Antique literature can be divided into 2 periods (literature of ancient Greece and literature of ancient Rome). Greek literature arose from about the 1st millennium BC. It had a huge impact on all European literature. Its elements entered our concepts, thinking, and language. Many aspects of modern life would be incomprehensible without knowledge of ancient literature.
The heroes and images of antiquity inspired the great representatives of literature, art, culture, science: Dante, Shakespeare, Walter, Byron …
In ancient times, Greece represented a divided state in the form of policies. These policies were until 2000, they were located on the Balkan Peninsula and along the entire Black Sea coast. The largest city of Athens (500 thousand inhabitants) with a slave system.
Despite the political and written disunity, the Greeks opposed themselves to all other peoples, calling them barbarians, in terms of language the ancient Greeks belonged to the Indo-European group. The main tribes were considered: Aeolians, Ionians, Dorians. The ancient Greek language has great lexical and morphological wealth.
The dictionary is distinguished by an abundance of synonyms, syntactic simplicity and freedom, representing room for the development of thought and various shades.
The morphology of the Greek language contains a wide variety of case forms, declensions, conjugations. Verb forms, a variety of tenses and moods convey diverse shades, actions, states of duration.
Ancient Greek writing exists from 3 millennium BC. First there was a picture letter, then linear. There were several alphabets in Greek. In 403, an alphabet of 24 letters appeared in Athens, it is still accepted today, this alphabet formed the basis of the Russian Church Slavonic language.
The Chalkidic alphabet (in Italy) formed the basis of the Latin language. The study of manuscripts deals with the science of paleography, and the study of papyrus papyrology. The study of inscriptions is engaged in epigraphy. The source of ancient Greek literature is oral folk art, mythology, a treasury of plots and images.
Myth – the Greek word means fiction, a fairy tale, with the help of which the thought of a primitive man not only tried to explain incomprehensible natural phenomena, but also found the key to them, subjugated them to himself. Most mythological images were locally revered, then Olympic deities stood out. In myths, the phenomena of life societies were also reflected – these are the distinguishable stages of the development of the family, features of life, features of primitive fetishism and totemism were replaced by anthropomorphism (representations of the deity in the image of a person).
There were many myths. Phraseological expressions that still exist in our language: the Achilles’ heel, the Trojan horse (Trojan), the Oedipus complex – they are all taken from the myths of ancient Greece.
The poem “Odyssey” and “Iliad” were created in the first millennium BC. In Ionia, Homer is believed to be the author of these works. The war of the Greeks and Trojans was prescribed from above.
The earth turned to Zeus with a request to reduce humanity, the reason for the war was the abduction of Helen of the Spartan queen by the son of the Trojan king Paris. The abduction is justified mythologically, at the wedding of Tsar Peleus and the sea queen Thetis, the goddess of contention Eris threw a golden apple with the inscription beautiful, Aphrodite, Athena and Hera fought for the apple. Paris decided the dispute in favor of Aphrodite, for which she helped him steal Elena.
The Trojan War began
King of Sparta Menelaus – Elena’s husband sent an army for his wife, he placed his brother Agamemnon at the head of the army. The Iliad talks about one event of the Trojan War – 51 days. The Trojan War lasted about 10 years. However, it gives a full picture of military life, consists of 24 songs or books, this is a story about the wrath of Achilles the son of Peleus and Thetis. He is the central figure of the work destined to him great glory and speedy death.
Agomemn returns the daughter to the priest of Apollo Chrys and in return takes his captive from Achilles. Achilles became angry and refused to participate in the battle. But after his close friend Petroclus dies, he enters the battle.
The gods in the Iliad were also actors, they led the battle from Olympus, but each of them helped one side, therefore, there was confusion. The main character in this poem is Odysseus – the king of the island of Ithaki, he participated in the Trojan War: 10 years he got home + 10 years fought.
It tells about his adventures on the way home. He met with various monsters: with Cyclops Polyphemus, whom he defeated. Cyclops was the son of Poseidon, the god of the seas.
God avenged and created obstacles. On the way of his journey, Odysseus met with Nymphs, Sirens, sorceresses (Kurka sends him to the underworld). Nymph Calypso promises immortality if he stays with her.
He seeks his faithful Penelope and son Telemachus.
Odysseus returns home and finds out that in his absence, many suitors married Penelope. They besieged his palace, demanding that Penelope choose her husband. Odysseus hides his name, settles at the swineherd and at the right time appears in the palace at a feast.
Penelope gave her consent to marry someone who can release the arrow from the bow of Odysseus and pass it through 12 rings. But no one could do this. Odysseus came out, took his bow and, together with his son, killed all the suitors.
Showing numerous images in different situations and combinations, the Homeric epic reaches a wide range of actions. The works “Odyssey” and “Iliad” were called encyclopedias of antiquity, because they collected a lot of material, they go back to Greek folklore, these works served as the basis for education in ancient society.