The term classical Greece refers to the period between the Persian Wars at the beginning

of the fifth century B.C. and the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. The classical period
was an era of war and conflictfirst between the Greeks and the Persians, then between the
Athenians and the Spartansbut it was also an era of unprecedented political and cultural
achievement. Besides the Parthenon and Greek tragedy, classical Greece brought us the
historian Herodotus, the physician Hippokrates and the philosopher Socrates. It also brought
us the political reforms that are ancient Greeces most enduring contribution to the modern
world: the system known as demokratia, or rule by the people.
Ancient Greek society placed considerable emphasis on literature and, according to many,
the whole Western literary tradition began there, with the epic poems ofHomer.
In addition to the invention of the epic and lyric forms of poetry, though, the Greeks were
also essentially responsible for the invention of drama, and they produced masterpieces of
both tragedy and comedy that are still reckoned among the crowning achievements of
drama to this day.
Indeed, there is scarcely an idea discussed today that has not already been debated and
embroidered on by the writers of ancient Greece.
The epic poems attributed to Homer are usually considered the first extant work of Western
literature, and they remain giants in the literary canon for their skillful and vivid depictions
of war and peace, honor and disgrace, love and hatred.
Hesiod was another very early Greek poet and his didactic poems give us a systematic
account of Greek mythology, the creation myths and the gods, as well as an insight into the
day-to-day lives of Greek farmers of the time.
The fables of Aesop represent a separate genre of literature, unrelated to any other, and
probably developed out of an oral tradition going back many centuries.
Sappho and, later, Pindar, represent, in their different ways, the apotheosis of Greek lyric
poetry.
The earliest known Greek dramatist was Thespis, the winner of the first theatrical contest
held at Athens in the 6th Century BCE. Choerilus, Pratinas and Phrynichus were also early
Greek tragedians, each credited with different innovations in the field.
Aeschylus, however, is usually considered the first of the great Greek playwrights, and
essentially invented what we think of as drama in the 5th Century BCE(thereby changing
Western literature forever) with his introduction of dialogue and interacting characters into
play-writing.
Sophocles is credited with skillfully developing irony as a literary technique, and extended
what was considered allowable in drama. Euripides, on the other hand, used his plays to
challenge the societal norms and mores of the period (a hallmark of much of Western
literature for the next 2 millennia), introduced even greater flexibility in dramatic structure
and was the first playwright to develop female characters to any extent.
Aristophanes defined and shaped our idea of what is known as Old Comedy, while, almost a
century later,Menander carried on the mantle and dominated the genre of Athenian New
Comedy.After Menander, the spirit of dramatic creation moved out to other centres of
civilization, such as Alexandria, Sicily and Rome. In the 3rd Century BCE, for

example,Apollonius of Rhodes was an innovative and influential Hellenistic Greek epic

poet.After the 3rd Century BCE, Greek literature went into a decline from its previous
heights, although much valuable writing in the fields of philosophy, history and science
continued to be produced throughout Hellenistic Greece.Brief mention should also be made
here of a lesser known genre, that of the ancient novel or prose fiction. The five surviving
Ancient Greek novels, which date to the 2nd and 3rd Century CE are
the "Aethiopica" or"Ethiopian Story" by Heliodorus of Emesa,"Chaereas and Callirhoe" by
Chariton, "The Ephesian Tale" by Xenophon of Ephesus, "Leucippe and Clitophon" by Achilles
Tatius and "Daphnis and Chloe" by Longus.In addition, a short novel of Greek origin
called"Apollonius, King of Tyre", dating to the 3rd Century CEor earlier, has come down to us
only in Latin, in which form it became very popular during medieval times.
Main Authors:

Homer (epic poet, 8th Century BCE)

Hesiod (didactic poet, 8th Century BCE)

Aesop (fabulist, 7th - 6th Century BCE)

Sappho (lyric poet, 7th - 6th century BCE)

Pindar (lyric poet, 6th - 5th Century BCE)

Aeschylus (tragic playwright, 6th - 5th CenturyBCE)

Sophocles (tragic playwright, 5th Century BCE)

Euripides (tragic playwright, 5th Century BCE)

Aristophanes (comic playwright, 5th - 4th CenturyBCE)

Menander (comic playwright, 4th - 3rd CenturyBCE)

Apollonius of Rhodes (epic poet, 3rd Century BC

Early Greek verse (like Homers Iliad and Odyssey) was epic in nature, a form of narrative literature
recounting the life and works of a heroic or mythological person or group. The traditional metre of epic
poetry is the dactylic hexameter, in which each line is made up of six metrical feet, the first five of which
can be either a dactyl (one long and two short syllables) or a spondee (two long syllables), with the last
foot always a spondee. The formal rhythm is therefore consistent throughout the poem and yet varied
from line to line, making it easier to memorize, while preventing it from becoming monotonous (epic
poems are often quite long).
Didactic poetry, such as the works of Hesiod, emphasized the instructional and informative qualities in
literature, and its primary intention was not necessarily to entertain.
For the ancient Greeks, lyric poetry specifically meant verse that was accompanied by the lyre, usually a
short poem expressing personal feelings. These sung verse were divided into stanzas known as strophes
(sung by the Chorus as it moved from right to left across the stage), antistrophes (sung by the Chorus in
its returning movement from left to right) and epodes (the concluding part sung by the stationary Chorus
in centre stage, usually with a different rhyme scheme and structure).

Lyric odes generally dealt with serious subjects, with the strophe and antistrophe looking at the subject
from different, often conflicting, perspectives, and the epode moving to a higher level to either view or
resolve the underlying issues.
Elegies were a type of lyric poem, usually accompanied by the flute rather than the lyre, of a mournful,
melancholic or plaintive nature. Elegiac couplets usually consisted of a line of dactylic hexameter,
followed by a line of dactylic pentameter.
Pastorals were lyric poems on rural subjects, usually highly romanticized and unrealistic in nature.

THE BATTLE OF SALAMIS (from "The Persians")

by: Aeschylus
HE night was passing, and the Grecian host
By no means sought to issue forth unseen.
But when indeed the day with her white steeds
Held all the earth, resplendent to behold,
First from the Greeks the loud-resounding din
Of song triumphant came; and shrill at once
Echo responded from the island rock.
Then upon all barbarians terror fell,
Thus disappointed; for not as for flight
The Hellenes sang the holy pan then,
But setting forth to battle valiantly.
The bugle with its note inflamed them all;
And straightway with the dip of plashing oars
They smote the deep sea water at command,
And quickly all were plainly to be seen.
Their right wing first in orderly array
Led on, and second all the armament
Followed them forth; and meanwhile there was heard
A mighty shout: "Come, O ye sons of Greeks,
Make free your country, make your children free,
Your wives, and fanes of your ancestral gods,
And your sires' tombs! For all we now contend!"
And from our side the rush of Persian speech
Replied. No longer might the crisis wait.
At once ship smote on ship with brazen beak;
A vessel of the Greeks began the attack,
Crushing the stem of a Phoenician ship.
Each on a different vessel turned its prow.
At first the current of the Persian host
Withstood; but when within the strait the throng
Of ships was gathered, and they could not aid
Each other, but by their own brazen bows
Were struck, they shattered all our naval host.
The Grecian vessels not unskillfully
Were smiting round about; the hulls of ships
Were overset; the sea was hid from sight,
Covered with wreckage and the death of men;
The reefs and headlands were with corpses filled,
And in disordered flight each ship was rowed,
As many as were of the Persian host.

But they, like tunnies or some shoal of fish,

With broken oars and fragments of the wrecks
Struck us and clove us; and at once a cry
Of lamentation filled the briny sea,
Till the black darkness' eye did rescue us.
The number of our griefs, not though ten days
I talked together, could I fully tell;
But this know well, that never in one day
Perished so great a multitude of men.