HUMANITIES INSTITUTE ANCİENT GREEK LİTERATURE Buckner B Trawick , Ph.D. Updated by Frederic Will, Ph D. The Age of Epic Poetry (c. 900 -700 B.C.)* Historical Background. Greek people inhabited not only the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula (Hellas), but also part of the coast of Asia Minor, part of Italy, and many islands in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas, including Crete and Sicily. On the Balkan mainland, mountains and the surrounding sea led to divisions into many petty local states, which carried on continual warfare with each other. The primitive inhabitants were a mixture of three strains: (1) Pelasgians or Helladics. The earliest known inhabitants of the Greek mainland, they were perhaps related to the inhabitants of Asia Minor, and they probably were not Indo-Europeans. Little is known of them except what can be learned from legends and from the archeological discoveries of Schliemann and Evans. (2) Aegeo-Cretans. They were probably of Mediterranean origin and probably blended with the Pelasgians c. 1800-1400 B.C. (3) Northern Indo- Europeans. Variously called Achaeans, Danaans, and Hellenes, these people probably migrated from the north of Greece c. 2000- 1000 B.C. After 1150 B.C. there were three rather distinct racial groups: (1) Dorians. Their main settlements were the Peloponnesus, the Corinthian Isthmus, the southwest portion of Asia Minor, Crete, Sicily, and parts of Italy; their principal cities were Sparta, Corinth, and Syracuse. The Dorians were warlike, reserved, and devout. Their dialect was terse and rugged. They perfected the. “stately choral ode.” (2) Aeolians. The principal Aeolian settlements were Boeotia, Lesbos, and northwestern Asia Minor. The Aeolians were “impressionable, luxurious, and imaginative.” Their dialect was soft and melodious. They contributed “poetry of passion and intense personal feeling.” (3) Ionians. The principal Ionian settlements were Attica, Euboea, and west-central Asia Minor. Their cities were Athens and Chios. The Ionian nature was versatile, energetic, and imaginative. The dialect was flowing, graceful, soft, full of vowel sounds, yet energetic. Their contributions to literature were two — a dialect which became the universal language of the Greeks and most of the classical Greek literary forms — epic, drama, lyric, and prose genres. The preliterary history of Greece falls into four periods: (1) Pelasgian or Helladic Era (c. 3000-1800 B.C.). Little is known of Greek history before 1800 B.C. The early period was probably one of Stone Age and Bronze Age cultures. The aboriginal inhabitants were perhaps overrun by Northern Indo-Europeans or perhaps conquered by an invasion from Crete. (2) Cretan-Minoan Era (c. 1800-1400 B.C.). Supremacy during this periodwas held by Crete, a great maritime power. Cretan culture (showing traces of Egyptian culture) was predominant. Perhaps the people of this era were overcome by the Northern Indo- Europeans c. 1400 B.C. (3) Mycenaean Era (c. 1400-1100 B.C.). Characterized by an Indo- European modification of Creto-Minoan culture, this was an era of many petty kingdoms, wars, and invasions from the north. (4) Dorian Era (c. 1100-900 B.C.). There were major wars and migrations in this period (the Iron Age). Indo-Europeans broke up into the previously mentioned groups: Dorians, Ionians, and Aeolians. During this era nearly all vestiges of Aegean culture were destroyed. The Phoenician alphabet super- seded Aegean characters c. 1000-800 B.C. In the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. Greece was in a highly unstable condition. There were invasions from the north and migrations from one part of Hellas to another. Although there was no such thing as national unity, the tribes were beginning to seek stability and to become aware of themselves as units. Semifeudalistic, they tried to develop traditions which would justify their tribal and family pride. Over each tribal state there was a hereditary ruler, or basileus, who possessed almost absolute political power and who, in addition, served as military leader, judge, and priest. He was assisted by a council (boule) of nobles, who served in an advisory capacity. Then there was an assembly (agora) of freemen, who were without political significance but who could vote “yes” or “no” on certain issues presented to them. By the middle of the eighth century the power of the ruler had been reduced by the nobles, and the city-state — later to be of great importance — had been evolved. There were three social classes: nobles, freemen, and slaves. The nobles controlled the bulk of the wealth and bore the brunt of most of the warfare. The freemen were engaged principally in agriculture and in the manufacture of simple, necessary articles. Slaves performed much the same functions as freemen and were usually treated very humanely; many were female war captives. Social organization was patriarchal, but the mother was held in high esteem and enjoyed a great degree of independence. Home life was sacred, and generous hospitality to strangers was an obligation. The principal occupations were farming, stock raising, simple manufacture, and warfare. There seems to have been ample leisure for banquets, recitations by minstrels, games, contests, and festivals. Athletic training was an important part of Greek life; four famous series of national games were eventually established: the Olympian in Elis, the Pythian at Delphi, the Isthmian at Corinth, and the Nemean at Nemea. The first Olympiad was held in 776 B.C. Religion permeated all Greek life. The Greek gods were anthropomorphic — little more than glorified human beings. They were capricious, amoral, and sometimes even immoral; they possessed many human emotions —jealousy, anger, desire for revenge, and sexual passion. They made their wills known through soothsayers, dreams, and oracles (of which the two most famous were that of Zeus at Dodona and that of Apollo at Delphi). The Greeks believed in an afterlife — a shadowy existence in Hades for the average man, punishment in Tartarus (a special section of Hades) for the wicked, and an unending bliss in Elysium for heroes.** General View of the Literature. In an attempt to establish traditions, the tribal leaders of the ninth and eighth centuries B.C. turned to legends of the preceding centuries, which they glorified as the Heroic Age. These leaders patronized bards who could tell wondrous tales about the exploits of the great men of the past — men who derived their ancestry from the gods and who associated on almost even terms with the deities. The tales (or lays, as they were called) comprised a large body of “floating” or orally transmitted literature which ultimately became the basis for Homer‟s poems and for other heroic literature written during the Epic Era. * The “c.” before approximate or uncertain dates will henceforth be used to apply to the date after the hyphen as well as to the date following the “c.” ** For a summary of Greek mythology, see Appendix. The Age of Lyric Poetry (c. 700-450 B.C.) Historical Background. During the era from 700 to 500 B.C. the pattern of Greek life was greatly altered. The power of the monarch decreased, and the power of the hereditary nobility became dominant. Villages consolidated themselves into autonomous political units, or city-states, in which citizenship was highly valued; the most famous city-states were Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Argos, and Ephesus. In the sixth century the power of the nobles was overthrown by tyrants — unconstitutional rulers supported by coalitions of the nonaristocratic classes. Many of the tyrants were progressive though despotic, and many of them were patrons of art and literature. Toward the end of the sixth century most of the tyrants were overthrown, and the city-states adopted either oligarchic or purely democratic government. During this era overpopulation and political disturbances caused widespread colonization. The Greeks established colonies over much of the Mediterranean area, especially in Sicily and southern Italy. Commerce and manufacturing increased tremendously. The tendency of the time was away from centralization of power and toward personal liberty and individual self-realization. General View of the Literature. In literature the Heroic Age was almost forgotten; emphasis was shifted from glorification of hero-kings to self-expression of the individual. The spotlight was turned away from the past and directed at the present. Since the literary form most suitable for giving vent to the author‟s personal feelings and opinions was the lyric, it was the only significant form employed during this era. The Attic Age (500-323 B.C.) Historical Background. The fifth and fourth centuries B.C. were the glorious age of Greece — politically, culturally, and aesthetically. Athens was its center and leader till defeated by Sparta in 404 B.C. The reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 B.C. had given Athens the first truly democratic government in the history of the world. All citizens enjoyed complete political equality; only 20 per cent of the whole population, however, were citizens; slaves, foreigners, and women were excluded. In 490 B.C. the Persians invaded Greece. They were defeated three times: in 490 at Marathon by a band of Athenians under Miltiades, in 480 at Salamis by the Athenian naval forces, and, finally, in 479 at Plataea by a coalition of Greek forces. In 477 some of the eastern city-states formed the Delian League, a confederacy for defense against Persia. Athens assumed leadership of the League and in 454 B.C. moved the treasury from the island of Delos to Athens; other members of the League lost their independence and were forced to pay tribute to Athens. This was the beginning of the Athenian Empire. The period from 461 to 429 B.C. is known as the Age of Pericles. During these years Pericles was the chief general and leader of the Popular Assembly — the unofficial ruler of Athens.