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Ancient Greek literature isliterature written in theAncient Greek language from the earliest texts until the time of theByzantine Empire. The earliest surviving works of ancient Greek literature, dating back to the earlyArchaic period, are the two epic poems theIliad and theOdyssey, set in an idealized archaic past today identified as having some relation to theMycenaean era. These two epics, along with theHomeric Hymns and the two poems ofHesiod, theTheogony andWorks and Days, constituted the major foundations of the Greek literary tradition that would continue into theClassical,Hellenistic, andRoman periods.
The lyric poetsSappho,Alcaeus, andPindar were highly influential during the early development of the Greek poetic tradition.Aeschylus is the earliest Greek tragic playwright for whom any plays have survived complete.Sophocles is famous for his tragedies aboutOedipus, particularlyOedipus the King andAntigone.Euripides is known for his plays which often pushed the boundaries of the tragic genre. The comedic playwrightAristophanes wrote in the genre ofOld Comedy, while the later playwrightMenander was an early pioneer ofNew Comedy. The historiansHerodotus of Halicarnassus andThucydides, who both lived during the fifth century BC, wrote accounts of events that happened shortly before and during their own lifetimes. The philosopherPlato wrote dialogues, usually centered around his teacherSocrates, dealing with various philosophical subjects, whereas his studentAristotle wrote numerous treatises, which later became highly influential.
Important later writers includedApollonius of Rhodes, who wroteThe Argonautica, an epic poem about the voyage of theArgonauts;Archimedes, who wrote groundbreaking mathematical treatises; andPlutarch, who wrote mainly biographies and essays. The second-century AD writerLucian of Samosata was a Greek, who wrote primarily works ofsatire.[1] Ancient Greek literature has had a profound impact on laterGreek literature and also onwestern literature at large. In particular, manyancient Roman authors drew inspiration from their Greek predecessors. Ever since theRenaissance, European authors in general, includingDante Alighieri,William Shakespeare,John Milton, andJames Joyce, have all drawn heavily on classical themes and motifs.
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The earliest known Greek writings areMycenaean, written in theLinear B syllabary on clay tablets. These documents contain prosaic records largely concerned with trade (lists, inventories, receipts, etc.); no real literature has been discovered.[2][3]Michael Ventris andJohn Chadwick, the original decipherers of Linear B, state that literature almost certainly existed inMycenaean Greece,[3] but it was either not written down or, if it was, it was on parchment or wooden tablets, which did not survive thedestruction of the Mycenaean palaces in the twelfth century BC.[3]
In the Hellenistic period, after the conquests ofAlexander the Great, Athens lost its preeminent status as the leader of Greek culture to the city ofAlexandria, in northernEgypt.[4] TheMusaeum, or Shrine to the Muses, which included the library and school, was founded byPtolemy I. The institution was from the beginning intended as a great international school and library.[5][better source needed] The library, eventually containing more than a half million volumes, was mostly in Greek. It was intended to serve as a repository for every work of classical Greek literature that could be found.[6]
While the transition from city-state to empire affected philosophy a great deal, shifting the emphasis from political theory to personal ethics, Greek letters continued to flourish under Roman rule. Romans of literary or rhetorical inclination looked to Greek models, and Greek literature of all types continued to be read and produced both by native speakers of Greek and later by Roman authors as well. A notable characteristic of this period was the expansion of literary criticism as a genre, particularly as exemplified by Demetrius, Pseudo-Longinus and Dionysius of Halicarnassus.[citation needed]
At the beginning of Greek literature stand the two monumental works: theIliad and theOdyssey.[7]: 1–3 Although the works as they now stand are credited to a single poet namedHomer, both of these works were based on ancient legends, and it is certain that their roots reach far back before his time (seeHomeric Question).[7]: 15 TheIliad is a narrative of a single episode spanning over the course of a ten-day-period from near the end of the ten years of the Trojan War. It centers on the person ofAchilles,[8] who embodied the Greek heroic ideal.[9][7]: 3 TheOdyssey is an account of the adventures ofOdysseus, one of the warriors atTroy.[7]: 3 After ten years fighting the war, he spends another ten years sailing back home to his wife and family. During his ten-year voyage, he loses all of his comrades and ships and makes his way home toIthaca disguised as a beggar. These works are written indactylic hexameter verse,[10] in theHomeric dialect of ancient Greek, a mixture of theIonic dialect and some elements of theAeolic andAttic dialects,[11] the latter due to the Athenian edition of the 6th century BC.[citation needed]
The other great poet of the preclassical period wasHesiod,[7]: 23–24 [12] a native ofBoeotia incentral Greece, and is thought to have lived and worked around 700 BC.[13] Hesiod's two extant poems areWorks and Days and theTheogony.Works and Days is a faithful depiction of the poverty-stricken country life he knew so well, and it sets forth principles and rules for farmers. It vividly describes the ages of mankind, beginning with a long-pastGolden Age.[14] TheTheogony is a systematic account of creation and of the gods.[15]Unlike Homer, Hesiod refers to himself in his poetry.[16] Nonetheless, nothing is known about him from any external source.[citation needed]
The writings of Homer and Hesiod were held in extremely high regard throughout antiquity[12] and were viewed by many ancient authors as the foundationaltexts behindancient Greek religion;[17] Homer told the story of aheroic past, which Hesiod bracketed with a creation narrative and an account of the practical realities of contemporary daily life.[7]: 23–24
Elegiac poetry andiambic poetry were both written in theIonic dialect. Elegiac poems were written inelegiac couplets and iambic poems were written iniambic trimeter. The most important iambic poet wasArchilochus of Paros (7th century BC).[18] Only fragments remain of his work, as is the case with most of the poets.[citation needed] The few remnants suggest that he was an embittered adventurer who led a very turbulent life.[19]
Lyric poetry received its name from the fact that it was originally sung by individuals or a chorus accompanied by the instrument called thelyre. Lyric poems often employed highly varied poetic meters.[citation needed]
The most famous of all lyric poets were the so-called "Nine Lyric Poets".[20] Of all the lyric poets,Sappho ofLesbos (c. 630 – c. 570 BC), who wrote in theAeolic dialect, was by far the most widely revered. In antiquity, her poems were regarded with the same degree of respect as the poems of Homer.[21] Only one of her poems, "Ode to Aphrodite", has survived to the present day in its original, completed form.[22] In addition to Sappho, her contemporaryAlcaeus ofLesbos was also notable formonodic lyric poetry.[citation needed]
The poetry written byAlcman was written in theDoric dialect. The later poetPindar ofThebes was renowned for hischoral lyric poetry.[23]
The genre of bucolic poetry was first developed by the poetTheocritus.[24] The RomanVirgil later wrote hisEclogues in this genre.[25]
Callimachus, a scholar at theLibrary of Alexandria, composed theAetia ("Causes"),[26] a long poem written in four volumes ofelegiac couplets describing the legendary origins of obscure customs, festivals, and names.[26] Callimachus also wrote short poems for special occasions and at least one short epic, theIbis, which was directed against his former pupil Apollonius.[27]
The Alexandrian poetApollonius of Rhodes is best known for his epic poem theArgonautica, which narrates the adventures ofJason and his shipmates theArgonauts on their quest to retrieve theGolden Fleece from the land ofColchis.[28] The poetAratus wrote the hexameter poemPhaenomena, a poetic rendition ofEudoxus of Cnidus's treatise on the stars written in the fourth century BC.[29]
The poetQuintus of Smyrna, who probably lived during the late fourth century AD,[30][31] wrotePosthomerica, an epic poem narrating the story of the fall of Troy, beginning where theIliad left off.[32] About the same time and in a similar Homeric style, an unknown poet composed theBlemyomachia, a now fragmentary epic about conflict between Romans andBlemmyes.[33]
The poetNonnus ofPanopolis wrote theDionysiaca, the longest surviving epic poem from antiquity. He also wrote a poetic paraphrase ofThe Gospel of John.[34][35] Nonnus probably lived sometime during the late fourth century AD or early fifth century AD.[36][37]
All surviving works of Greek drama were composed by playwrights fromAthens and are written exclusively in theAttic dialect.[38]Choral performances were a common tradition in all Greek city-states.[38] The Athenians credited a man namedThespis with having invented drama[38] by introducing the first actor, whose primary purpose was to interact with the leader of the chorus.[39] Later playwrights expanded the number of actors to three, allowing for greater freedom in storytelling.[40]
In the age that followed theGreco-Persian Wars, the awakened national spirit ofAthens was expressed in hundreds of tragedies based on heroic and legendary themes of the past. The tragic plays grew out of simple choral songs and dialogues performed at festivals of the godDionysus. In the classical period, performances included three tragedies and one pastoral drama, depicting four different episodes of the same myth.[dubious –discuss] Wealthy citizens were chosen to bear the expense of costuming and training the chorus as a public and religious duty. Attendance at the festival performances was regarded as an act of worship. Performances were held in the great open-air theater of Dionysus in Athens. The poets competed for the prizes offered for the best plays.[41][better source needed]
All fully surviving Greek tragedies are conventionally attributed toAeschylus,Sophocles orEuripides. The authorship ofPrometheus Bound, which is traditionally attributed to Aeschylus,[42] andRhesus, which is traditionally attributed to Euripides, are, however, questioned.[43]
There are seven surviving tragedies attributed to Aeschylus, three of whichAgamemnon,The Libation-Bearers, andThe Eumenides, form a trilogy known as theOresteia.[44]Prometheus Bound, however, may actually be the work of Aeschylus's sonEuphorion.[45]
Seven works of Sophocles have survived, the most acclaimed of which are thethree Theban plays,Oedipus the King,Oedipus at Colonus, andAntigone all of which center around the story ofOedipus and his offspring.[46]
There are nineteen surviving plays attributed toEuripides, the most well-known areMedea,Hippolytus, andBacchae.[47]Rhesus is sometimes thought to have been written by Euripides' son, or to have been a posthumous reproduction of a play by Euripides.[48] Euripides pushed the limits of the tragic genre and many of the elements in his plays were more typical of comedy than tragedy.[49]
Like tragedy, comedy arose from a ritual in honor ofDionysus, but in this case the plays were full of frank obscenity, abuse, and insult. AtAthens, the comedies became an official part of the festival celebration in 486 BC, and prizes were offered for the best productions. As with the tragedians, few works remain of the great comedic writers.[citation needed]
The only complete surviving works of old comedy are eleven plays written by the playwrightAristophanes.[50] Aristophanes poked fun at everyone and every institution. InThe Birds, he ridiculesAthenian democracy. InThe Clouds, he attacks the philosopherSocrates. InLysistrata, he denounces war.[51] InThe Frogs, he satirizes the tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides.[52]
During theHellenistic period, theOld Comedy of the Classical Era was replaced byNew Comedy. The most notable writer of New Comedy was the Athenian playwrightMenander. None of Menander's plays have survived to the present day in their complete form, but one play,The Bad-Tempered Man, has survived to the present day in a near-complete form. Most of another play entitledThe Girl from Samos and large portions of another five have also survived.[53]
The third dramatic genre was thesatyr play. Although the genre was popular, only one complete example of a satyr play has survived:Cyclops byEuripides.[54] Large portions of a second satyr play,Ichneutae by Sophocles, have been recovered from the site ofOxyrhynchus in Egypt among theOxyrhynchus Papyri.[55]
Prose literature can largely be said to begin withHerodotus; his bookThe Histories is among the oldest works of prose literature in existence.[56]
Thucydides's bookHistory of the Peloponnesian War greatly influenced later writers and historians, including the author of the book ofActs of the Apostles and theByzantine Era historianProcopius ofCaesarea.[57]
A third historian of ancient Greece,Xenophon ofAthens, began hisHellenica where Thucydides ended his work about 411 BC and carried his history to 362 BC.[58] Xenophon's most famous work is his bookThe Anabasis, a detailed, first-hand account of his participation in a Greek mercenary army that tried to help the Persian Cyrus expel his brother from the throne, another famous work relating to Persian history is hisCyropaedia.[citation needed]
The historianTimaeus was born inSicily but spent most of his life inAthens.[59] HisHistory, though lost, is significant because of its influence onPolybius. In 38 books it covered the history of Sicily and Italy to the year 264 BC, which is where Polybius begins his work. Timaeus also wrote theOlympionikai, a valuable chronological study of the Olympic Games.[60]
The historianPolybius was born about 200 BC. He was brought toRome as a hostage in 168. In Rome he became a friend of the general Scipio Aemilianus. He probably accompanied the general to Spain and North Africa in the wars against Carthage. He was with Scipio at the destruction ofCarthage in 146.[61][better source needed]
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who lived in the 1st century BC, around the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus. He wrote auniversal history,Bibliotheca Historica, in 40 books. Of these, the first five and the 11th through the 20th remain. The first two parts covered history through the early Hellenistic era. The third part takes the story to the beginning of Caesar's wars in Gaul, now France.[62]
Dionysius of Halicarnassus lived late in the first century BC. His history of Rome from its origins to the First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) is written from a Roman point of view, but it is carefully researched. He also wrote a number of other treatises, includingOn Imitation,Commentaries on the Ancient Orators, andOn the Arrangement of Words.[63]
The historiansAppian of Alexandria andArrian of Nicomedia both lived in the second century AD.[64][65] Appian wrote on Rome and its conquests, while Arrian is remembered for his work on the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Arrian served in the Roman army. His book therefore concentrates heavily on the military aspects of Alexander's life. Arrian also wrote a philosophical treatise, theDiatribai, based on the teachings of his mentorEpictetus.
Ancient biography, orbios, as distinct from modern biography, was a genre of Greek (and Roman) literature interested in describing the goals, achievements, failures, and character of ancient historical persons and whether or not they should be imitated. Authors of ancientbios, such asPlutarch'sParallel Lives imitated many of the same sources and techniques of the contemporary historiographies of ancient Greece, notably including the works ofHerodotus andThucydides. There were various forms of ancient biographies, including philosophical biographies that brought out the moral character of their subject, literary biographies which discussed the lives of orators and poets (such asPhilostratus'sLives of the Sophists), school and reference biographies that offered a short sketch of someone including their ancestry, major events and accomplishments, and death, autobiographies, commentaries and memoirs where the subject presents his own life, and historical/political biography focusing on the lives of those active in the military, among other categories.[66]
Plutarch's other surviving work is theMoralia, a collection of essays on ethical, religious, political, physical, and literary topics.[67][68]
During later times, so-called "commonplace books", usually describing historical anecdotes, became quite popular.[citation needed] Surviving examples of this popular genre include works such asAulus Gellius'sAttic Nights,[69]Athenaeus of Naucratis'sDeipnosophistae,[70] andClaudius Aelianus'sDe Natura Animalium andVaria Historia.[71]
Among the earliest Greek philosophers were the three so-called "Milesian philosophers":Thales of Miletus,Anaximander, andAnaximenes.[72] Of these philosophers' writings, however, only one fragment from Anaximander preserved bySimplicius of Cilicia has survived.[73]
Many important and influential philosophers lived during the fifth centuries BC:[citation needed] A large portion of the philosophical poemOn Nature written byEmpedocles of Acragas has survived, making Empedocles one of the most widely attestedPre-Socratic philosophers.[74] A large number of fragments written by the philosophersHeraclitus of Ephesus[75] andDemocritus of Abdera have also survived.[76]
Of all the classical philosophers whose writing survive,Plato andAristotle are generally considered the most important and influential.[77]
Plato expressed his ideas throughSocratic dialogues Some of the best-known of these include:The Apology of Socrates, a defense of Socrates written by Plato and presented as if it was a speech he had given at the trial,Phaedo, a fictional discussion between Socrates and his disciples on the nature of the soul, set immediately before his execution;[78]The Symposium, a series of speeches given bySocrates,Aristophanes, and other famous Athenians on the nature ofEros; andThe Republic, widely regarded as Plato's most important work, a long dialogue describing the ideal government.[79]
Aristotle was a student at Plato'sAcademy who later went on to found his own school in Athens, theLyceum.[80] From the body of writings that have come down to us in his name, the enormous range of his interests is evident: the extant treatises cover logic, the physical and biological sciences, ethics, politics, and constitutional government. Among Aristotle's most notable works arePolitics,Nicomachean Ethics,Poetics,On the Soul, andRhetoric.[81]
Plotinus transformed Plato's philosophy into a school calledNeoplatonism.[82] HisEnneads had a wide-ranging influence on European thought until at least the seventeenth century.[83] Plotinus's philosophy mainly revolved around the concepts ofnous,psyche, and the "One".[84][better source needed]
Very little has survived of prose fiction from the Hellenistic Era, the Roman Period was the time when the majority of extant works of Greek prose fiction were composed.The Milesiaka by Aristides of Miletos was probably written during the second century BC.The Milesiaka itself has not survived to the present day in its complete form, but various references to it have survived. The book established a whole new genre of so-called "Milesian tales".[citation needed]
Theancient Greek novelsChaereas and Callirhoe[85] by Chariton andMetiochus and Parthenope[86][87] were probably both written during the late first century BC or early first century AD, during the latter part of the Hellenistic Era. The discovery of several fragments of Lollianos'sPhoenician Tale reveal the existence of a genre of ancient Greekpicaresque novel.[88]
Theancient Greek novelsLeucippe and Clitophon byAchilles Tatius[89][90] andDaphnis and Chloe byLongus[91] were both probably written during the early second century AD.Daphnis and Chloe, by far the most famous of the five surviving ancient Greek romance novels, is a nostalgic tale of two young lovers growing up in an idealized pastoral environment on the Greek island ofLesbos.[92]The Wonders Beyond Thule byAntonius Diogenes may have also been written during the early second century AD, although scholars are unsure of its exact date.The Wonders Beyond Thule has not survived in its complete form, but a very lengthy summary of it written byPhotios I of Constantinople has survived.[93]The Ephesian Tale byXenophon of Ephesus was probably written during the late second century AD.[91]
The satiristLucian of Samosata lived during the late second century AD. Lucian's works were incredibly popular during antiquity. Over eighty different writings attributed to Lucian have survived to the present day.[94] Almost all of Lucian's works are written in the heavilyAtticized dialect ofancient Greek language prevalent among the well-educated at the time. His bookThe Syrian Goddess, however, was written in a faux-Ionic dialect, deliberately imitating the dialect and style ofHerodotus.[95][96] Lucian's most famous work is the novelA True Story, which some authors have described as the earliest surviving work ofscience fiction.[97][98] His dialogueThe Lover of Lies contains several of the earliest knownghost stories[99] as well as the earliest known version of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice".[100] His letterThe Passing of Peregrinus, a ruthless satire againstChristians, contains one of the earliest pagan appraisals of early Christianity.[101]
TheAethiopica byHeliodorus of Emesa was probably written during the third century AD.[102] It tells the story of a young Ethiopian princess named Chariclea, who is estranged from her family and goes on many misadventures across the known world.[103] Of all the ancient Greek novels, the one that attained the greatest level of popularity was theAlexander Romance, a fictionalized account of the exploits ofAlexander the Great written in the third century AD. Eighty versions of it have survived in twenty-four different languages, attesting that, during the Middle Ages, the novel was nearly as popular as the Bible.[104]: 650–654 Versions of theAlexander Romance were so commonplace in the fourteenth century thatGeoffrey Chaucer wrote that "...every wight that hath discrecioun / Hath herd somwhat or al of [Alexander's] fortune."[104]: 653–654
Eratosthenes of Alexandria (c. 276 BC –c. 195/194 BC), wrote on astronomy and geography, but his work is known mainly from later summaries. He is credited with being the first person to measure the Earth's circumference. Much that was written by the mathematiciansEuclid andArchimedes has been preserved. Euclid is known for hisElements, a treatise that has exerted a continuing influence on mathematics. From Archimedes several treatises have come down to the present. Among them areMeasurement of the Circle, in which he worked out the value of pi;The Method of Mechanical Theorems, on his work in mechanics;The Sand Reckoner; andOn Floating Bodies.[citation needed]
The physicianGalen lived during the 2nd century AD. He was a careful student of anatomy, and his works exerted a powerful influence on medicine for the next 1,400 years.Strabo, who died about AD 23, was a geographer and historian. HisHistorical Sketches in 47 volumes has nearly all been lost. HisGeographical Sketches remains the only existing ancient book covering the whole range of people and countries known to the Greeks and Romans through the time ofAugustus.[105]Pausanias, who lived in the 2nd century AD, was also a geographer.[106] HisDescription of Greece is a travel guide describing the geography and mythic history of Greece during the second century. The book takes the form of a tour of Greece, starting inAthens and ending inNaupactus.[107]
The scientist of the Roman period who had the greatest influence on later generations was undoubtedly the astronomerPtolemy. He lived during the 2nd century AD,[108] though little is known of his life. His masterpiece, originally entitledThe Mathematical Collection, has come to the present under the titleAlmagest, as it was translated by Arab astronomers with that title.[109] It was Ptolemy who devised a detailed description of anEarth-centered universe,[110] a notion that dominated astronomical thinking for more than 1,300 years.[111] The Ptolemaic view of the universe endured untilCopernicus,Galileo,Kepler, and other early modern astronomers replaced it withheliocentrism.[112]
TheNew Testament, written by various authors in varying qualities ofKoine Greek also hails from this period,[113][7]: 208–209 the most important works being theGospels and theEpistles of Saint Paul.[114][7]: 208–213
Early Christian philosophers includingJustin Martyr andOrigen of Alexandria[115] also made extensive use of ideas from Greek philosophy, especiallyPlatonism.[116][117]
Ancient Greek literature has had an enormous impact onwestern literature as a whole.[118] Ancient Roman authors adopted various styles and motifs from ancient Greek literature. These ideas were later, in turn, adopted by other western European writers and literary critics.[118]
Ancient Roman writers were acutely aware of the ancient Greek literary legacy and many deliberately emulated the style and formula of Greek classics in their own works. The Roman poetVergil, for instance, modeled his epic poem theAeneid on theIliad and theOdyssey.[119]
Ancient Greek literature especially influenced laterGreek literature. For instance, the Greek novels influenced the later workHero and Leander, written byMusaeus Grammaticus.[citation needed]
During theMiddle Ages, ancient Greek literature was largely forgotten in Western Europe; The medieval writerRoger Bacon wrote that "there are not four men in Latin Christendom who are acquainted with the Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic grammars."[120]
A Latin translation of an Arabic version of thePoetics byAverroes was available during the Middle Ages.[121]
Numerous figures from classical literature and mythology appear throughoutThe Divine Comedy byDante Alighieri.[122][better source needed]
It was not until theRenaissance that Greek writings were rediscovered by western European scholars.[123] During the Renaissance,Greek began to be taught in western European colleges and universities for the first time, which resulted in western European scholars rediscovering the literature of ancient Greece.[124] TheTextus Receptus, the first New Testament printed in the original Greek, was published in 1516 by the Dutch humanist scholarDesiderius Erasmus.[125] Erasmus also published Latin translations of classical Greek texts, including a Latin translation ofHesiod'sWorks and Days.[126]
Plutarch'sLives were a major influence onWilliam Shakespeare and served as the main source behind his tragediesJulius Caesar,Antony and Cleopatra, andCoriolanus.[127]: 883–884 Shakespeare's comediesA Comedy of Errors andThe Twelfth Night drew heavily on themes from Graeco-RomanNew Comedy.[127]: 881–882 Meanwhile, Shakespeare's tragedyTimon of Athens was inspired by a story written by Lucian[128] and his comedyPericles, Prince of Tyre was based on an adaptation of the ancient Greek novelApollonius of Tyre found inJohn Gower'sConfessio Amantis.[129]
The influence of classical Greek literature on modern literature is also evident. The common European terminology about literary genres is directly derived from the ancient Greek terminology.[130]
John Milton's epic poemParadise Lost is written using a similar style to the two Homeric epics.[131] It also makes frequent allusions to figures from classical literature and mythology, using them as symbols to convey a Christian message.[132]
Lucian'sA True Story was part of the inspiration forJonathan Swift's novelGulliver's Travels.[127]: 545
Bulfinch's Mythology, a book onGreek mythology published in 1867 and aimed at a popular audience, was described by Carl J. Richard as "one of the most popular books ever published in the United States".[133]
George Bernard Shaw's playPygmalion is a modern, rationalized retelling of the ancient Greek legend ofPygmalion.[127]: 794
James Joyce's novelUlysses is a retelling of Homer'sOdyssey set in modern-dayDublin.[134][135]
The mid-twentieth-century British authorMary Renault wrote a number of critically acclaimed novels inspired by ancient Greek literature and mythology, includingThe Last of the Wine andThe King Must Die.[136]
The ideas expressed in Aristotle'sPoetics have influenced generations of Western writers and literary critics.[137]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(May 2025) |
Literary papyri constitute a small amount of all existing papyri. Around 70% of all known literary papyri were found inOxyrhynchus,[138] and only around a third of Oxyrhynchus papyri were literary.[139]
Approximately 40% of all literary papyri are fragments of Homer's works. In theWilliam Hailey Willis's 1968 survey of Egyptian literary papyri, Homer's works constitute 657 fragments. This far exceeded other classical authors:Demosthenes had 83 fragments, whileEuripides andHesiod had 75 and 74 fragments respectively. Willis documented 26 authors with more than 5 fragments each, 48 authors with 2-4 fragments, and 70 authors represented by just a single fragment.[140] As of 2024, the distribution remains similar, with Homer's works appearing in 1680 fragments, Demosthenes in 204 fragments, and Euripides in 170 papyri.[138]
The dominance of Homer in papyrus findings has been consistently documented over decades. Pack's 1965 inventory counted 681 Homeric papyri, compared to approximately 80 each for Euripides and Demosthenes. By 1983, Paul Mertens identified 1004 Homeric papyri, compared to 111 for Euripides and 105 for Demosthenes, showing an increase from about 600 to about 900 fragments.[141]
A significant number of papyri belong to the category of "Homerica" – exegetical texts, commentaries, reading aids, and scholarly materials related to Homer. Of the 681 Homeric papyri in Pack's inventory, 605 were poetry fragments while 76 were Homerica. In Mertens' updated inventory of 1004 items, 864 contained poetry and 140 were Homerica – showing an 84% increase in Homerica compared to a 42% increase in poetry fragments, suggesting growing scholarly engagement with Homeric texts.[141]
Ancient Greek tragedy represents a significant category of literature preserved in fragments. While approximately 300 Ancient Greek tragedies are known, only 32 complete texts have survived to the present day in full. The remainder exist only in fragments of varying length. All the fully preserved tragedies were written by just three authors:Aeschylus,Euripides, andSophocles.[142]
Lucian [...] ancient Greek rhetorician, pamphleteer, and satirist.
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Works related toAncient Greek literature at Wikisource
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