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Aeschylus
Aristophanes
Euripides
Sophocles
Aesop
Apollodorus of Athens
Aristotle
Homer
Plato
SocratesAncient Greek Literature Quiz
Aeschylus
(525?-456 BC)
Considered the earliest of the great tragic poets of Athens, Aeschylus is often called the father of Greek tragedy. Born in Eleusis, near Athens, he did more than just drama. Aeschylus fought successfully against the Persians in 490 BC, at Salamis in 480 BC, and maybe Plataea the next year. He made trips to Sicily, dying during his final visit at Gela. (A monument was erected there in his honor.)
Said to have written near 90 plays, Aeschylus’s tragedies were first performed about 500 BC. The tragedies were presented in groups of three, with each trilogy followed by a satyr drama (low comedy involving a mythological hero and a chorus of satyrs). Though about 80 play titles are known, only seven plays have survived. The Persians was the first tragedy, with the historical setting of the Battle of Salamis. The Suppliants, The Seven Against Thebes, Prometheus Bound, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides are the other complete plays.
Aeschylus created the possibility of dramatic dialogue by introducing a second actor. (This made the action of the play more advanced.) He also introduced costumes, scenery, elaborating the staging of the drama. The grandeur of the poetry and the profundity of theme are showed by the chorus, as is characteristic of his works. His most mature work, The Oresteia, provides an insight into the concepts of mercy and justice, a belief in a divine will, and how humanity can achieve wisdom through suffering.
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Aeschylus' Plays:
The Persians
The Suppliants
Prometheus Bound
Eumenides
AgamemnonAristophanes
(448?-385 BC)
All the existing comedies of the fifth century B.C. belong to Aristophanes, as the works of playwrights Magnes, Cratinus, Crates, Eupolis, and other such playwrights are lost.
Fortunately, many considered Aristophanes the greatest comic writer of his time, so it’s lucky that his plays are the ones that survived.Born in Athens, Greece (in the township of Cydathenaeum), Aristophanes is believed to have been well-educated, with property on the island of Aegina. In his lifetime, he had three sons, (Philippos, Araros, and Nikostratos), all of whom were comic poets.
One of the central themes of Aristophanes’ comedies was politics, and no class, age, or profession was exempt from his satire. Democracy had turned sour for the Athenians by his time. The people were disheartened by the progress of the Peloponnesian War, and the emergence of dishonest politicians such as Cleon and Hyperbolus. Aristophanes comedic plays are thus tinged with apprehension and grief. His first surviving play, The Acharnians, is the world’s first known anti-war comedy. Written in the sixth year of the Peloponnesian War, it tells the story of a farmer trying to (with the aid of poet Euripides) make peace with the Spartans.
The plays of Aristophanes had an immense impact on English satire. His works affected Ben Jonson, a 17th century playwright, and Henry Fielding, an 18th century novelist. His plays are still popular today, for their wit, comic invention, and poetic language.
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Aristophanes' Plays:
The Acharnians
The Birds
The Clouds
The Ecclesiazusae
The Frogs
The Knights
Peace
Plutus
The Thesmophoriazusae
The WaspsTop
Euripides
(480?-406? BC)
Tradition holds that Euripides was born in Salamis on September 23, around 480 BC (the day of the great naval battle between the Greeks and Persians.) Some say his parents belonged to nobility, while others say he was born in humble circumstances. Whichever way he was born, he did receive a thorough education. He began to perform his plays in the Attic drama festivals in 454 BC, but he did not win the first prize until 442 BC. And though he had great talent, Euripides won first place only four times.
Other chief interests of Euripides were science and philosophy. Euripides did not identify himself with any specific school of philosophy, but he was influenced by the Sophists and philosophers Anaxagoras, Protagoras, and Socrates. Euripides thought himself misunderstood by others, and he was constantly attacked by Athenian writers of comedy. He was made the subject of satire in Aristophanes play The Frogs (405 BC), and Euripides’ plays were criticized for their natural dialogue (the characters spoke the language of everyday life), their unconventionality, and their independence from traditional moral and religious values. Despite all this, Euripides plays were popular throughout Greece
Euripides work greatly influenced Roman drama, and, in later years, German and English plays. The dramatist also affected French dramatic poets, such as Jean Baptiste Racine and Pierre Corneille. Of Euripides many plays, 1 satyr play and 17 tragedies survive.
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Euripides' Plays:
Alcestis
Andromache
The Bacchantes
The Cyclops
Electra
Hecuba
Helen
El Heracleidae
Heracles
Hippolytus
Iphigenia At Aulis
Iphigenia in Tauris
Medea
Orestes
The Phoenissae
Rhesus
The Trojan WomenTop
Sophocles
(496?-406? BC)
Sophocles is considered to be one of the three great tragic dramatists of ancient Athens, along with Aeschylus and Euripides. Born in Colonus Hippius to Sophillus (a wealthy armor-maker), Sophocles was provided the best aristocratic education. At the age of 28, he defeated Aeschylus, a dominant tragic poet, in a dramatic competition. From that time, Sophocles won the first prize about 20 times, and many second prizes also.
Sophocles made more than 100 plays, with 7 of the complete tragedies and fragments of 80 or 90 others preserved. The tragedies are Philoctetes, Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex or Oedipus Tyrannus (Oedipus the King), Oedipus at Colonus, Electra, and Trachiniae. (Ajax is thought to be the earliest tragedy, with Antigone and Trachiniae next.) A large fragment of Ichneutae, a satirical drama discovered on Egyptian papyrus, was found in the 20th century.
Many modern scholars consider Sophocles the greatest of the Greek tragedians, and his contributions to dramatic technique were numerous. Two of Sophocles especially important innovations were increasing the number of actors from two to three, (lessening the influence of the chorus, making the complication of the plot more important, and giving characters more contrast), and changing the central themes of a tragedy (from religion and morality-related material to the nature of man, his problems, and his struggles).
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Sophocles Plays:
Antigone
Ajax
Electra
Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus the King
Philoctetes
The TrachiniaeTop
Aesop
(620 B.C.- 560 B.C.)
AESOP (Gr. Aisopos), famous for his Fables, is supposed to have lived from about 620 to 560 B.C. The place of his birth is uncertain - Thrace, Phrygia, Aethiopia, Samos, Athens and Sardis all claiming the honour. We possess little trustworthy information concerning his life, except that he was the slave of Iadmon of Samos and met with a violent death at the hands of the inhabitants of Delphi.
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Aesop's works:
Androcles and the Lion
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Belling the Cat
The Goose with the Golden EggsApollodorus of Athens
(Around 180-? BC)
Apollodorus was a Greek scholar who flourished about 140 BC. A pupil of Aristarchus, he left Alexandria about 146 for Pergamum and eventually settled at Athens.
Apollodorus wrote many works on grammar, history, and mythology. His best-known books, only fragments of which survive, are On the Gods, a prose treatise; and his verse Chronicle, treating Greek history from the fall of Troy. Apollodorus provides 19% of all that is known about Ancient Greece.
Apollodorus' works:
Chronicle
A Treatise On the Gods
The Homeric Catalogue of Ships
The LibraryTop
Aristotle
(384-322 BC)
Greek philosopher and scientist, who shares with Plato and Socrates the distinction of being the most famous of ancient philosophers. At the age of 17, he went to Athens to study at Plato's Academy. He remained there for about 20 years, as a student and then as a teacher. He became the tutor of the young Alexander, later known as Alexander the Great. In 335, when Alexander became king, Aristotle returned to Athens and established his own school, the Lyceum.
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Some of Aristotle's works:
The Athenian Constitution
Categories
On Dreams
PoeticsA complete list of his works
Homer
(8th Century BC)
There is hardly anything known about the life of Homer. Many people, in fact, argue on whether or not Homer actually wrote both "The Illiad" and "The Odyssey." There is historical evidence, however, that suggests that the poems were written in 8th century B.C., somewhere in the Greek settlements on the west coast of Asia Minor.
Homer might have written the so-called Homeric Hymns. The hymns are short poems that celebrate the various gods, and are associated with Homer because of the similar style between the epics and hymns.
Homer was, in a way, the parent of all succeeding Greek literature. Historiography, philosophy, and drama show the issues brought up in the epics, such as comedy and tragedy. They also used many of the techniques used Homer used to approach comedy and tragedy in his epics. Many poets- from Italian to English, were effected by Homer while writing their own works.
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Homer's Plays and Poems:
The Odyssey
The Iliad
Homeric HymnsPoem for Homer:
To Homer (by John Keats)
Iliad and Odyssey Study Guide & Lesson Plans
Archaeology at Troy
Plato
(428?-347 BC)
Plato is considered one of the most creative and influential thinkers in Western philosophy. His works were written in dialogue form, with philosophical ideas that were discussed, criticized, and advanced in conversation of debate form. The dialogues are divided into three periods- early, late, and middle. The earliest dialogues represent Plato’s attempt to communicate the dialectical style and viewpoint of Socrates. The dialogues of the middle and later periods of Plato’s life show his own philosophical development, though Socrates is still often the main character in many of these dialogues. Plato founded the Academy in Athens in 387, with his most prominent student being Aristotle. There he taught subjects like biology, mathematics, philosophy, and political theory.
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Some of Plato's works:
Apology
Charmides
Cratylus
The RepublicA complete list of his works
Socrates
(469-399 BC)
Greek philosopher, who profoundly affected Western philosophy through his influence on Plato. Born in Athens, Socrates believed in the superiority of argument over writing and therefore spent the greater part of his mature life in the marketplace and public places of Athens, engaging in dialogue and argument with anyone who would listen or who would submit to interrogation.
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