characteristics of Greek literature1. Circumstances of heros' births are unusual.2. Heroes usually come from royalty.3. Heroes have a victory of a king, magical creature/wild beast, and go on many journeys.4. The hero loses favor with gods.5. Heroes have mysterious deaths.

Greek literaturerefers to writings composed in areas ofGreekinfluence, typically though not necessarily in one of theGreek dialects,[citation needed]throughout the whole period in which theGreek-speakingpeople have existed.

ancient Greek literatureancient Greek literature the writings of the ancient Greeks. The Greek Isles are recognized as the birthplace of Western intellectual life.Early Writings

The earliest extant European literary works are theIliadand theOdyssey,both written in ancient Greek probably before 700 BC, and attributed toHomer. Among other early epic poems, most of which have perished, those ofHesiod, the first didactic poet, remain. The poems dealing with mythological subjects and known as theHomeric Hymnsare dated 800-300 BC Only fragments survive of the works of many early Greek poets, including the elegiastsTyrtaeus,Theognis,Solon,Semonides of Amorgos,Archilochus, andHipponax. The most personal Greek poems are the lyrics ofAlcaeus,SapphoandAnacreon. The Dorian lyric for choral performance, developed withAlcman,Ibycus, andStesichorus, achieved perfection inPindar,Simonides of Ceos, andBacchylides.

The Classical Period

Greek drama evolved from the song and dance in the ceremonies honoring Dionysus at Athens. In the 5th cent. BC tragedy was developed by three of the greatest dramatists in the history of the theater,Aeschylus,Sophocles, andEuripides. Equally exalted was the foremost exponent of Attic Old Comedy,Aristophanes. Other writers who developed this genre includedCratinusandEupolis, of whom little is known. The rowdy humor of these early works gave way to the more sedate Middle Comedy and finally to New Comedy, which set the form for this type of drama. The best-known writer of Greek New Comedy isMenander.

The writing of history came of age in Greece with the rich and diffuse work ofHerodotus, the precise and exhaustive accounts ofThucydides, and the rushing narrative ofXenophon. Philosophical writing of unprecedented breadth was produced during this brief period of Athenian literature; the works ofPlatoandAristotlehave had an incalculable effect in the shaping of Western thought.

Greek oratory, of immense importance in the ancient world, was perfected at this time. Among the most celebrated orators wereAntiphon,Andocides,Lysias,Isocrates, Isaeus,Lycurgus,Aeschines, and, considered the greatest of all,Demosthenes. "Classical" Greek literature is said to have ended with the deaths of Aristotle and Demosthenes (c.322 BC). The greatest writers of the classical era have certain characteristics in common: economy of words, direct expression, subtlety of thought, and attention to form.

Later Greek Literature

The next period of Greek literature reached its zenith in Hellenistic Alexandria, where a number of major philosophers, dramatists, poets, historians, critics, and librarians wrote and taught. New genres such as bucolic poetry emerged during the Hellenistic period, a time also characterized by scholarly editions of classics from earlier periods. The poems ofCallimachus, the bucolics ofTheocritus, and the epic ofApollonius Rhodiusare recognized as major works of world literature.

The production of literary works at the time of the establishment of Roman control of the Mediterranean was enormous, a vast heterogeneous mixture ranging from the sublime to the pedantic and turgid. A great portion of the works produced have been lost. With the Roman political subjugation of Greece, Greek thought and culture, introduced largely by slave-tutors to the Roman aristocracy, came to exert enormous influence in the Roman world. Among the greatest writers of this period were the historiansPolybius,Josephus, andDio Cassius; the biographerPlutarch; the philosophersPhiloandDio Chrysostom; and the novelistLucian. One great Roman work produced under Greek influence was the philosophical meditations ofMarcus Aurelius.

With the spread of Christianity, Greek writing took a new turn, and much of the writing of the Greek Fathers of the Church is eloquent. Religion dominated the literature of the Byzantine Empire, and a vast treasury of writing was produced that is not generally well known to the West The most notable exception is the work of some historians (e.g.,Procopius,Anna Comnena, George Acropolita, and EmperorJohn VI) and some anthologists (e.g., Photius