a blind poet who lived roughly between the 10th and 8th centuries BCE.

Homer's Salute

The Iliad*** is a 24-volume, 15,693-line work based on the Greek myth of the Golden Apple of Discord. According to the legend, Achilles' parents forgot to invite Eris, the goddess of disputes, to their wedding, and the angry goddess of vengeance threw down a golden apple at the banquet, which was written as "for the most beautiful woman", triggering a fight between Hera, the queen of the heavens, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, which ultimately led to the outbreak of the Trojan War.

The epic poem uses the episode of the Trojan War, in which Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek allied forces, takes away the favorite female prisoner of Achilles, the brave general, and Achilles, out of anger, refuses to fight again, as a wedge to depict the anger of Achilles and the events that take place in the following 51 days.

The Odyssey takes place in the decade immediately following the Trojan War. Odysseus, who sacrificed the Trojan horse for the Greek allies in the Trojan War, was shipwrecked at sea and stranded in a foreign land after offending Poseidon, the god of the sea. Later he overcame all the difficulties with unparalleled heroism and finally returned home to his wife and children.

The theme of Homer's epic is to glorify the glorious history of the Greek nation, to praise the qualities of bravery, justice, selflessness, hard work and other good qualities, to eulogize the optimistic spirit of overcoming all the difficulties, and to affirm the value of human beings and life. But the epic also has a strong fatalistic color, the struggle between man and man is often the epitome of the struggle between God and God. But the epics make few value judgments about the war itself as just or unjust, transcending narrow nationalism.

In terms of language, the Homeric Hymns reach a high degree of sophistication, with fairly sophisticated rhetorical techniques and a very rational narrative structure. Homer makes good use of metaphors to describe characters and portray grand social and historical scenes. Although there is no lack of lengthy and redundant ornate rhetoric, this is a characteristic of all ancient literature.

Besides Homer, Hesiod was a very famous poet during this period. He lived roughly from the end of the 8th century to the beginning of the 7th century BC. His masterpieces include the oracular poems "Farming and Hours" and "The Divine Genealogy". His compositional style is very similar to Homer's, and there are traces of imitation of the Homeric Hymns in his language.

The Great Migration - Lyric Poetry

The period from the 8th century BC to the 6th century BC is known as the "Great Migration Era" of Ancient Greek history, and the main achievements of the literature of this period include lyric poetry and allegory.

Ancient Greek lyric poetry included a variety of subjects, mainly divided into two-line poems, satirical poems, lyre songs and pastoral songs. Among the many ancient Greek poets who wrote dithyrambic poetry, the earliest poet is rumored to have been Callinos in the first half of the 7th century B.C.E., but the most skillful in writing this style of poetry was Symphonides (556~466 B.C.E.). Thoreau, the founder of Athenian democracy, also wrote a number of poems.

However, the most accomplished of the ancient Greek lyric poems was the lyre song, a type of song accompanied by music. The lyre song can be divided into two types, one is solo and the other is choral.

The representative of solo lyre song is the poetess Sappho (612 years before ~?). . She was forced into exile during the political struggle between the democrats and aristocrats in Athens, and later founded a music school on her native island of Lesbos. She composed nine volumes of poetry in one ****, but only two have survived in their entirety; the rest are fragments. Her

Sappho (portrait)

language is voluptuous and incomparable, the mood is sentimental and sincere, and the subject matter mostly describes lingering and sentimental love. Such as her masterpiece "to Anaktorya", sorrowful sadness, touching. Sappho was said to be a homosexual. Many of her poems were publicly burned in Rome and Constantinople in 1703. In the ancient Greek world, however, Sappho was so highly regarded that she was once called "the tenth muse" by Plato.

Along with Sappho, Alcaeus and Anacreon were also very good at writing solo lyre songs. Alcaeus was close to Sappho, but slightly less famous. Most of his compositions were on political and war themes, reflecting the violent side of the lyre. Later critics believed that it was he and Sappho who brought ancient Greek lyric poetry to its peak.

Anacreon, on the other hand, had a bad reputation because of his defection to the crown and his role as a royal poet. His popular and fluent works had a profound influence on European poetry after the 16th century.

As for the choral body lyre, the most accomplished poet was Pindar (518~442 BC). He was taught by some famous musicians in Athens, and the themes of his poems were mostly in praise of God and the Olympic movement. He composed 17 volumes of poetry in his lifetime***, and 4 complete volumes of Ode to the Athletic Victors (*** counting 45 poems) are extant. Pindar's poetry was so influential on later generations that Milton, Goethe, and others have intentionally imitated his style.

Aesop's Fables

Aesop is said to have been a freed slave in the first half of the first century B.C.E., and was so clever that he composed many fables during his life.

Aesop's fables are mainly moral lessons through the words and actions of some animals, and famous stories include "The Lion and the Mouse", "The Fox and the Crane", "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" and "The Fox and the Crane". Famous stories include "The Lion and the Mouse", "The Fox and the Crane", "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" and "The Fox and the Grapes". Aesop's fables are usually short, concise and thoughtful, reflecting the wisdom of the ancient Greeks, and have influenced later generations of literature around the world.

Democratic Era - Drama

The so-called "Democratic Era" refers to the period from the 6th century BC to the 4th century BC. This era was the heyday of the ancient Greek world, and all the city-states prospered, while Athens, which was conveniently located on the bay, became increasingly developed in commerce and industry and established a slave-owning democracy. In Athens, the state did not have a king, the highest authority is the citizens of the General Assembly, the General Assembly by the citizens of the lottery, *** with the state affairs of the deliberation.

In addition, victories in foreign wars reinforced this prosperity to some extent. In the early 5th century B.C., economic and political conflicts between Greece and Persia gave rise to the Hippocratic War, in which the Greeks won major victories at the Battle of Marathon and the Battle of Salamis, while after the war many Greek city-states formed a maritime alliance to defend themselves against Persian aggression, with Athens as the ally. Thereafter, Athens became increasingly thriving economically and politically, and ushered in a golden age of ancient Greek literature.

Theater

Originated from folk songs and dances and religious ceremonies. Most of its subjects came from ancient Greek myths and heroic legends, as well as the world-famous Homeric poems. The poetic language and legendary stories made ancient Greek drama endlessly fascinating.

Its strong vitality and deep and rich philosophy still bring people enlightenment. In the fifth century B.C., the development of ancient Greek drama reached its peak with the birth of three great tragedy writers, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, whose classic works are still unfailingly performed on stages all over the world.

The themes of ancient Greek tragedy, generally speaking, come from myths and stories; there are also some from the ancient Greek heroes and legends; and some from the Homeric poems.

The Homeric poems not only influenced the tragedies in terms of content, but also the poetic writing techniques of the Homeric poems themselves, which were directly reflected in the choruses of the Greek tragedies, that is, the choruses of the song teams, including their syllables and meters, all of which were adopted from the Homeric poems.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia - Ancient Greece