View source for Greek literature

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{History of literature by era}}

'''Greek literature''' ({{Langx|el|Ελληνική Λογοτεχνία}}) dates back from the [[ancient Greek literature]], beginning in 800 BC, to the [[modern Greek literature]] of today. 

Ancient Greek literature was written in an Ancient Greek dialect, literature ranges from the oldest surviving written works until works from approximately the fifth century AD. This time period is divided into the Preclassical, Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods. Preclassical Greek literature primarily revolved around myths and include the works of [[Homer]]; the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]''. The [[Classical antiquity|Classical]] period saw the dawn of drama and history. Three philosophers are especially notable: [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]]. During the Roman era, significant contributions were made in a variety of subjects, including history, philosophy, and the sciences.

[[Byzantine literature]], the literature of the [[Byzantine Empire]], was written in [[Atticism|Atticizing]], [[Medieval Greek|Medieval]] and early [[Modern Greek]]. [[Chronicle]]s, distinct from historics, arose in this period. [[Encyclopedia]]s also flourished in this period.

Modern Greek literature is written in common [[Modern Greek]]. The [[Cretan Renaissance]] poem ''[[Erotokritos]]'' is one of the most significant works from this time period. [[Adamantios Korais]] and [[Rigas Feraios]] are two of the most notable figures.

==Ancient Greek literature (800 BC – 350 AD)==
{{Main article|Ancient Greek literature}}

Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek dialects. These works range from the oldest surviving written works in the [[Greek language]] until works from the fifth century AD. The Greek language arose from the [[proto-Indo-European language]]; roughly two-thirds of its words can be derived from various reconstructions of the tongue. A number of [[alphabet]]s and [[Syllabary|syllabaries]] had been used to render Greek, but surviving Greek literature was written in a [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]-derived alphabet that arose primarily in Greek [[Ionia]] and was fully adopted by [[Classical Athens|Athens]] by the fifth century BC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/grkol|title=Introduction to Classical Greek|website=lrc.la.utexas.edu|access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>

[[File:Homer British Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|Idealized portrayal of [[Homer]]]]

===Preclassical / Heroic Period (800–500 BC)===
All ancient Greek literature was to some degree oral in nature, and the earliest literature was completely so.<ref>Reece, Steve. "Orality and Literacy: Ancient Greek Literature as Oral Literature," in David Schenker and Martin Hose (eds.), ''Companion to Greek Literature'' (Oxford: Blackwell, 2015) 43-57. [https://www.academia.edu/30640456/Orality_and_Literacy_Ancient_Greek_Literature_as_Oral_Literature Ancient_Greek_Literature_as_Oral_Literature]</ref> The Greeks created poetry before making use of writing for literary purposes. Poems created in the Preclassical period were meant to be sung or recited (writing was little known before the 7th century BC). Most poems focused on myths, legends that were part folktale and part religion. Tragedies and comedies emerged around 600 BC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Greek-literature|title=Greek literature|newspaper=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>

At the beginning of Greek literature stand the works of [[Homer]]; the ''[[Iliad]]'' and the ''[[Odyssey]]''. Though dates of composition vary, these works were fixed around 800 BC [[Homeric scholarship|or after]]. Another significant figure was the poet [[Hesiod]]. His two surviving works are ''[[Works and Days]]'' and ''[[Theogony]]''.

===Classical (500–323 BC)===
During the [[Classical antiquity|classical]] period, many of the genres of western literature became more prominent. [[Lyric poetry|Lyrical poetry]], [[ode]]s, [[pastoral]]s, [[elegy|elegies]], [[epigram]]s; [[drama]]tic presentations of [[comedy]] and [[tragedy]]; [[history|histories]], [[rhetoric]]al treatises, [[philosophy|philosophical]] [[dialectic]]s, and philosophical treatises all arose in this period.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Greek-literature|title=Greek literature|newspaper=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2016-12-10}}</ref>

The two major lyrical poets were [[Sappho]] and [[Pindar]]. Of the hundreds of [[tragedy|tragedies]] written and performed during this time period, only a limited number of plays survived. These plays are authored by [[Aeschylus]], [[Sophocles]], and [[Euripides]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schroeder|first=Chad Matthew|date=2016-12-09|title=Review of: A Guide to Hellenistic Literature. Blackwell Guides to Classical Literature|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-11-18.html|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|issn=1055-7660}}</ref>

The comedy arose from a ritual in honor of [[Dionysus]]. These plays were full of obscenity, abuse, and insult. The surviving  plays by [[Aristophanes]] are a treasure trove of comic presentation.

Two influential historians of this age are [[Herodotus]] and [[Thucydides]].  A third historian, [[Xenophon]], wrote "Hellenica," which is considered an extension of Thucydides's work.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schroeder|first=Chad Matthew|date=2016-12-09|title=Review of: A Guide to Hellenistic Literature. Blackwell Guides to Classical Literature|url=http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-11-18.html|journal=Bryn Mawr Classical Review|issn=1055-7660}}</ref>

The greatest prose achievement of the 4th century BC was in philosophy. [[Greek philosophy]] flourished during the classical period. Of the philosophers, [[Socrates]], [[Plato]], and [[Aristotle]] are the most famous.

<gallery class="center">
File:AGMA Herodotus 7307.jpg|[[Herodotus]]
File:Πλάτωνας, Ακαδημία Αθηνών 6619.JPG|[[Plato]]
File:Sophoclesathens.jpg|[[Sophocles]]
</gallery>

===Hellenistic (323–31 BC)===
By 338 BC many of the key Greek cities had been conquered by [[Philip II of Macedon]]. Philip II's son [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] extended his father's conquests greatly.

The Hellenistic age is defined as the time between the death of Alexander the Great and the rise of Roman domination.  After the 3rd century BC, the Greek colony of [[Alexandria]] in northern [[Egypt]] became the center of Greek culture.

Greek poetry flourished with significant contributions from [[Theocritus]], [[Callimachus]], and [[Apollonius of Rhodes]]. Theocritus, who lived from about 310 to 250 BC, was the creator of pastoral poetry, a type that the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Virgil]] mastered in his [[Eclogues]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/his301-001/when_cultures_collide.htm|title=Historiography of the Hellenistic Age|date=2016-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003205129/http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/his301-001/when_cultures_collide.htm|archive-date=2017-10-03|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Drama was represented by the [[New Comedy]], of which [[Menander]] was the principal exponent.

One of the most valuable contributions of the Hellenistic period was the [[Septuagint]] translation of the [[Old Testament]] into Greek. This work was done at Alexandria and completed by the end of the 2nd century BC.

[[File:Strabon.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Strabo]]]]

===Roman Age (31 BC – 284 AD)===

Literature in Greek in the Roman period contributed significant works to the subjects of poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy. A large proportion of literature from this time period were histories.

Significant historians of the period were [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus]], [[Polybius]], [[Diodorus Siculus]], [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], [[Appian of Alexandria]], [[Arrian]], and [[Plutarch]]. The period of time they cover extends from late in the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD.

[[Eratosthenes]] of Alexandria wrote on [[astronomy]] and [[geography]], but his work is known mainly from later summaries. The physician [[Galen]] pioneered developments in various scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology. This is also the period in which most of the [[Ancient Greek novel]]s were written.

The [[New Testament]], written by various authors in varying qualities of [[Koine Greek]], hails from this period. The [[Gospels]] and the [[Pauline epistles|Epistles of Saint Paul]] were written in this time period as well.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&jsid=b519e6dc07c52b83c12bc6f1bf327190&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3448400018&u=tecu60273&zid=ca58d102d83e5cc266963e932dc1954b|title=Student Resources in Context - Document|website=ic.galegroup.com|access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>

==Byzantine literature (350–1453)==
{{Main article|Byzantine literature}}
[[File:Suda.jpg|thumb|160px|A page from a 16th-century edition of the 10th century Byzantine [[encyclopaedia]] of the ancient Mediterranean world, the [[Suda]]]]

Byzantine literature refers to literature of the [[Byzantine Empire]] written in [[Attic Greek|Atticizing]], [[Medieval Greek|Medieval]] and early [[Modern Greek]].

Byzantine literature combined Greek and [[Christian civilization]] on the common foundation of the Roman political system. This type of literature was set in the intellectual and ethnographic atmosphere of the [[Near East]]. Byzantine literature possesses four primary cultural elements: Greek, Christian, Roman, and [[Oriental]].

Aside from personal correspondence, the literature of this period was primarily written in the [[Atticism|Atticizing]] style. Some early literature of this period was written in [[Latin]]; some of the works from the [[Latin Empire]] were written in [[French Language|French]].

[[Chronicle]]s, distinct from historic, arose in this period. [[Encyclopedia]]s also flourished in this period.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/ahri/eventrecords/2015-2016/CHS/Byzantineliterature.aspx|title=King's College London -  A History of Byzantine literature|website=www.kcl.ac.uk|access-date=2016-12-09|archive-date=2017-04-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407194444/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/ahri/eventrecords/2015-2016/CHS/Byzantineliterature.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''[[Digenes Akritas]]'' (Διγενῆς Ἀκρίτας) is the most famous of the [[Acritic songs]] and is often regarded as the only surviving epic poem from the [[Byzantine Empire]]. It is considered by some to signal the beginnings of [[modern Greek literature]].

==Modern Greek literature (1453–present) ==
{{Main article|Modern Greek literature}}
[[File:Manuel Chrysoloras - Imagines philologorum.jpg|thumb|right|160px|[[Manuel Chrysoloras]], [[Greek scholars in the Renaissance|scholar in the Renaissance]]]]Modern Greek literature is written in common [[Modern Greek]]. During this period, the modern vernacular form of the Greek language became more commonplace in writing.

This period saw the revival of [[ancient Greece|Greek]] and [[ancient Rome|Roman]] studies and the development of [[Renaissance humanism]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html |title=Byzantines in Renaissance Italy |access-date=2011-12-05 |archive-date=2018-08-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831071900/https://www.the-orb.net/encyclop/late/laterbyz/harris-ren.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[History of science in the Renaissance|science]].

The [[Cretan Renaissance]] poem ''[[Erotokritos]]'' is a prominent work of this time period. It is a verse [[Romance (heroic literature)|romance]] written around 1600 by [[Vitsentzos Kornaros]] (1553–1613).

Modern Greek literature is significantly influenced by the [[Diafotismos]], a movement that translated the ideas of the [[Age of Enlightenment|European Enlightenment]] into the Greek world. [[Adamantios Korais]] and [[Rigas Feraios]] are two prominent figures of this movement.

Today, Modern Greek Literature participates in the global literary community. The Greek authors [[Giorgos Seferis]] and [[Odysseas Elytis]] have been awarded the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mgsa.org/|title=Modern Greek Studies Association|website=www.mgsa.org|access-date=2016-12-09}}</ref>

[[File:Erwfili exwfyllo.jpg|thumb|160px|Cover of ''[[Erofili]]'' by [[Georgios Chortatzis]]]]
[[File:Adamantios Korais.jpg|thumb|160px|[[Adamantios Korais]], major figure of the [[Modern Greek Enlightenment]]]]
[[File:Solomos portrait 3.jpg|thumb|160px|[[Dionysios Solomos]], member of the [[Heptanese School (literature)]] and writer of the [[Hymn to Liberty]]]]

==See also==
*[[Ancient literature]]
*[[Latin literature]]
*[[Greek scholars in the Renaissance]]
*[[Modern Greek Enlightenment]]
*[[Modern Greek theatre]]
*[[Loeb Classical Library]]
*''[[Greek Anthology]]''

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*[https://www.britannica.com/art/Greek-literature Encyclopædia Britannica Article on Greek Literature]
*[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/students/modules/gcs/bibliog/ Warwick University Bibliography of Greek Literature]

=== Preclassical ===
* [http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5d.asp Overview of Preclassical Greek Literature]

=== Classical ===
* [http://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/index.html Princeton and Stanford Working Papers in Classics]
* [http://ancientbibliographies.libs.uga.edu/wiki/Scholarly_Bibliographies_Available_Online:_Classical_Antiquity Ancient World Open Bibliography on Classical Literature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920200018/http://ancientbibliographies.libs.uga.edu/wiki/Scholarly_Bibliographies_Available_Online:_Classical_Antiquity |date=2018-09-20 }} 
* [http://classics.williams.edu/resources/online-resources-2/ Williams College Bibliography for the Classics]

=== Hellenistic ===
* [http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-11-18.html Bryn Mawr Guide to Hellenistic Literature]
* [http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195389661/obo-9780195389661-0051.xml Oxford Bibliographies for Hellenistic Literature]
* [http://ancient-greece.org/history/helleninstic.html Ancient-Greec.org overview of Hellenistic Literature] 
* [http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/hellenistic-greece History Channel Vault of Hellenistic Greece] 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171003205129/http://classes.maxwell.syr.edu/his301-001/when_cultures_collide.htm Hellenistic Historiography by Syracuse University]

=== Greco-Roman ===
* [https://classics.uchicago.edu/prospective/greek-and-roman-literature University of Chicago Greco-Roman Literature Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920234457/https://classics.uchicago.edu/prospective/greek-and-roman-literature |date=2018-09-20 }}
* [http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/suic/ReferenceDetailsPage/DocumentToolsPortletWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&jsid=b519e6dc07c52b83c12bc6f1bf327190&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCX3448400018&u=tecu60273&zid=ca58d102d83e5cc266963e932dc1954b Shawnee Heights Greco-Roman Literature Overview]

=== Byzantine ===
* [https://library.nd.edu/byzantine_studies/documents/krumbacher.pdf University of Notre Dame, History of Byzantine Literature]
* [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/ahri/eventrecords/2015-2016/CHS/Byzantineliterature.aspx King's College London History of Byzantine Literature] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407194444/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/ahri/eventrecords/2015-2016/CHS/Byzantineliterature.aspx |date=2017-04-07 }}

=== Modern ===
* [http://www.mgsa.org/ Modern Greek Studies Association] 
* [http://www.hellenism.net/greece/modern-greek-literature/ Hellenism.net, Modern Greek Literature Overview] 
* [http://www.greeceinprint.com/index.php/en/ Greece In Print]

{{Greek language}}
{{Poetry of different cultures and languages}}
{{Greece topics}}
{{Literature of Europe}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Greek literature| ]]
[[Category:History of literature]]

[[el:Ελληνική Λογοτεχνία]]
[[it:Letteratura greca]]
[[pl:Literatura antycznej Grecji]]