Homer Early Life Son of Epikaste and Telemachus Born around 800 BC 8 th 9 th century BC Got an education Was a court singer Lived either in Chios or Ionia Blind G reeks thought that being blind gave you insight ID: 741759
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Greek Literature
Homer, Aeschylus, and EuripidesSlide2
Homer: Early Life
Son of
Epikaste and
TelemachusBorn: around 800 BC (8th-9th century BC)Got an educationWas a court singer Lived either in Chios or IoniaBlind: Greeks thought that being blind gave you insightQuestions of whether he even existed or notSlide3
Homer: Literature
Heroes were usually womanizers, got help from the gods, and went on great journeys
Wrote primarily epics (
The Iliad, Odyssey)A great story tellerMany literary terms are devised from Homer’s works:Homeric simile- a comparison between two things, using like or as, developed over multiple lines of verseHomeric hero- creation of a character
that overcomes feats and does heroic deeds in epics
Homeric style-
stock epithets and reiteration
Just to name a few.Slide4
The Iliad
Written in dactylic hexameter: form of meter in poetry
Originally thought of as poetry, but in the 1920s, was thought of as an oral tradition
Was in fact told by Greeks to young men to prepare them for warSet during Trojan WarTells of the battles and events that took place during the Trojan WarThemes:The Glory of WarMilitary Success Over Family ValuesTemporariness of Human CreationsSlide5
The Odyssey
Homeric epics
Tells of Odysseus’ adventure home after the Trojan War to Ithaca, and the multiple challenges he and his crew must overcome. Also speaks about what is happening with Odysseus’ wife and child at
Ithaca while he is away. Help from gods and goddesses, deceit, extreme hubris, and monsters and creatures are seen to add to the actionThought to be written somewhere between 750 and 650 BCAn example of a Homeric hero: OdysseusSlide6
The Odyssey
Consists of 24 books
Motifs:
Story tellingDisguisesCunning WomenThemes:Smarts Vs. StrengthTemptationSlide7
Homer: Death
Died around 701 BC in Ios, Greece
Many different stories of his death:
Drowned in a tide poolOld ageCommitted suicideShot by a brother who was mad at himSlide8
Aeschylus: Early Life
B
orn in 525
BC in Eleusis, GreeceFather: Euphorion (mother is un-known)Family was well-off, wealthyWorked at a vineyardGot an educationWrote his first play at the age of twenty-sixWon his first festival when he was 41Wrote mainly tragediesSlide9
Aeschylus: Plays
Trojan War was a large part in his works
Second of the three major tragedy writers (other two being Sophocles and Euripides
Wrote between seventy and ninety playsOnly seven surviving works All seven surviving plays won first place in drama festivalsOften writes connected trilogiesSlide10
Aeschylus: Plays
Highly influential
Made costumes very elaborate to add to the plays
Written in verseNo violence was performed on stageStrong religious values set in plays Plays were often set in far away lands or about godsSlide11
Aeschylus: Surviving Plays
The Persians
Seven against Thebes
The SuppliantsAgamemnonThe Libation BearersThe EumenidesPrometheus Bound
Trilogy known
as
The OresteiaSlide12
Aeschylus:Death
Died in 456 BC
Italy
Has a quite interesting death: An eagle was flying above with a tortoise in his mouth, mistook Aeschylus’ bald spot for a rock, and dropped the tortoise on top of his head.Slide13
Euripides: Early Life
Born: 484 BC in Athens, Greece or on the island of Salamis
Mother was Cleito and father was Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides
Father provided an education for EuripidesWas at first going to be an athleteHad a wife, Melito, and three sonsWomen- haterDidn’t believe in the Greek gods and goddesses of mythologyWrote first play at twenty-five: The PeliodesFrom then on was a tragic poetSlide14
Euripides: Plays
Euripides was one of the three masters of tragedy (following Sophocles and Aeschylus)
Often reflected Euripides’ questioning of Greek religion and society itself
Wrote 92 plays overall, but only eighteen plays survive todayWon first prize at four drama festivalsWas chosen twenty times to be one of three recognized writers (laureates) each yearSlide15
Euripides: Plays
Plays
often called tragicomedies (comedic tragedy
)Characters were often ordinary people in extraordinary situationsMany women were shown as angry, or fierce, heroinesLarge use of prologues: almost all plays started with a monologue explaining the situationNot much use for chorusMost known for his skill of expressing pathosSlide16
Euripides: Plays
Often time was taken in the middle of scenes for characters to debate philosophy and social issues
Had beautiful songs and lyrics
Characters’ usually tragic fates were because of their own flaws and mistakesMocked the godsA god was usually revealed at the end and had a long epilogue about the futureSlide17
Euripides: The Tragedies
Alcestis
Medea
Children of HerculesHippolytusAndromacheHecubaSuppliantsElectraTrojan WomenIphigenia Among the TauriansHelenPhoenician WomenOrestesIphigenia at Aulis
Bacchants (The Bacchae)
Cyclops
Madness of Heracles
IonSlide18
Euripides: Late Life
Re-married:
Choirile and possibly had a daughter
Left Athens: possibly because of his disappointment in the reaction to his plays or because of the Peloponnesian WarWrote The Bacchae, one of his most widely known worksWent into a self-imposed exileDied in 406 BC in Macedonia: unknown how, most say it was of old age