In the archaic period, a new trend was formed in Greek literature. The era of heroes left with Homer, now the attention of poets is attracted not by the heroic deeds of past centuries, but by the feelings and experiences of an individual. This genre is called lyrics. Archaic lyrics found its best representatives on about. Lesbos at the turn of the 7th - 6th centuries. BC. - the poet Alkey and the poetess of the finest lyrical talent Sappho, known as the author of love poems and epitalams. Ancient Sparta became the center of choral lyrics, one of the most common forms of which was the dithyramb - a song in honor of the god Dionysus. Throughout the Greek world, the fame of the poet Pindar spread, who sang the highest virtue - arete - an innate property of an aristocrat, which meant valor, physical perfection, nobility and dignity. In the archaic era, the main types and forms of Greek art already arose, which would then be developed in the classical period. All the achievements of Greek architecture of that time, both constructive and decorative, are associated with the construction of temples. In the 7th century BC e. a system of orders arose, that is, a special ratio of the bearing and carried parts of the building in the beam-rack structure. Decided artistic features two main architectural orders: Doric and Ionic. Doric order, distributed mainly in southern Greece, was distinguished by the heaviness and massiveness of the columns, simple and strict capitals, the desire for monumentality, masculinity, and perfection of proportions. In the Ionic order, on the contrary, lightness, grace, whimsical lines were valued, the capital had a characteristic shape similar to the horns of a ram. Much later, in the 5th c. BC, the Corinthian order appears in Greece - magnificent, spectacular. With a complex capital, similar to a flower basket.
Epic poetry, usually a long narrative poem recounting heroic deeds, another name for it is the heroic epic. The origins of epic poetry are most likely rooted in prehistoric stories of gods and other supernatural beings. These stories, or myths, were probably recited in the course of sacred rituals calling for the patronage of higher powers in achieving earthly well-being. The earliest examples of epic poetry include the ancient Babylonian cosmogonic epic Enuma Elish, which tells about the creation of the world from chaos, the victory of Marduk, the main god of the city of Babylon, over the goddess of the primary world waters Tiamat and the creation of man to serve the gods. Another famous epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, belongs to a later stage in the development of epic poetry. His hero Gilgamesh is a demigod-half-man. Gilgamesh's closest friend Enkidu is created by the gods as a kind of alter ego of Gilgamesh. After a series of joint deeds, Enkidu dies instead of Gilgamesh, and Gilgamesh, trying to avoid the fate of mortals, goes to the ends of the earth to find out from Utnapishti, who survived the flood, how he can gain eternal life. As it turns out, eternal life is not available to mortals, but Gilgamesh obtains the flower of eternal youth, which subsequently abducts the serpent. The Epic of Gilgamesh precedes the second period of writing epic tales, dating back to the 8th and 7th centuries. BC. and represented by the most significant in the historical tradition epic works such as the poems of Homer and the oldest books of the Bible. The theme of travel appears in its most expanded form in the complete history of the Trojan War, which puts all previous mythical journeys into a historical perspective. Around her grouped stories about being sent to war across the sea, as well as about the return of Menelaus, Agamemnon and Odysseus. Another form of the myth of death and resurrection can be found in the story of Achilles leaving the battle after a quarrel with Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaeans. Over time, another motif, known from the epic of Gilgamesh, joins the narrative: about a double replacing the hero. Patroclus, a friend of Achilles, enters the battle in the armor of Achilles, is killed instead of him, which infuriates the hero and forces him to return to the ranks of the Achaeans, taking revenge on the Trojans and Hector. It is these two parts of the narrative that entered the text of the Iliad known to us. It was most likely recorded between 725 and 700 BC. from the words of the blind singer Homer. The Greeks also had epic tales about the origins of all things. Theogony of Hesiod, as well as the lost War of the Titans, which opened the so-called. epic "cycle", reflect their interest in creation and the establishment of order in the universe. The epic cycle was a compilation where, after the War of the Titans, the Theban cycle followed, containing the history of Oedipus and other rulers of this city. The epic cycle also included songs telling about the causes and beginning of the Trojan War; various episodes of the war itself, including the fall of Troy and the return home of the Greek heroes, and, finally, the Odyssey with Telegonia continuing it. Not included in the epic cycle is the most popular story in Greece about Jason and the journey on the Argo ship for the Golden Fleece. It is mentioned by Homer and occupies a significant place in Pindar's fourth Pythian ode. In its classical form, it was transmitted in Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, a much later author of the 3rd century BC. BC, which already belongs to the literary tradition. Lost were the poems about the exploits of Hercules, also popular in ancient Greece. If there was an Italic oral epic tradition, it was most likely never written down. As in many other areas of culture, the Romans fully embraced the heritage of Greek epic poetry, but their favorite subjects were related to Roman history. In the 3rd century BC. the Greek freedman Livius Andronicus translated Homer's Odyssey in Latin Saturnian verse, and Gnaeus Nevius wrote the Song of the Punic War in the same verse. Quintus Ennius, having introduced the dactylic hexameter borrowed from the Greeks into Latin poetry, wrote an epic poem about the history of Rome. Virgil's Aeneid, which combines both mythical and heroic, as well as historical features, became the highest point of the Roman epic. The mythical and heroic beginnings of the narrative go back to Homer and Apollonius. Aeneid with with good reason can be called the first national epic. It tells of the escape of Aeneas with his father, son and a handful of compatriots from burning Troy; about their wanderings, including the famous stop in Carthage, where Queen Dido, who fell in love with Aeneas, was finally abandoned by him in order to fulfill her historical destiny; about the journey of Aeneas, like Odysseus, in realm of the dead where he was given a vision of the future heroes of Roman history. In Italy, the land promised to him by the gods, Aeneas, after a duel with Turn for the hand of the daughter of the king Latinus, laid the foundation for the family, which served as the source of the future Roman greatness. The post-Vergilian epic in Latin is represented by a few names. Lucan's unfinished Pharsalia tells of the war of 49-47 BC. between Caesar and Pompey, the Stoic Cato the Younger acts as a hero. Lucan died at the age of twenty-six in the reign of Nero, defending the republican ideals. Like all writers of the Latin Silver Age, Lucan too frankly uses the rules of rhetoric, but the tragic pathos gave his poem great artistic power. Another poet of the same period, Silius Italicus, wrote on subjects from Roman history, about the 2nd Punic War; Statius in the unfinished Achilles and Thebaid, as well as Valerius Flaccus in Argonautica returned to stories from the epic past. It is customary to end the classical period of the Latin epic with the Rape of Proserpina by Claudian. In the first centuries of Christianity, both Latin and Greek gradually turned into liturgical languages, while colloquial Greek acquired an independent role, and various dialects of colloquial Latin became the basis for the development of Romance languages. The classical Greek epic, which appeared after a long break, is represented by such works as the Post-Gomerica (4th century) by Quintus of Smyrna and the Acts of Dionysus Nonnus (5th century). Later, in the Byzantine period, poems appeared based on subjects from modern history, sustained in the classical Greek style and meter. In addition to the Acts of Dionysus, Nonnus wrote an Arrangement of the Holy Gospel of John in hexameter. In the Latin West, verse narratives on gospel themes appeared as early as the 4th century. ; the history of Creation, set forth in the Book of Genesis, is contained in the end of the 5th century. the work of Dracontius For the Glory of God; Arator retold the Acts of the Apostles in hexameters in the 6th century. Latin poetic expositions of lives appeared along with poems of historical and panegyric content throughout the 8th and 9th centuries. The Christian era glorified its heroes in ancient and pagan forms. A new type of hero and villain can be found as early as the 4th c. in the Psychomachy of Prudentius, which describes the struggle for human soul between sins and virtues; it was the first great allegorical epic.
Hesiod is known mainly for two poems: Works and Days and Theogony. He defines his poetic vocation in the initial part of Theogony. At the same time, he also shows the difference between his poetry and Homer's. He puts it in the form of a poetic story: once, when he was tending his flock at the foot of Mount Helikon, the Muses themselves appeared to him.
The poem "Theogony" is devoted to the theme of the origin of the world and the gods, and their genealogy is given. Since the initial part speaks of Hesiod in the third person: “Once upon a time they taught Hesiod a beautiful song,” some scholars deny that this poem belongs to Hesiod. But most likely this is only a form of expression, which does not provide a sufficient basis for such a conclusion. The ancients agreed to attribute the poem to Hesiod. The poet begins with the glorification of the Muses (36--115), after which he turns to the main theme. He considers the gaping abyss of Chaos to be the beginning of the universe, after which Gaia-Earth was born, then Tartarus appeared - the underworld and Eros - the power of love, attracting the elements of the universe to each other. From Gaia were born Uranus (Sky), Erebus (Darkness) and Night, from her Ether and Day. The children of Uranus and Gaia were the Titans, among them Cronus, the father of Zeus. In the following, all the main deities of Greek mythology, which were revered in the era of Hesiod, are listed. Here it is told how Cronus overthrows his father Uranus and then, fearing that he himself would be overthrown by one of his sons, he swallowed his children as soon as they were born. Finally, his wife Rhea managed to save one of her sons, Zeus, by giving her father a swaddled stone instead of a baby. Zeus, when he matured, forced his father to vomit up swallowed children and, together with his brothers and sisters, reigned over the world, leaving behind himself the primacy as the father of gods and people. Further, it is told how new generations of gods were born from these gods, and heroes were born from the marriages of gods with mortal women. Many places in the poem present a dry list of names. But this dryness is sometimes smoothed out by artistic pictures, such as, for example, stories about the battle with the titans who rebelled against Zeus (617--735) and about the taming of the monstrous Typhoeus. Of interest is the naive story of Prometheus, who outwitted Zeus by arranging the matter in such a way that he allowed only inedible parts from slaughtered animals to be sacrificed to him. The poem The List of Women, which has come down to us in small fragments, adjoined Theogony, which told about women to whom the gods appeared. These women became the progenitors of famous Greek families. Among the individual episodes of this poem were stories about the abduction of Europa by Zeus, about the birth of the Dioscuri from Leda - Castor and Polideuces, about Clytemnestra and Elena, about the origin of the Aeacus clan, to which Peleus and his son Achilles belonged, etc. This also belonged the story of the birth of Alcmene Hercules from Zeus. The last episode came down to us along with a description of the shield with which Hercules opposed the hero Kikn. This whole passage of 480 verses is known as the "Shield of Hercules." This is a clear imitation of the shield of Achilles in the Iliad. Deprived of the truth of life and full of monstrous images, it differs sharply from the works of Hesiod known to us and obviously belongs to a later time. The poem "Works and Days" is rather motley in its content. This gives rise to all sorts of more or less arbitrary conjectures about its origin. The following parts are clearly defined in its composition. First of all, we find reflections on Truth (9--380), inspired by the actions of brother Persian, and in connection with this, an allegory of two types of dispute, of which one is useful, as a competition that encourages people to work more vigorously, the other harmful, like destructive strife. Hesiod goes on to cite the aforementioned tale of Pandora and the five ages. Based on this, the author concludes about the high value of truth and the need for labor. The next part (381--617) contains a systematic exposition of instructions on the need to work. The Boeotian farmer Hesiod imagines labor nothing other than agricultural. An experienced owner, he describes in detail all the details of agricultural work: how to prepare for summer work in winter, what kind of workers and what kind of livestock should be selected for each work, how to plow, sow, reap, how to thresh and harvest, how to help in case of delay with sowing. He adds instructions for harvesting grapes. In a word, here we find the only exposition of the system of agriculture of its kind in Greek literature. These instructions are followed by the agricultural calendar necessary for the farmer: with the rise of the Pleiades constellation, harvest should begin, with sunset, sowing, with the rise of Arcturus, it is time to prune the vines, with the high standing of Orion and Sirius, the grape harvest begins, etc. The departure of the cranes shows that it's time to start arable land, the appearance of snails - it's time to start harvesting. In the third section of the poem, general instructions are given regarding navigation: how best to save the ship and at what time it is safer to sail; but the author expresses a clear lack of sympathy for maritime affairs. Some scholars have suggested that this place is a later insertion. However, this is hardly correct. After a row practical advice of a worldly nature, the poet gives a description of the days of the month, indicating what should be done on each day according to the beliefs and superstitions of a simple person who distinguishes between happy and unlucky days, favorable and unfavorable for certain deeds. This determines the double title of the poem: "Works and Days." The poem "Works and Days" became a code for Greek farmers worldly wisdom: it was taught in schools, writers often referred to it; she became os new morality, and some put it even above the poems of Homer. Hesiod's poem "Theogony" is the first attempt to understand the infinite number of common and local deities in different parts of the Greek world, to determine the relationship between them and to systematize Greek religion and mythology. Living in an area close to Delphi, Hesiod was apparently under the influence of the Delphic priests and in his poems, especially in Theogony, reflected their point of view on the Greek religion, and emphasized the importance of some local cults, for example Eros, who enjoyed special reverence in the town of Thespia, or the cult of the Muses of Helikon and others. At the same time, the poem contains a progressive idea of the gradual “improvement” of the gods, who at first were only the personification of brute elemental force, and later began to be endowed with humane features. The desire to bring into a system and give a classification of religious and mythological ideas was already a scientific task, no matter how naively and primitively it was resolved. This attempt paved the way for the first philosophical systems. In addition to those analyzed above, we know from the titles and passages of several more similar poems, for example, "Egimius", which spoke of the help provided to King Egimius by Heracles during the conquest of the Peloponnese; "Instructions of Chiron", which is a collection of teachings of the wise centaur Chiron, educator of Achilles, Jason and many other heroes. These and some other poems of this kind were composed at different times and were all indiscriminately attributed to Hesiod, but often this was done only on an outward basis, since the poems resembled his poetic manner. But this cannot be seen as a sufficient guarantee of their belonging to Hesiod. The “Theogony” of Hesiod and poems close to this direction, such as “The List of Women”, “The Shield of Hercules”, etc., adjoin, on the one hand, to the kyklic poems, and on the other, contain the embryos of those devices and forms, which a little later the first Greek historians began to use the so-called "logographs". Many features of Hesiod's poetry originate from folk art. These are not only myths that occupy a large place with him, but also fables, proverbs and even individual expressions included in proverbs. The writings of Hesiod clearly show how deeply he knew and felt the life of his people. He was rightfully considered a people's poet. There is no complete certainty about the time of Hesiod's life in the testimony of the ancients: he was called both the predecessor and contemporary of Homer. But we have already seen enough that all his work, both in content and in form, reflects a later stage of social development, even testifies to the use of Homer's poetic heritage. But Hesiod lived earlier than Archilochus, the poet of the 7th century, since the latter has borrowings from the works of Hesiod. Therefore, it is most correct to attribute the activities of Hesiod to the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 7th century. BC e. In his poem Works and Days, Hesiod speaks of himself, considering his personal experience and his personal opinion interesting and instructive for others. This shows the presence of a certain individualistic stream, which Homer did not have. It is a harbinger of the imminent flowering of that genre, which, as its main task, puts precisely the expression of personal feelings and moods, namely the flowering of lyric poetry, which began in the 7th century. BC e.
Plan
Introduction
1 Archaic period
2 Classic period
3 Hellenistic period
4 Roman period
Ancient Greek literature
Introduction
Ancient Greek literature is a collection of literary works of ancient authors, which includes all the work of ancient Greek poets, historians, philosophers, orators, etc. up to the end of the history of Ancient Greece.
Of the vast number of works of ancient Greek literature, only a very few have come down to us; many writers and their works are known to us only by name; there is almost no ancient Greek writer from whom all his literary heritage would have come down to us. Added to all this is the corruption of the original texts due to the fault of time, the ignorance of the scribes, and other circumstances. It is understandable why until now there has not been such a review of Greek literature that would depict its entire consistent development, without gaps or arbitrary theoretical constructions. However, the centuries-old efforts of Western European scholars have achieved a lot in terms of restoring ancient texts and diversifying literary works.
The ability to perceive the surroundings vividly and quickly respond to it, to penetrate deep into the main motives of phenomena and capture their typical, essential features, which distinguished the ancient Hellenes, the plasticity of the Greek. speech, which allowed the Greek to express easily and accurately every thought and mood with all their shades, said the ancient Greek. literature humanistic character and ensured its universal interest. In the main properties of the Hellenic genius lies the key to the incomparable originality of his scientific and artistic creativity, the durability of the many ideas, images and entire systems of worldview developed by him; this also determines the enormous influence that ancient Hellenic literature had on all later ones, starting with Roman, and on European education in general.
The comprehensive development of natural talents was favored by the peculiarities of the political community, which encouraged a high exertion of mental strength and allowed wide freedom of thought and speech. The successes of drama, eloquence and the study of forms of political community were closely dependent on the democratic system of the city republics. It is not at all accidental that in terms of the degree and quality of mental productivity in ancient Greece, the first place belonged to Athenian democracy, where political institutions, mores, and the tastes of society most contributed to the free development and exercise of all the abilities of a citizen necessary for active conscious participation in affairs. communities.
The extreme limits of the history of ancient Greek literature should be recognized as the XI century. BC e., when there were numerous legends about the heroes of the Trojan War, and the first half of the VI century. n. e., when, by order of the emperor Justinian (529), the philosophical schools in Athens were closed.
There are two divisions in this period:
One - from the beginning of literature to the III century. BC e., predominantly creative;
the other - from the beginning of Alexandrian scholarship to Justinian, mainly the time of studying the previous literature and the assimilation of ancient Greek education by other peoples.
In the creative era of G. literature, two periods are distinguished:
The development of the epic, lyric poetry, the emergence of drama and all types of prose - until about 480 BC. e.,
· another period, Attic, the time of the highest prosperity of drama, eloquence, philosophy, historiography with the transition to the exact sciences.
In the first period, the leading role belonged to the colonies, in the second, Athens undeniably dominated.
1. Archaic period
The main literary phenomenon of the first period is the so-called Homeric poems, which represent the completion of a long series of smaller experiments in legendary poetry, as well as religious and everyday songwriting. Long before the birth Iliad and Odyssey, ancient monuments of G. literature, images of the main Hellenic deities and heroes of the Trojan and pre-Trojan period were formed, typical features of gods and demigods, their genealogies were established, epithets were formed, a poetic form suitable for narration was developed, etc. Iliad and Odyssey contained only a small part of the plots and episodes processed earlier by many generations of storytellers and singers. This ancient poetry of the Greeks, not excluding the Homeric poems, cannot be treated in the same way as we usually treat consciously poetic works. To imagine that the ancient poet, full of faith in the sacred antiquity, was guided in his work only by the requirements of poetry and precisely a special kind of it, in this case, the epic, that it was only by virtue of these requirements that he changed one thing in his material, eliminated the other, added a third - it means to transfer our own concepts to such times and living conditions when they could not exist at all. Each subsequent singer, continuing the work of his predecessors, took from them what seemed to him most in agreement with the nature of the deity or with the character of the hero; sometimes the singer was content with comparing several options, little embarrassed by the disagreements between them and not even always noticing them. Only by firmly remembering this historical point of view, one can save oneself from subjective constructions and hobbies in explaining the most ancient monuments of Greek. poetry - those hobbies with which the so-called Homeric question is full (see Homer).
The cradle of Greek poetry was the naturally gifted northeastern region of Thessaly, Pieria, or Thrace, the birthplace of the Muses, the place of activity of mythical poets: Orpheus, Musaeus, Eumolpus, Pamphos, Famiris. From here the worship of the Muses spread to the south, to Phokis, Boeotia, Attica. Poetry was here in connection mainly with the cults of Zeus, Dionysus and Demeter. Another group of singers, led by Deer, joined near Apollo in Lycia, Crete and Delphi. It seems that the servants of this deity invented the heroic verse, or dactylic hexameter.
Music, namely playing the forming or cithara, lyre, is put in the closest connection with poetry. The same preparatory period is characterized by the influence of the peoples of Asia Minor, related to the Hellenes, mainly the Phrygians and Lycians. Next to the song, predominantly of a religious nature, from time immemorial there have been more or less entertaining stories about the high-profile exploits of individuals - heroes, leaders, rulers - and entire communities; such stories, multiplying in number as new feats were accomplished, combined heterogeneous elements of myth and reality, depicted gods and people in constant relationships and interaction, endowed people with superhuman properties, reduced gods to the level of mortals. If the events close, just happened, were understood and depicted by poets only in the form of extraordinary acts of the gods or with their direct participation, then the remoteness of the event opened up all the more scope for fiction and the miraculous: without this, modernity and history would have been presented to the ancient Hellenes just as much. little intelligible and interesting, as such an image seems implausible and arbitrary to us.
Hercules, Theseus, Jason, Perseus, Meleager, Amphiarai and many others are mentioned in Homer's poems as well famous representatives long, grandiose past, relegated to the distance by memories of recent events, various episodes of the Achaean-Trojan war and the adventures of its heroes. The Trojan War as the first glorious deed of all Hellas, which took place before the so-called. the return of the Heraclides to the Peloponnese and before the foundation of the Asia Minor colonies, became for a long time the most favorite subject of stories and chants, examples of which can be the songs of Themis and Demodocus in Odyssey. Numerous, originally short songs of the Trojan cycle caused in the X-IX centuries. BC e. a brilliant attempt to create whole poems with a central character and an event in each, with an unprecedented outline of characters, with an extraordinary variety of positions united by the moral views of the author; the most ancient immortal monuments of Greek and European literature in general were obtained, to this day inextricably linked with the name of Homer. We are from Odyssey we know that the ancient Hellenes loved new songs about recent events, and therefore the beginnings of the Trojan epic must be dated back to their own Hellas, most of all to Thessaly and Argolis, the native places of the leading Achaean heroes, and to attribute their appearance to the time of the war itself and to immediately after the war following. Epic poetry reached its full flowering, however, only on the coast of Asia Minor, in the colonies, mainly Ionian, although the Ionian poets only continued and improved the work of the Aeolians.
The ancient poets were also performers of their own and other people's songs, singers (aeds), who used forming accompaniment when performing. At the celebrations of the people or rulers and leaders, such singer-poets were the most welcome and honored guests. Retiring near Troy, Agamemnon entrusted his wife to his home singer. The Aeds were the closest keepers and distributors of Homeric poems and other songs. The aeds were followed by reciters-rhapsodes, who at public meetings uttered other people's songs without musical accompaniment, but dramatized their performance with the help of facial expressions and costumes. From the first half of the 8th to the half of the 6th c. BC e. a number of poets set out to express in poetic form, according to Homer's patterns, all possible cycle Trojan tales. These are cyclical poets: Arktin, Stasin, Leskhes, Agius, Evgammon, who had neither the talent nor the sincere inspiration of the founders of the epic. Next to the Trojan, cycles of legends of Thebes existed and were processed by similar poets. (Thebaid, Epigones), herculean. Cyclic poems, sometimes exceeding in volume Odysseus had for later poets, historians, philosophers, antiquarians the significance and interest of collections of myths and legends suitable for poetic or moralistic purposes.
In close connection with the name of Homer there are also the so-called Homeric hymns, which have come down to us in the form of 34 songs, unequal in value and volume and different in origin. The time of the formation of these songs, which served at religious festivals as introductions to the recitation of Homeric songs - VIII-V centuries. BC e. They were composed in circles of rhapsods. Even Aristotle attributed the oldest humorous poem to Homer Margate(stupid know-it-all), and Iliad brought to light at a relatively late time a parody under the name Mouse war and frogs. Already in Homer's poems, one can observe the presence of elements of an instructive epic, an expression of dissatisfaction with existing relationships and a desire for more truth in human affairs. The result of this mood was a poem Work and days. On the other hand, there was an early need for coherent systematic ideas about the gods, about the original history of the world and human societies, about mutual relations between deities, heroes and mere mortals. The answer to these queries was Theogony. Both poems, of a religious and instructive nature, came out of the Boeotian school of singers and belonged to Hesiod, a native of Askra. Homer and Hesiod (Hesiod) were revered by the ancient Greeks as the creators of theogony and theology; their names were usually used side by side, inseparably, although the Hesiod poems took shape a hundred years after Homer's.
As social and private life became more varied and complex, especially in the wealthier trading colonies, new forms of poetic creativity were born. In political coexistence, hereditary monarchy has given way to oligarchic or democratic rule, or to tyranny that has withdrawn from the struggle and initially relied on the people. Poetry has lost much in solemnity, but it has gained no less in practical, worldly significance; from the inspired heralds of the Muses or Apollo, the poets turned into ordinary mortals, who stood out above the crowd for their greater responsiveness, the wisdom of practical advice, or the accuracy and causticity of criticism. Suffice it to recall that in the ranks of the poets of that time, the most honorable place belonged to the great Athenian legislator Solon; that another Athenian citizen, Tyrtaeus, obtained victory for the Spartans with his songs; that Theognidus used the poetic form for the merciless persecution of political opponents, and so on. The very form of the poems - an elegiac couplet of hexameter and pentameter - differed in comparison with epic verse for brevity and expressiveness, and the iambic size of satirical poems brought poetic speech even closer to everyday, colloquial. The topic of the day in its infinite variety and the feelings that agitated the observer were the subject of poetic expression in elegies and iambs during the 7th and 6th centuries; the poetic forms developed then were willingly used, however, later. Ancient elegies were sung to the accompaniment of a flute. Of the elegiac and iambic poets, Kallinus, Simonides, Mimnermus, Phocylides, Xenophanes, Hippopactus, Archilochus belonged to Asia Minor cities and islands; Solon, Theognis, Tyrtaeus were natives of Attica and Megara. Although the epic and elegy developed not without connection with music, but at first the music was rather simple and monotonous; poetic texts were recited and improved independently of the musical accompaniment.
It was not so with poetry proper lyrical, or song (melic), the successes of which were prepared by the development of music and which did not exist apart from music; sometimes rhythmic movements and orchestika joined the music. The beginnings of lyrics were contained in the most ancient folk songs, but its conscious development in connection with music begins with Terpander, a lesbian by birth, who in the 7th century BC. e. at the Carnean and Pythian meetings in Sparta and Delphi he performed (with a seven-stringed lyre instead of the primitive four-stringed one) as a performer of religious chants, nomes, with an improved musical accompaniment. He discovered the range of sounds, established the basic harmonies, modes of Greek music, and in general laid the foundation for a systematic musical art. Greek lyrics were divided into the actual song and choral singing(encomia, epinicia, paeans, dithyrambs, etc.) and developed at the same time as elegy and iambic: Terpander preceded Archilochus, and at the same time as Solon lived the main representatives of both types of lyrics: Alkey, Sappho (Sappho), Stesichorus. Elegy and iambs adjoined in language to the Ionian epic, lyric poetry, by its very nature more individual, represented an infinite variety of dialects and local dialects in the closest dependence of each poet on his homeland and place of activity. Ionian, Aeolian, Dorian dialects were equal in lyrics. No less varied was the versification of lyrical songs, depending on the personality of the poet and on the subtlest shades of mood expressed in the song. If the nomes and prosodies of Terpander and Clonas, performed to the accompaniment of a cithara or flute, used the sizes that had previously come into use - hexameter, iambic and elegiac couplet, then subsequent lyrics showed extraordinary ingenuity and freedom of creativity in this respect. However, even earlier, mainly by the genius of Archilochus, besides the hexameter and pentameter, iambic, trochea, and anapaest were put into circulation. Of the outstanding lyricists, almost everyone either added new poetic forms that forever retained the names of their creators, or imposed the stamp of their own individuality on the forms that already existed, changing and improving them. With regard to the ingenuity of all the lyricists, the Spartan poet of the half of the 7th century surpassed. BC e., Alkman, in whom for the first time we find Ionian and logachdic sizes; he was the first to use the size, which turned out to be very suitable for laudatory poems. Alkman's undertakings found their successor in Stesichorus from Himera.
Among lyricists, it became a custom to divide a poem into stanzas, the beginning of which was already given by an elegiac couplet: these are groups of poems united in their parts, or correctly alternating, or changing in their construction. In general, in ancient Greek Lyrics are divided into Aeolian and Ionian directions, on the one hand, and Dorian, on the other. The main representatives of the first are Alkey, Sappho, Anacreon, the second are Alcman, Stesichorus, Ibik, Simonides from Keos, Arion, Bacchilid, Pindar. Only the first poets were lyricists in our sense of the word, expressing personal states of mind in their works; the second, actually Greek lyricists, who occupied a more honorable place in Greek life, appointed their songs primarily to decorate the celebration of the glorification of the gods, etc., as a result of which the content of their works was more general than personal; not passion, but solemnity were hallmark this Dorian poetry. Some songs were assigned to be performed in one voice, in the private life of individual citizens; others were choral and had a predominantly religious and social significance, they were performed in public places. The structure of the songs of the first category was incomparably simpler; here a continuous alternation of individual verses was allowed, or stanzas of the same structure followed one after another. The strophic structure of choral songs has been incomparably more diverse, especially since the time of Stesichorus, who introduced into versification the alternation of triple groups - stanzas, antistrophes and epods - according to the movements of the choir to the right, back to the left and the final stay in place. Choral songs were more significant and in volume. Pindar's victorious songs - in the epic dialect, with a strong admixture of Dorisms - composed to the glory of the winners at four pan-Hellenic festivals and have come down to us in the number 44, are the only and most magnificent examples of choral Greek. lyrics. One of the forms of the same lyrics, dithyramb, served as a source of tragedy, and comedy came out of comic choral songs, also in honor of Dionysus or Bacchus. The primordial rudiments of drama contained in life itself ancient Greek and especially in the cult of Dionysus, developed rapidly to the classic examples of dramatic poetry thanks to the earlier successes of the lyrics, in particular, the dithyramb. The dithyrambic choir was properly organized by Arion of Corinth, and the most famous lyricists extended the dithyrambic song from Dionysus to other mythical figures. Already under Solon, at the beginning of the VI century. BC e., in Athens one could see the first experiences of dramatizing the dithyramb with the help of one actor, who was the originator of the innovation himself, the Icarian Thespis. Dramatic performances (first tragedy, then comedy) took their place along with the dithyramb in honoring Dionysus, and since these were mainly folk festivals, since foreigners were present in large numbers at the most important of them, the state was interested in the most magnificent and their attractive performance, and dramatic writers found sufficient satisfaction and encouragement for themselves in the ardent sympathy and understanding of an audience of many thousands. The construction of a stone theater in Athens around 500 BC. e. was an outward expression of the fact that dramatic performances have become the subject of state care. Thespis, Heryl, Pratina, Phrynichus are a few predecessors of the father of tragedy, Aeschylus. The depth and variety of psychological observations, the intense interest in the purely human sides of mythical and legendary heroes, the diligent motivation of their decisions and collisions, the lawful combination of external circumstances and mental states characters - these are the features of the Attic drama, which ensured its enlightening significance for many centuries. The amazingly rapid growth of the drama was also favored by the success of citizenship in the Athenian Republic and the high general development of the mass of Athenian citizens. It was only with the existence of free democratic institutions that the ancient political comedy, which emerged from phallic songs and originally developed in the Dorian Megara. Moral comedy, which at first also belonged to the Dorians, began to take shape among the Sicilians in the 7th century. BC e.; it is the older sister of the middle and new Attic comedy. The first attempts at historical, geographical and philosophical prose belong to the same period of new political formations, closely adjoining in their content to epic poetry and folk mythology. Greek historiography began with the transposition of poetic tales into prose in chronological order and with the recording of the sights of individual cities and peoples. Cadmus, Dionysius, Hekageus of Miles, Xanthus of Lydia, Charov of Lampsacus, Hellanicus of Mitylene, and others were the most ancient historical writers. Representatives of ancient Greek philosophy are Thales, Anaximenes, and Anaximander (see Greek Philosophy). At the end of the first period in the history of G. literature, all parts of the Hellenic world were engulfed in political and mental movement, and the accumulation of wealth through trade and crafts and the receipt of papyrus from Egypt - a relatively cheap writing material - facilitated the literary productivity of the city republics and contributed to their mental rapprochement. The so-called seven wise men (Biant, Chilo, Cleobulus, Periander, Pittacus, Thales, Solon) were very characteristic exponents of that era of excitement and widespread intense activity - practical figures and teachers scattered in different cities, who, in a poetic, concise form, offered lessons in worldly wisdom. .
2. Classic period
The beginning of the next period can be considered the year 478, when the so-called Athenian-Delian alliance was formed and Athens for a long time became the generally recognized hegemon of a significant part of Hellas. From time immemorial, the rudiments of drama that existed in folk poetry were processed in Athens to the level of the most durable examples of dramatic creativity. Although the availability of highly developed forms of epic and lyric poetry greatly facilitated the development of Attic drama, nevertheless, both tragedy and comedy were the original creation of the Athenians, most of all indebted to the combination of political and cultural conditions in Athens. Of the two types of drama, tragedy in its plots closely adjoined folk tales and myths, while comedy drew its content from observations of contemporary political figures, current social events, morals, etc. Rising above private practical interests, tragedy introduced viewers into the circle of interests and concepts of a general nature, religious, ethical and social, embodying them in typical images, close and understandable to everyone. In terms of content, the works of the Athenian tragedians were, apparently, only a direct continuation of Homer and the cyclics: the same names sanctified by faith and the mutual relations of deities and heroes, the same respectful treatment of myth, the same, at least before Euripides, the sincerity of faith. The more significant were the new ways of processing folk tales, more in harmony with the secular mood of society and with the success of generalization in the sphere of thought and feeling. Already starting from Aeschylus, the dominant subject of depiction in tragedies, and consequently the sympathy of the viewer, was the spiritual life of a person with its hopes, fears, passions. Mythical antiquity was preserved only as a convenient, universally recognized form, under which the beating of living reality was heard; legendary figures were interpreters or spokesmen of what the contemporaries of the tragedian lived. Never before had the Athenian public come so close, through the medium of poetic images, to the natural connection of causes and effects; never before had so many rules of religion and morality been proclaimed to her in artistic images. It was a philosophy for the people. The extraordinary popularity of Attic tragedy is evident, among other things, from the fact that during the 5th c. BC e. At least 1,000 tragedies were written for the Athenian theater. Unfortunately, of this huge number of tragedies, only 31 have come down to us - seven each from Aeschylus and Sophocles and 17 from Euripides, as well as one satirical drama by Euripides, Cyclops. He stayed at the Athenian theater until the 4th century. the custom of staging tragedies in groups, so-called tetralogies, with the presentation of three tragedies consisting of a playful play like our vaudeville; the choirs of these plays consisted of satyrs, constant companions of Dionysus, hence the very name satirical drama. From a huge number of Athenian tragedians, a few names and insignificant fragments have survived (the classic edition of fragments by A. K. Nauka together with P. V. Nikitin: “Fragmenta tragicor. graecorum”, Leipzig, 1889). In addition to Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, who overshadowed not only their contemporary tragedians, but also subsequent ones, Ion, Agathon, Achaeus, Critia, Euphorion, Euripides the Younger are better known.
In parallel with the tragedy, comedy developed in Athens, transferred here from Megara and only here reached a high degree of perfection and a huge impact on the environment. Magnet, Cratin, Eupolis, Cratet and others prepared the full flowering of Attic comedy in the 5th century, in the works of Aristophanes, of whose 64 plays 11 have come down to us. characteristic feature Aristophanes' comedy was a parabasis that tore the performance into two parts. This is a song that was performed by the entire choir or its luminary and in which advice, warnings, complaints about literary rivals and political issues were expressed to the audience on behalf of the author. enemies of the author, judgments about contemporary events and persons, etc. Political freedom, the high mental development of citizens, as well as the genius of Aristophanes and his predecessors, transformed the rough farce, which was originally a comedy and remained forever in other parts of Hellas, into the most original kind of drama, combining the features of a merciless satire and pamphlet, on the one hand, a truly artistic creation, on the other. Of course, the criticism of Attic comedy, whether it concerned politics (Cleon), literature (Euripides) or philosophy (Socrates), was one-sided and meant to bring back the good old days of marathons, to arm public opinion against innovators; so the value ancient comedy as a source for political history is very relative. However, the laughter of Aristophanes did not stop at nothing, penetrating all spheres of life and actually undermining the traditional beginnings. Fornicated Zeus, gluttonous and greedy for gold Hermes, Support and Feoria in the form of hetaera - these are the deities in the comedy World. The bird kingdom, located between heaven and earth, threatens to take away from the gods both sacrificial smoke and love pleasures. (Birds). AT Daedalus Zeus is depicted as a thief and a deceiver, etc. Next to Euripides and Agathon, the solemn, God-fearing Aeschylus was also reproached by Aristophanes. The consequences of the comedy turned out to be far from what the comedian himself might have wanted: the Attic comedy did not weaken, but rather strengthened the spirit of doubt and criticism in modern society. Questions political, private and general, social, literary, pedagogical, philosophical, found a place for themselves in ancient comedy, as can be seen from the surviving plays of Aristophanes, and were discussed at random with a freedom never seen before or later. Already among the comedies of Aristophanes there are several free from personal attacks. (Birds, Peace, Lysistrata, Wealth, Wasps, Women's National Assembly); personal criticism appears in them only in passing, in the form of hints, giving way to satire on entire trends in literature and public life, as well as on entire classes of citizens. So called. the middle and new comedy (from the restoration of Athenian democracy in 403 to the Alexandrian period), outwardly differing from Aristophanes's in the absence of a choir, is only a more constant and consistent development of those elements of parody of mythological figures and tragedians, as well as satires on social and domestic customs, which were contained in abundance in the very germs of Attic and Greek comedy in general and in the works of Aristophanes; on the other hand, personal attacks on politicians. The new Attic comedy is known to us almost exclusively from the Roman imitations of Plautus and Terentius; among the Greeks chief representative hers is Menander.
Dialectics and eloquence of all kinds were essential parts of the poetic speech of tragedy and comedy. The effort to convince the enemy, to prove his guilt and his innocence constitute main task dramatic dialogues and many monologues. For everyday relations in the Athenian democracy, a carefully crafted prose oratorical speech was needed. Free persuasive speech was the strongest lever of success in the Athenian Republic, and even more: it was one of the most effective means of self-defense in political and private matters. Where, by virtue of the law, every citizen was obliged to conduct his own lawsuit personally and all legal proceedings were oral, public, adversarial, where the social significance of an individual and active participation in the affairs of the motherland were determined primarily by personal talents, the ability to convince the sovereign assembly of the people of profitability proposed measures - there the art of oratory and the opportunity to learn it became one of the essentials. The Athenian Republic in a comparatively short period of time produced big number orators and teachers of eloquence, not surpassed in subsequent times: Antiphon, Andocides, Lysia, Isocrates, Isaeus, Lycurgus, Hyperides, Demosthenes and many others. etc. The Athenian school of eloquence was created by sophists and teachers of the theory of eloquence, natives of Sicily. In the works of famous orators, Attic prose for the first time reached its final development, and from the middle of the 4th century. BC e. rose to the height of the literary language of all Hellenes. However, the treatise attributed to Xenophon must be considered the oldest surviving example of Attic prose. About the Athenian government(425 BC). Antiphon, Lysia, Isocrates gave examples of high, medium and low syllables, and Isocrates was the real creator of Hellenic literary prose. The number of his disciples was very great; historians-rhetoricians of the 4th century BC also belonged to them. e., Theopompus and Efor. But the greatest speaker Athens was Demosthenes, who studied under Isaiah. The whole life of Demosthenes is a vivid evidence of the power of public opinion in Athens, and on the other hand, of the influence achieved in the Athenian Republic by a citizen who devoted himself to the service of his homeland and adequately prepared himself for social activities.
Dramatic dialogue in poetry corresponded to colloquial literary prose as applied to the subjects of philosophy. Socrates should be revered as its creator, and Plato, the author of numerous dialogues, in addition to philosophical significance, distinguished by high merits as literary works, should be revered as an incomparable spokesman in literature. Plato often embodies abstract thoughts in artistic images and paintings. Often the conversation is interrupted by an inspirational narrative that lifts the reader into a world of higher concepts, hopes and desires. The most remarkable student of Plato was Aristotle, the creator of scientific prose. Theophrastus was the successor of Aristotle. In the IV century. BC e. along with the former, new directions of philosophical thought arose - epicureanism and stoicism (see Greek philosophy). Farther from practical life stood historiography, which also in Athens, or under Athenian influences, acquired such representatives as Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon. The first of them (see), a native of the Dorian-Ionic Halicarnassus, who wrote Ionian prose, was a true Athenian in his political sympathies and personal relations, according to the main idea of the whole story, according to which the Athenians were the saviors of Hellas from the yoke of the barbarians. The idea of the unceasing intervention of a punishing and humbling deity unites the most heterogeneous material in the historian, often only outwardly related to the main subject of the narrative - the Hellenic-barbarian struggle. There is still a lot of room for legend and fable. The historical work of Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War is devoted to only one event, moreover, a modern one. The level of criticism here is incomparably higher than that of Herodotus, but the religious tendency is replaced by an artistic one. The most expressive sign of such a change is the abundance of speeches in Thucydides' work, which correspond to the concept of artistic truth, but not documentary, historical. The main factor in historical events and catastrophes Thucydides honors not the gods, but the man himself with his character and mind, his calculations and mistakes. The historian had to contend with the imperfections of the then prose, which caused the relative difficulty of presentation. Stylistic shortcomings are atoned for by the depth of thought and the accuracy of expressions. The ideal statesman for Thucydides is Pericles. The most important historical work of Xenophon, Hellas history, is devoted mainly to the time of the hegemony of Sparta and Thebes after the Peloponnesian War, which ended in the ruin and political decline of Athens. Xenophon, as a writer, belongs to Athens in origin, education and language (in which the influence of Isocrates is noticeable), but not in public mood and not in personal sympathies. A respectful student of Socrates, he was at the same time an ardent admirer of the Spartan Agesilaus and idealized Cyrus. (Agesilaus, Cyropaedia). In terms of reliability and impartiality, in terms of fidelity in understanding events, he is far inferior to Thucydides, but he is just as superior as an interesting storyteller about the most diverse subjects of domestic life and social relations, education, morality, etc. Decisively breaking the bonds of urban, even Hellenic patriotism, Xenophon he more willingly went to the service of the Persian prince or the Spartan king than remained in his homeland, where not everything corresponded to his political ideals and rules of conduct. In his Cyropaedia we find the oldest example of a novelistic story in European literature. His "Retreat of the Ten Thousand" replete with pictures and descriptions of the mores of semi-savage peoples, among other things, some parts of present-day Asiatic Russia.
With the establishment of Macedonian domination, they were consolidated and received new strength the conditions of Greek education and literature, which were formed at that time under the influence of internal relations in the Hellenic world itself. The need for politics a more satisfactory and expedient organization was felt and recognized long before the appearance of Philip and Alexander on the historical stage. The bonds of urban patriotism were destroyed by the success of philosophical thought and artistic creativity, trade and industrial relations. According to Isocrates, “the Athenians achieved that the name of the Hellenic was given not for belonging to the Hellenic race, but for mental development, and should be applied rather to those people who are involved in our education, rather than to those who are of the same origin as us” . Socrates taught that man is a citizen of the whole world. The practical influence of such ideas and such sentiments, though one-sided, can already be seen in Xenophon. There was a need for such a political organization that would combine the benefits of the widest regional autonomy and the strength of national unity. The conquerors of Hellas, like the Macedonians, and then the Romans, did not, however, satisfy this need; they destroyed a lot, and adapted the rest to their national interests. That is why the conversion of Hellas to a state dependent on the Macedonian kings, on the Roman people or Roman emperors, was not accompanied by a creative movement in the field of art or philosophy, although, nevertheless, the Hellenic genius did not dry out even in new, less favorable conditions; it has lost only its former brightness and originality, and its productivity has weakened. Both in the Macedonian and for a long time in the Roman period, the works of Hellenic art and science remained the main factor in the enlightenment of the ancient world.
3. Hellenistic period
The state of political dependence on Macedonia and the emergence of new centers of Hellenic education coincide in literature with the so-called. the Alexandrian period, lasting approximately until the founding of the Roman Empire (300-30 BC). The participation of the Lagids in literature, beginning with Ptolemy I, the foundation of the Museum and two libraries in Alexandria - all this determined the nature and content of the new literary activity and replaced those stimuli for artistic and scientific creativity that were contained in the organic connection between active citizenship and spokesmen for its needs and aspirations. Entire branches of literature ceased to exist, such as, for example, political eloquence, political comedy, and tragedy; others received a new direction, mainly rhetorical and stylistic (historiography, some types of poetry); still others arose and established themselves for the first time, as, for example, many scientific special disciplines, and in poetry - idyll and erotic lyrics. Mental life was expressed mainly in the collection, classification and study of material. Europe owes most of all to the Alexandrian scholars what remains of Greek antiquity; all Roman and medieval science was nothing more than the assimilation of what the Alexandrian scientists came to in their research; some of the current scientific disciplines date back to the same period. How important this period for European science is, for example, that Galileo was the successor of Archimedes in scientific mechanics. Elements Euclid is up to the present time a model of a manual on geometry, the current philological criticism owes much to the grammarians of that time, and so on.
Among the scientific disciplines of that time, philology or literary criticism occupied the first place. Callimachus, Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Aristarchus, Didymus are credited with the restoration, preservation and explanation of ancient texts. The founders of scientific geography and chronology were Eratosthenes, Apollodorus, Timaeus. Historiography developed in a twofold direction: on the one hand, there was no shortage of attempts to build a universal, universal history (Polybius), on the other hand, there were numerous studies in the field of the history of individual cities and countries (Philochorus, Megasthenes, Manetho, etc.). In rhetoric, three schools dominated: Athenian, Asian, Rhodes. The sciences of natural history, mathematics, and medicine also developed. In poetry, primary attention was paid to the most thorough development and finishing of existing forms, to the introduction of new themes and plots into the field of poetic presentation, didactic, mythological, erotic, playful (Callimachus, Rian, Apollonius). The removal of poetry from politics, as it were, was compensated by idyllic pictures of the shepherd's and, in general, the common people's life, full of artistic truth, sincere feeling in the poems of Theocritus, Bion, Mosch. In addition to Alexandria, the residence of the Attalids, Pergamum, was an important center of the literary and intellectual movement in general. Wed Couat, "Poésie Alexandrine sous les trois premiers Ptolémées" (1882); Susemihl, "Gesch. d. gr. Litteratur in der Alexandrinerzeit" (I-II, 1891-92); Derevitsky, "On the beginning of historical and literary studies in ancient Greece" (Kharkov, 1891).
4. Roman period
The most characteristic attribute of the Roman period of Greek literature is sophistry, which from the side of form represented the revival of classical literature. It was prepared by the efforts of the theoretic stylists of the Augustan age to resurrect Atticism for literature in all its classical purity. Therefore Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Caecilius of Calacta must be regarded as precursors of the brilliant period of sophistry. However, the Sophists were not content with studying and assimilating the Attic writers; they flaunted before each other and before the public the refinement of words and phrases that they found in forgotten literary monuments. II and III centuries. n. e. Thanks to the sophists, they were a real triumph of the Hellenic language and education, a celebration of wit, ingenuity and elegance of speech, to which curious people flocked from everywhere and who unrelentingly maintained interest in ancient Hellenic culture. Hadrian and the Antonines, Julian and his successors represent two periods of this later sophistry; each of them also had its own historian, Philostratus and Eunapius. The success of sophistry contributed greatly to the spread of the Greek language and literature in the remote parts of the Roman world; Greek schools in this period flourished not only in Athens or Alexandria, in Pergamon or Rhodes, but also in Antioch, Tarsus, Byzantium, Massilia. In addition to the Greeks, Jews, Syrians, and Egyptians are involved in Greek literature. Political submission to Rome was also recognized in the Hellenic environment as an inevitable and beneficial phenomenon (Polybius, Strabo, Diodorus, Dionysius). Until sophistry gained strength, the direction of the Alexandrian school remained dominant even after the conversion of Egypt to a Roman province. The cosmopolitan and at the same time moralistic tendency is clearly manifested in historiography: Diodorus, Dionysius, Nikolai Damascene, Plutarch, the later Arrian, Cassius Dio, Appian, etc. Of the geographers and periegets, Strabo, Pausanias, Ptolemy, whose system of the universe held inviolably until Copernicus, became most famous, examples of sophistical eloquence are the speeches of Dion Chrysostomos at the end of the 1st century, Aelius Aristides, Themistius, and others of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Church Fathers Gregory Naziansky, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom were revered as disciples of famous pagan sophists. The most remarkable personality in the literature of the II century. is a Syrian by origin, a very prolific and witty writer, Lucian of Samosata. A brilliant representative of the satirical direction of sophistry in the 4th century. was imp. Julian. The theory of eloquence was also developed with great diligence: not to mention earlier writers, we note in this area Hermogenes in the 2nd century. and Longinus in the 3rd. Philosophy was dominated by Stoicism (Epictetus, M. Aurelius) and Neoplatonism (Plotinus, Porfiry, Proclus). Classes in grammar, the study of adverbs, the compilation of dictionaries continued in this period. Through the entire Roman period, there passes in gradual development a type of prose literature that most closely corresponds to our concept of the novel. Its constituent elements - erotic, miraculous, descriptive - existed in G. literature from time immemorial; in the Alexandrian school of poets and prose writers, they were developed in a separate form, not without success, either in erotic poems or in descriptions of travels in distant and wonderful countries. However, the systematic combination of all the elements necessary for the novel together, into prose stories about lovers, with detailed descriptions of pictures of nature, listing all sorts of obstacles and adventures, belongs to the Roman period (Anthony Diogenes, Iamblichus, Xenophon from Ephesus, Heliodorus, Musaeus, etc.); Christian writers competed with the pagans in compiling such "dramas". The development of the novel was greatly helped by sophistry, which did not stop at any fiction and created a prose style suitable for such purposes (Rohde, "Der gr. Roman und seine Vorläufer, 1876). The fifth century of our era was marked by a semblance of a revival of ancient types of creativity, mainly epic and hymns (Quint from Smyrna, Nonn from Egypt).
Numerous reasons for the decline in the literary productivity of the Hellenes, which acted with greater or lesser force from the time of Aristotle until the closing of philosophical schools by Justinian, boiled down to a weakening of the connection between the real life of the people and literary works, between the mass of the population and a select minority of thinkers, poets, scientists, artists. The conquest of Hellas, first by Macedonian, then by Roman weapons, accompanied by a reduction in the population in the Hellenic lands and their impoverishment and ruin, led to the creation of literature that less and less met the needs and feelings of the people, at the same time acquiring a cosmopolitan character. The well-being of literature became directly dependent on the tastes and generosity of the almighty rulers. The strife between the popular masses and literary figures was intensified by Christianity, the religion of the masses par excellence, especially since Christianity quickly became part of the popular mores of the Hellenes and their primordial public institutions proved to be very suitable for the original religious corporations. The identification of Christianity with the state, officially proclaimed in the middle of the 4th century, caused irreparable damage to pagan literature: the classical works of the Hellenic genius were banned and destroyed. At the beginning of the 6th century, the political and administrative measures of Justinian completed the economic ruin of Greece and the decline of urban life, and almost destroyed the last traces of the former high education. The edict of 529 to close the Neoplatonist school in Athens only ended the phantom existence of the miserable refuge of ancient philosophy.
When writing this article, material from the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907) was used.
Literature of Ancient Greece
The development of ancient Greek literature, available to us within the known literary monuments, covers approximately the 8th century. BC e. - IV century. n. e. However, it is always necessary to remember the richest folklore heritage of the Greeks, the creative potential of which will indicate its main specificity. This is taken into account in the proposed periodization:
1. Archaic period:
a) pre-literary stage ( ancient times- IX century. BC e.);
b) early literary stage (VIII-VI centuries BC).
2. Attic (classical) period (V-IV centuries BC).
3. Hellenistic period (III-II centuries BC).
4. The period of Roman rule (I century BC - IV century AD).
archaic period
Pre-literary stage. Mythology. Myth-making as a spontaneously manifested need of a person over the routine of everyday life to build in the word an intuitive-figurative universe of ideal gods and heroes, albeit to a different extent, is inherent in all peoples. However, few, like the ancient Greeks, managed not only to create a branched mythology, but also to fill it with the literary and artistic potential that remains in demand to this day. The person who created myths directly lived in them as well as in a natural environment, since he had not yet learned to distinguish between material-physical and spiritual-psychic phenomena. The world of myths knows no doubts, it is built on the absolute truths of the gods and fate. Therefore, mythology developed along with the pagan religious cult, acting as a guarantor of the mercy of the gods.
The oldest generation of gods, where Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth) ruled, inspired only fear. It was born by the imagination of a person, still completely helpless before the forces of nature, at any moment threatening suffering and death. The children of Uranus and Gaia were terrible giants and monsters. One of the titans - Kron (time) overthrew his father and began to rule with his sister-wife Rhea (one of the epithets of the earth). This second generation of gods, like the first, remains hostile to people and frightening them. The third generation - the gods of Olympus (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia) and others, the main of which is Zeus (that through which everything exists), also takes power from his father Kron by force and marries his sister Hera (guardian, mistress). The design of the mythological pantheon of these gods, which are noticeably more merciful to people, historians attribute to the middle of the 16th century. BC e., when the Hellenes established themselves in the main Greek territories.
By this time, primitive man managed to make significant progress in mastering the world around him, understanding his own nature. The Olympians are already enlisting mortals to take part in the battles against the terrible creatures of Chaos, to promote the establishment of the Cosmos.
This is how the first people-heroes appear, blood related to God and man, powerful, but mortal, along with the immortals, who received the right to be actors in mythological narratives. Virtually, the centuries-old movement from chaos to order, from ugliness to beauty, from gods to man continues. However, it is important to remember here: within the framework of mythological consciousness itself, there is not and cannot be equating ordinary earthlings with gods and heroes. At this stage, the limit of human insolence was to present them as anthropomorphic.
A real earthly inhabitant, whose lively fantasy drew a whole picture of the forces that controlled him, was not yet ready to see himself beyond the limits of the daily exhausting struggle for existence, to appreciate the gift of free, akin to divine creation that had long manifested itself in him. The boundary between the heavenly and the earthly from the side of people remained impenetrable: the gods - the sublime, the people - the vain.
oral epic. The turn of the XII-XI centuries. BC e. opens up new prospects for material and ethno-cultural development in the Greek territories. Armed with bronze swords and spears, the Achaeans are defeated by the Dorians, who have mastered iron weapons. A stronger and lighter metal begins to actively take root in all spheres of life. The role of private property, agricultural and handicraft production is noticeably increasing, people are equipping their life more confidently and thoroughly, and are more boldly confronting the elements of nature. Through the merger of small settlements, early city-states are formed (which the Greeks called policies), where, overcoming the resistance of tribal leaders, the tribal aristocracy comes to power and where the main events of antiquity subsequently unfold. The communal way of life is gradually destroyed by the advancing slave formation.
The growing awareness, purposefulness of collective actions, the expansion of the circle of individuals who have come forward from the general mass - the emerging tribal nobility, the activation of the linguistic presence in the arrangement of life push a person, so to speak, to discover himself, to look more closely not only at the heavenly, but also at his own daily affairs. Along with the transcendent mythological distance, folk fantasy in a solemn style draws large-scale pictures of the exploits of great ancestors, even if still relegated to the distant idealized past, but already turned to the present as a necessary role model. epic hero, like the mythological one, does not belong to itself, it is also closed in its fatal predestination, however, the motivation, the demand for its heroics are already conditioned by the earthly. Hence, if the mythical image is hermetic and equal to meaning, then the meaning of the epic is determined by the ideals prevailing in the given community. The appeal to the mercy of the gods in the epic is not limited to their praise and begging for less cruel treatment of man. Every now and then, the desire to really contribute to the resolution of his pressing problems comes to the fore. A contemporary, an ordinary mortal, is not yet among the characters, but in this way his emerging claim to free will indirectly declares itself. Of course, in the epic, where events are described as something separate from the narrator, and the hero is equal to his destiny, any expression of will is objectified and does not go beyond the generally accepted norms.
The oral epic was created both in poetic and prose expression. The narratives of heroic pathos turned out to be especially branched, glorifying the glorious era of the unity of tribes, powerful forefathers, great wars and endless tribal revenge. Multiple tales, legends, legends gradually form large narrative cycles, the most important of which are the Trojan, Theban, about the Argonauts, about the exploits of Hercules. First of all, they will be destined to become fertile material for literary heroic epic and tragedy. Another type of oral epic was also quite common - didactic, in the form of unwritten rules. folk wisdom concentrated both instructions and observations on people and nature. These are commandments, work experience, aphorisms, signs of the folk calendar and everyday life. The most popular were small forms: proverbs, riddles, spells.
Song folklore. If one has to judge a large-scale epic, as well as mythology, mainly by their literary revisions, then one could get acquainted with the song in later times in its oral existence. Perhaps that is why, and also because of the demand for literally all spheres of human life, its special species richness is observed. Labor songs were sung during harvesting, squeezing grapes, grinding grain, baking bread, yarn and weaving, scooping water, and rowing. Military, love, children's, ritual (especially wedding epithalames and funeral lamentations) songs are varied. The mytho-epic beginning is seen in cult songs, hymns, prayers, performed both at the feasts of the nobility and at public meetings as an accessory to a festive ceremony and as an element of free time. Drinking songs had a wide range of topics, where serious content was especially often intertwined with humorous, even satirical, and mocking, disgraceful "iambs" were directed both against individuals and entire groups.
As you can see, the subsequent formation of written literature was thoroughly prepared by a diverse pre-literary tradition.
early literary stage. The first signs pointing to separation literary creativity from folklore, it is usually considered the appearance of works fixed in writing, and therefore stable in volume and content, for which there is a specific author. Deep down behind this is a radical change in the worldview of people who have finally realized not only the separate existence of the sphere of fantasies and the sphere of realities, imaginary and real, intentions and actions, but also their most complex interconnection. The divine Cosmos, which was presented in mythology as perfect and complete, collapses, the system of values counting begins to change polarly: not a person for the world, but the world for a person. Along with the unwritten, self-evident traditional truths, more and more new ones, written by specific people and not everyone seems unconditional, declare themselves. The area of literature will be this junction, the zone of correlations, human contrasts (an exit to the problem of the problematic nature of a person who undertook to equip the universe according to his understanding). The unusual capacity, multi-vector nature of the emerging artistic world will affect the fact that from the very beginning in ancient Greek literature all three main genres will take shape: epic, lyric, drama.
Epos. The works of literary epic, which are united in their focus on an objective (super-individual, generally established) approach, on creating high role models, on demonstrating the growing ability of the human community to worthily share responsibility for the world order with higher powers, can seriously differ in plot-thematic material and forms of meaning formation. . Therefore, we will talk about the heroic epic, the didactic epic, the hyrocomic and hysterical poems, and literary prose.
The main material for the heroic epos was chronologically removed key moments of the legendary and mythological past (for example, the events near Troy, the fall of which is attributed to the turn of the 13th-12th centuries BC, literature will turn only after four hundred years). This distance in time is an important artistic discovery of the epic. The author is provided with additional opportunities for idealization of heroes, shifting emphasis from the external specifics of life and actions (they seem to remain an attribute of the past) to the inner world of the characters, their spiritual greatness, truly heroic dedication. The oldest surviving monuments of Greek literature are heroic poems"Iliad" and "Odyssey", which are based on plots from the Trojan mytho-legendary cycle. According to most scholars, they were written in the VIII century. BC e. blind aed Homer, but there are other points of view. The dispute about their authorship even gave rise to the notorious "Homeric question", where different opinions also clashed about the origin of the poems, the options for their creation. There are three main positions: the theory of small songs, the unitary theory (or the theory of unity), the theory of the main grain. We will adhere to a unitary theory that defends Homeric authorship and the artistic integrity of his works.
For programmatic reading, the poem "Iliad" is recommended, but familiarity with the "Odyssey" is also desirable. When studying, it is necessary to trace the plot unity of each of them ("The Iliad" - a poem about the wrath of Achilles, "The Odyssey" - about the return of Odysseus to his homeland). It is also important to come to an understanding of the features of the epic style (constant epithets, repetitions, frozen formulas, detailed comparisons, hyperbole), composition and central conflict. Indeed, for the author, the main thing is no longer the mythological clash of the Greeks and the Trojans, but the categorical differences in the understanding by the heroes of the best possible fulfillment of their fateful destiny and duty. This is also the reason for the attention-grabbing diversity of characters (in the Iliad - Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector, Paris, Menelaus, Patroclus, Helen, Andromache, Nestor, Priam, Diomedes, Odysseus, Ajax, gods and goddesses; in the Odyssey - Penelope, Odysseus, Telemachus, Alcinous, Nausicaa, Eumeus, Eurycleia, Nestor, Helen, Menelaus, Kirk, "suitors", various monsters, gods and goddesses). In the end, the heroic in Homer is composed both of the qualities glorified in legends and myths, and of the strong-willed and physical efforts shown by his characters to overcome their own delusions and pride, an endless series of internal and external obstacles on the way to the fulfillment of their fatal predestinations and social duty. Through heroic poems, one should also get acquainted with the basics of ancient Greek versification, with such a poetic meter as hexameter.
By the end of the VIII - the beginning of the VII century. BC e. a didactic (instructive) epic is being developed, an example of which is Hesiod's poem "Works and Days". In it, for the first time, we see the personality of the author (the poet speaks in his own name, gives specific biographical information), a number of other artistic solutions that allow us to talk about a significant difference, both in subject matter and in semantic orientation, of the didactic epic from the heroic. The poem becomes an expression of the worldview of the free, already outside the community of living villagers, at their own peril and risk ensuring their own well-being. It reflects the age-old peasant wisdom, helping the farmer to feed himself from a small piece of land, which others are not averse to encroaching on. Hence a very critical attitude towards the existing order, a protest against the injustice of the "kings" and judges. The well-known legends about five centuries included in the poem (where the ancient one was “golden” and fair, and the modern one was iron and dishonest), about Pandora, the fable about the nightingale and the hawk, help to better understand the artistic intention of Hesiod. Ultimately, all the didactic guidelines of the poem are focused on the glorification of labor as a source of material well-being, moral balance, and mutual respect of man for man.
In the cyclic poems, the scale, the whole focus on the lofty ideals of the heroic and didactic epic is replaced by fragmentary, multidirectional narration. They detail not the most heroic episodes from the life of gods and heroes, much attention is paid to everyday life. The authors, as it were, string chains of small poems on the rods of traditional plots, developing in their own way the well-known cycles (in Greek - cycles): Trojan, Theban, about the Golden Fleece, about the exploits of Hercules. Such are the "Cyprias" of Stasin from Cyprus, the "Ethiopides" and "The Destruction of Ilion" by Arctinus of Miletus, the "Small Iliad" of Leshes from Pyrrha, and many others. Losing in epic monumentality, the cyclic poems went much more boldly towards the diversity of reality, oriented, what can you do, not only to the high.
The most radically outlined changes in the epic were manifested in iroikokomichesky poems, the artistic principles of which can be correlated with the Menippean satire, tragicomedy, burlesque, travesty. This is a kind of expression of longing for the lost paradise, regret for the heroic, so often relegated to a farce. We pay special attention: this intentional or unintentional farce is subjected to ridicule, but not the heroism itself. Recall the poem "Margit" (the talking name is a fool), about the hero of which it is said that he knew a lot, but everything is bad. Knowing how to count only up to five, he intends to calculate the number of sea waves, reveal the secret of human conception and, in general, enthusiastically grasps cases of which he has a very approximate idea. Of course, everything turns out topsy-turvy, even on the wedding night. The “War of Mice and Frogs” (“Batrachomyomachia”) is widely known, where in a spirit that is clearly reminiscent of the Iliad, it is no longer glorious heroes that act, but mice and frogs. The cause of the conflict is ironically presented, their weapons are presented in a mythologically pompous manner, the description of the battle using traditional epic formulas looks ridiculous. The mice begin to win, and even the all-powerful thunderbolts of Zeus cannot help the frogs. Then God sends crayfish to their aid, the mice take flight, the end of the “one-day war” is celebrated.
Finally, this is the time of the formation of literary prose, in which mythological themes are inferior to historical and everyday ones. In terms of plot and style, it largely inherits the prosaic forms of folklore, in particular, the fairy tale. Worthy of note are prose genres, like a fable, everyday and historical story, early works of historiographical, philosophical, rhetorical nature. By the VI century. BC e. include the work of the legendary fabulist Aesop, who in prose form was able to compose short, ironic, understandable stories for the common man, where entertainment was accompanied by didactic morality based on everyday experience. In the future, already predominantly poetic fables will inherit his plots and images up to the present day.
Lyrics. Early literary lyrics are based both on folklore traditions and on the epic developments that precede it, especially in the language and technique of versification. For us, consideration of its formation in Ancient Greece is also the initial approaches to comprehending the laws of the most lyrical kind of literature, the difficult correlation of subjective and objective principles in it. First of all, in the fact that the isolation, the emphasis on the uniqueness of the experience of the lyrical subject does not at all indicate its isolation from phenomena that are generally significant for the era, the people, and other people. To some extent, the herd principle of integration of the primitive communal masses was already ineffective in the slave-owning policy. What was needed was a new, civic organization of the community, where general tasks implemented through the formulated laws, the conscious involvement of everyone in their implementation. More and more actively for the necessary orientation, rallying people, not only labor and military duties are used, but also leisure time.
The oldest official festivities were originally ritual and only for the top of society. Taking a countdown from the VIII century. BC e. The Olympic Games in honor of the god Zeus at first were also religious and cult. Later, sports and music competitions were introduced, although victories were awarded only to athletes. A similar order was followed at the Italian games in honor of the god Poseidon. And in the Eleusinian mysteries, where the goddess Demeter was famous, only initiates - mysts - could participate. However, the development of polis democracy, the need to manage an increasing number of people required a different type of public holidays, which are beginning to be dedicated to previously not particularly noticeable gods. The most significant and massive are those related to the cult of Dionysus: Lenei, Anthesteria, Dionysia. During the Great Lenya (late January - early February) and the Great Dionysius (late March - early April), winners begin to be determined in the musical and poetic competitions of lyricists, then playwrights.
It must be remembered that the term "lyric" itself arose only in the era of Hellenism, when the lyre became the main instrument of musical accompaniment. At this stage, these were the flute and cithara. The most famous species early lyrics were elegy, iambic and melika.
Elegy. The elegies of Tyrtaeus (7th century BC) are distinguished by the simplicity and clarity of images, the expressiveness of the verse. They primarily pursue practical goals, call on the Spartans to courageously defend their homeland, glorify brave warriors and reproach cowards. A similar theme is that of his contemporary Callinus of Ephesus. The Athenian legislator Solon (634-559 BC) uses the form of an elegy to promote his political and moral-philosophical views. The political and social struggle of the era is the main content of the elegies of the aristocratic poet Theognis (VI century BC). The founder of the love elegy is Mimnerm (7th century BC): he glorifies the joy of life and love, regrets the passing of youth, fears old age and death. The collection "Nanno" is named after his beloved flutist, which marked the beginning of erotic poetry and influenced many subsequent poets.
“On the Shipwreck” the characteristic genre features iambic poetry - mockingly accusatory, satirical content, sharp attacks against enemies, a tendency to self-irony and at the same time the assertion of a "cheerful spirit". Semonides of Samos
(VII century BC) in his "women's iambs" compared women with animals (pig, fox, dog, donkey, ermine, horse, monkey), with bees, earth, sea, preferring the industrious bee. Hipponakt Klazomensky (VI century BC) invented the “lame iamb” (holiyamb), with the help of which he wrote realistic, witty, rude, impudent, blasphemous and pleading verses.
Melika(song poetry) was divided into solo (monodic) and choral. As the name implies, the works of the solo melik were intended to be performed by one person, they were perceived as the most sincere expression of the poet's spiritual experiences. The famous poetess Sappho (7th-6th centuries BC) made love the main theme, she organized a whole “school” in which she taught girls the art of living, loving and the ability to be real women. Together with the cult of Aphrodite, the poetess glorified nature: the starry night, the moon, the wind, which together help to achieve the ideal of beauty. Her fellow countryman and contemporary Alkey paid much attention to political strife on his native island of Lesvos (the cycle “Songs of the Struggle”), to the glorification of the Olympic gods. His satirical cycles are known, as well as songs glorifying the joys of life, love, wine and a friendly feast. Anacreon (VI century BC) put the chanting of worldly pleasures, the wine of feasts at the center of his poetry, which later, under the name "Anacreontic", is famous for imitations and alterations. At the same time, he is known both as a satirist and as the initiator of philosophical lyrics.
The choral melika was intended for a solemn performance with musical and choreographic accompaniment. Its main types were:
Dithyramb - a hymn in honor of the god Dionysus;
Pean - originally a hymn in honor of the god Apollo, and later in honor of other gods and even people;
Epinicius - glorification of the winners in war or sports;
Enkomy - a laudatory song in honor of gods or people, performed during festive processions;
Parthenius is a hymn of the girls' choir to the glory of women.
The most recognized author of choral songs was Pindar (VI-V centuries BC), who especially stood out for his epinicia, written in a complicated, sublime style. Glorification of the winner sports competitions necessarily included praising not only the merits of himself, but also the clan, the community. The mythological component, instructive reflections were also obligatory. The epinicia of Bacchilids (VI-V centuries BC) were easier to perceive, prone to a pessimistic view of the world. His gods give happiness to very few, and it is so rare in this world to live without worries and unrest. The dithyrambs of Bacchilids are sharply dramatized, which indicates their connection with the emerging dramatic art. Of the other authors of the choral melika, Simonides of Keos, Arion, Alkman, Stesichorus should be mentioned.
Drama and theatre. Although the dramatic art of antiquity was quite multi-genre, we will pay attention only to tragedy and comedy. The approval of the cult of the god Dionysus makes the central festivities and hymns in his honor - praises. This genre of choral meliks reaches its special brilliance in the middle of the 6th century. BC e. in the work of Arion, whose praises were performed by a choir dressed in costumes of satyrs (probably, the name of the tragedy will appear from here). The poet Thespides was the first to use, along with the choir, which included its leader - the luminary, also a separate actor-reciter - the exarchon, thus introducing a dialogue. The officially approved production by Thespides of just such a complicated dithyramb in 534 BC. e. on the Great Dionysia is also considered the time of the birth of tragedy. Consequently, the tragedy was originally presented by a choir of 12 people and one actor. The earliest tragedies have not come down to us, and only Phrinich's "The Capture of Miletus" is known from the names.
On the feasts of Dionysius, free ritual games were organized outside the sanctuaries. These folk amusements included processions of choirs with dances and comic songs, performances of mummers, amusing squabbles in a crowd that was on a spree (it was called komos, hence the word comedy). Since its inception, comedy has been characterized by a combination of serious, civil issues with fiction, fantasy, fairy tales and farcical elements. In it, long enough to enhance the satirical, grotesque, buffoonery atmosphere of mass festivities, there remains a large choir in number - 24 people, divided into two half-choirs. Epicharmus, Cratin, Eupolis are considered the oldest comedians. Comedy will receive official recognition much later than tragedy; its authors will be able to claim victory in poetic competitions only from 486 BC. e. on the Great Dionysia and from 442 BC. e. on the Great Lanes.
Theatrical performances took place in the open air, the actors dressed in long robes, used special shoes with high wooden or leather soles (koturny). They dressed up in masks and wigs, a special mouthpiece was inserted into the mouth of the mask to amplify their voice. Each role was assigned a separate mask. All roles - both male and female - were performed by men. The choreves were without masks, and their attire was determined by the image reserved for the choir in this drama.
Attic (classic) period
For a correct assessment of literature and art of the 5th century. BC e. it is necessary to recall once again the specifics state form rule that prevailed in most areas of Ancient Greece. These were independent slave-owning city-states (polises) with an economic system dominated by elements of subsistence farming. The aristocratic and then democratic republics that formed at first cannot retain their former ideological, religious and moral priorities. Not only fate, the gods, and the tribal aristocracy linking their origin and their power with them, but also the state as an independent institution with its laws are perceived as defining the life of a Greek. Civil responsibility, the active participation of every free person in the affairs of his policy ensure its stable development and protection from external encroachments. Special economic, political and cultural flourishing in the 5th century. BC e. reach Athens, located in Attica - a peninsula in the southeast of central Greece. Athens reaches its peak in the “Pericles era” (444-429 BC), named after the ruler of that time. Collisions in the new world view, harsh, up to alternative, clash of the unwritten laws of tradition and fate with the civil regulations of the policy create a fertile ground for the predominant development of dramatic art. Let us dwell on the best examples of tragedy and comedy.
Tragedy. Attic tragedy is built on the hopelessness of the collision of two or more lofty heroic personalities and the ideals they uphold. The unconditional truth of each of the opposing sides gives rise to the artistic effect of catharsis - the moral purification of the audience through compassion, an emotional outburst that completes the perception of the tragedy of what is happening. The Greek tragedy of this period took material exclusively from mythology and epic, since the ancient heroes, considered as a model of human behavior, helped to carry out the most important function of tragedy at that time - educational. Since the mytho-epic stories were well known to the viewer, his interest focused mainly on those additions and changes that the author introduced into the myth, on its interpretation, on the motivations for the actions of the characters. And when reading tragedies, it is important to see how the ideological intent of the author, his political and aesthetic position is revealed through the insolubility of the conflict.
Aeschylus (525-456 BC). The time of Aeschylus's life coincides with the period of the Greco-Persian wars, which were of a liberation character for the Greek states. This is also the time of special demand for tragedy, the introduction of a second actor into it by Aeschylus. The ideas of patriotism, the defense of the motherland, the consciousness of the superiority of the democratic state of the Athenians over the Persian despotism are reflected in the early tragedies of the poet. The protest against violence and tyranny, faith in the creative powers of man, in the progress of culture, love for humanity found a vivid artistic embodiment in the wonderful work of Aeschylus - the tragedy "Chained Prometheus". When reading, it is necessary to highlight the main conflict of the tragedy (Prometheus - Zeus), carefully analyze its other images, trace how each of them in its own way helps to reveal the ideological concept of the tragedy. Military theme and the highest civil pathos characterize the tragedy "Seven against Thebes".
The work of Aeschylus is completed by the trilogy "Oresteia" ("Agamemnon", "Choephors", "Eumenides") - the only example of the ancient trilogy that has completely come down to us. It makes it possible to judge the basic principles of the trilogical composition of the dramatic works of Aeschylus, where the author's idea was revealed only in the totality of all works, usually connected by plot unity. The poet is interested in the problems of guilt and retribution, the relationship between the individual and the family, the problem of the relationship between the personal will of a person and the objective forces of the outside world, which the poet conceives as a manifestation of the will of the gods who rule the world. In the last part of the trilogy (“Eumenides”), attention is drawn to the triumph of the new morality of the city-state (justification of Orestes by the state court - the Areopagus, which at the same time acts as the embodiment of the justice of the divine control of the world), defeating the old tribal morality with its principles of blood feud, the defenders of which in the tragedy are the ancient goddesses of vengeance Erinyes.
The presence of large choral parts, the solemnly elevated style, the monumental majesty of the images testify to the still remaining closeness of the tragedies of Aeschylus to the cult rite of Dionysus. But it is important to be able to highlight the poet's innovations: the ability to consistently develop the action according to a certain storyline, expanding the dialogue with the appearance of a second actor on stage.
Sophocles (496-406 BC). Unlike Aeschylus, who is primarily interested in the fate of the whole family, Sophocles already approaches the depiction of the fate of an individual person. This person, who is connected by the closest, inseparable ties with the entire collective of citizens, is the embodiment of this collective. For an individual, the moral norms of the collective are the law, the observance of which is prompted by her internal duty. This man, "what he should be" in the view of Sophocles and his contemporaries.
When reading the tragedy of Antigone, one should carefully understand the essence of the conflict between Antigone and Creon, which forms the basis of the action. For this, it is necessary to carefully analyze the scene from the second episody. Antigone sacrifices her life in the name of fidelity to the customs and moral views of the people, which she presents as "the unwritten laws of the gods." Creon violates these laws, forbidding the burial of Polyneices and condemning Antigone to death for violating his prohibition. In turn, he is portrayed as a hero, asserting the priority and strength of written state laws. To understand the ideological concept of the tragedy and the views of Sophocles, the 2nd song of the choir is important. The hopelessness of the collision of unwritten and written laws is depicted by him through the heroics of female characters in the tragedy "Electra".
In the tragedy Oedipus Rex, all Sophocles' attention is focused on the hero and his fate. The poet creates a deep, strong and noble image of King Oedipus, who, even in his tragic fate, retained high moral qualities, spiritual beauty and strength, above all putting the good of the state, the people, his duty to them. The theme of "fate", the inevitability of the fate of a person predetermined by the gods, comes into a particularly sharp conflict with the theme of public duty heroic deed the ideal citizen.
Speaking against the new views that found expression in the teachings of the sophists, Sophocles tries to defend the principles of the traditional worldview, defends faith in the gods and their correctness, and at the same time understands the inevitability of the arrival of the new, which in total gives rise to a special tragedy of his works. Exploring the artistic form of the tragedies of Sophocles, one should pay attention to the introduction of a third actor, which meant further improvement of dramatic art; the reduction of the role of the choir, the reception of contrasting characteristics of the characters, the art of ups and downs, most fully expressed in Oedipus Rex; differences and similarities between the tragedies of Aeschylus and Sophocles to reveal their marked opposition to the tragedies of Euripides.
Euripides (484-406 BC). Following the theoretical postulates of the sophists, who make man the "measure of all things", Euripides transfers the center of gravity of his tragedy to the image specific person, his individual feelings, thoughts, experiences. The tension of tragic collisions in his works is exacerbated by the confrontation not only of divine and state forces, but also of the detached power of the individual, whose psychology for the first time receives an in-depth artistic expression. Very characteristic in this regard are the images of the heroines of his tragedies: Medea ("Medea"), Phaedra ("Hippolytus"), Iphigenia ("Iphigenia in Aulis") - which you need to get acquainted with.
In the image of Medea, the poet reveals the complex inner world, the struggle of feelings, the suffering of a lonely person who ignores traditional morality and the ideas of society, who decided to independently seek a solution to the problems that confronted him. In another tragedy, Phaedra's passionate love for her stepson Hippolytus and the complex, painful struggle taking place in her soul are embodied with great artistic power. In the collision of powerful opposing forces, which is obligatory for a tragedy, Euripides emphasizes the personality, the struggle of a person with himself, and the suffering and misfortune of his main characters are always due to their own characters. But in all cases, this is just one of the problem nodes of his works, certainly notable for its novelty and importance, since now tragic catharsis is achieved by experiencing the clashes of three equally worthy forces: personality, divine fate, civil, state duty. If the mover of events for Aeschylus and Sophocles was the ups and downs - the result of a divine plan, a command inaccessible to the consciousness of people, then for Euripides - an intrigue that the hero himself invents and carries out (this is especially easy to trace in "Iphigenia in Aulis").
It is often said about Euripides that he depicts people as “what they really are,” that is, he depicts not so much heroic images as ordinary citizens with their sometimes purely worldly psychology. Just like the sophists, he already treats traditional religion with a certain distrust (the depiction of the goddesses Aphrodite and Artemis in Hippolyta is indicative in this respect). In general, the work of Euripides reflects the deep contradictions of Athenian society during the Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BC), the growing crisis of the policy. However, one should not forget that he does not write psychological dramas, but tragedies, where the high always collides only with the high. Therefore, it is reasonable to complete the study of Greek tragedy by comparing the worldview and artistic solutions of all the considered outstanding ancient tragedians.
Comedy. The emergence of Greek comedy, as a tragedy and satyr drama, is also associated with festivities in honor of the god Dionysus, very popular in Attica. The genre of comedy flourished in the land of Attica, not only in the Attic period of ancient Greek literature, but also in the subsequent Hellenistic period. In this regard, it is necessary to know at least a simplified division of comedy into ancient Attic and new Attic. Within this period, therefore, we consider only the ancient Attic comedy in the person of its largest representative - Aristophanes.
Aristophanes (c. 446-385 BC). The socio-political nature of the ancient Attic comedy found brilliant expression in the work of Aristophanes and in his most characteristic works: "The World", "Horsemen", "Clouds", "Frogs". It is necessary to see the social orientation of his comedies, expressed in the consistent defense of the interests of the free Attic peasantry and free artisans. That's why important place in his work, the idea of \u200b\u200bprotecting the world, so desirable for these groups of the population, and ridiculing the rulers who are content with a pseudo-world, is occupied. In the comedy Horsemen, Aristophanes criticizes the perversions of Athenian democracy during the Peloponnesian War, which he hated. Attention should be paid to the satirical images of demagogues, to the image of the Athenian demos, to the description of the meeting of the people's council. Of great importance is the final comedy, where in a fantastic, fabulous form, Aristophanes can only dream of the revival of Athenian democracy in the era of the Greco-Persian wars (liberation for the Greeks, and not internecine, like the Peloponnesian).
The comedy "Clouds" ridicules both sophistical teachings and the hypocrisy of parents in the families of cultureless but wealthy Athenians. Here, such episodes of comedy as the story of the student, the scene of training Strepsiades are indicative. Throughout the work, the author in a comic vein raises topical issues of upbringing and education, where dogmatism and pragmatism reign (the scene of the agon (dispute) of Truth and Krivda (episode IV) is curious). previous. The main ideologically, focusing all the problems of comedy, is the scene of the dispute between Aeschylus and Euripides (Episody V). Here Aristophanes reveals his understanding of the tasks of art, the role of the poet and poetry in society. In the language of irony, sarcasm, he speaks of the complete failure of attempts in his return unheroic time former glory, the former educational impact of Aeschylus. When reading texts, it is worth paying attention to the peculiarities of the artistic form of the works of Aristophanes, recognized as the "father of comedy".
Prose. Although not comparable with the drama, but still of a certain importance from the point of view of the development of fiction was prose in the Attic period: oratorical, philosophical, historical. You can get acquainted with some of its representatives not only from the textbook, but also from the anthology.
Plato (427-347 BC). A student of Socrates, he is considered the founder of philosophical idealism. In his famous dialogues, philosophical themes are combined with high artistic skill. Reading his dialogue "Feast", it is necessary to focus on the author's poeticization of people's desire to create beauty. It is this desire that Plato calls "eros" - love, and depicts it in connection with the characteristics of the characters of the participants in the conversation, at the same time revealing the image of each of them.
Aristotle (384-322 BC). The aesthetic views of this outstanding student of Plato are most fully set forth in the Poetics and in many respects run counter to the ideas of the teacher. At its core, Aristotle's aesthetic is materialistic. Chapters 2, 4, 9, 10 deserve special attention, where the author points out: the subject of art should be a person and his activity; art has a cognitive role due to the reproduction of reality; the specificity of art in the depiction of “general”, and not individual, random (hence, the requirement for typification is put forward); art must be true. In the part of the "Poetics" concerning tragedy, attention should be paid to the coverage of the issue of the origin of the drama, the problem of tragic purification (catharsis), the evaluation of the Homeric epic and the work of the great Greek tragedians.
Hellenistic period
The defeat of Athens in the Peloponnesian War deprived them of their former influence in Greece. At the end of the 4th century, Athens completely lost its political independence as a result of the conquest by Macedonia, first of the Greek, and then of the vast expanses of other lands. After the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC), his huge power broke up into several slave-owning military monarchies (Macedonia, Egypt, Pergamum, Syria, Bithynia). The era that is called Hellenism begins. The replacement of democracy by absolutism in civil-political life is turning into more and more free, liberated relations in private life.
In the mass consciousness, the laws of necessity, responsibility, dictated by the goddess of fate Ananke, recede before the will of chance, good luck, the goddess of fortune Tyche.
Comedy. The "new Attic" comedy is characterized by the reduced role of the choir, a clear composition and an obligatory love affair. The political "ancient Attic" comedy is being replaced by everyday comedy, which does not affect major social issues. It developed a certain circle of plots revolving around love adventures and traditional mask characters (a young man in love, an old and stingy father, a girl, a smart and dexterous slave, a parasitic, etc.).
Menander (c. 342-292 BC).). He is the largest representative of the "new Attic" comedy. Menander knows how to diversify and deepen the conditional characters of the characters set by the theater of masks, to break the schematism of the type, to show truly human features in a typical mask. Such are just Charisius, Gabrotonon and other central characters in the Arbitration Court. From the point of view of the ideological content of both this comedy and the comedy "The Grouch", one should note the poet's progressive humane views on the position of slaves, women, a critical attitude towards religion, gods, and the concept of fate.
Poetry. Alexandria (the capital of the Egyptian kingdom) was rightfully considered the center of Hellenistic culture. The Museum (temple of the Muses) was created here - a kind of scientific institution with a large library attached to it. It is here that the foundations of what has entered the circle of philological sciences are laid. Literary works of this period, as a rule, are created by representatives of the ruling elite, who do not want to introduce the everyday bustle of the common people into art. The poets of this epoch (the "Alexandrian school") are trying to make up for the limited content of the mythological "scholarship", the refinement of the poetic form. The leading themes are of a love nature, small poetic forms (epillion, epigram) dominate. At the same time, the literature of Hellenism is distinguished by the desire for psychologism, the depiction of the inner world of the individual. Let us briefly introduce two Alexandrian poets.
Callimachus (310-240 BC). In his work, he sought to practically confirm the advantage of small poetic forms. The mastery of poetic art and almost jewelry artistic technique is clearly presented in his epigrams, which, like hymns, Callimachus composed all his life. Refusing the heroic epic poem, he contrasted it with the epillium. When reading a poet, pay attention to his interpretation of personal feelings, his position in literary controversy, the careful finishing of works, the richness of creative fiction.
Theocritus (first half of the 3rd century BC). He creates a new genre - bucolic (shepherd's) poetry, characteristic features which were an invariably idealized image of a shepherd's life in the bosom of nature, the experiences of lovers, contests in the performance of songs. In the work of Theocritus, there are also works of the idyll genre, close to everyday scenes of a naturalistic nature. His heroes often turn out to be characters of myths. But Theocritus, like Callimachus, develops epic motifs and myths in the epillian style, persistently fixing attention on everyday details, rethinks heroic deeds, and in the images of heroes he selects such features that were dispensed with by the traditional epic.
Period of Roman rule
From the middle of the II century BC. e. Greece falls under the rule of Rome, becoming one of its provinces. Since then, Greek culture has been developing in direct connection with Roman culture, and the country has been in a state of deep economic and political crisis for a long time. Only by the second century of our era on the Greek lands there is an activation of economic and spiritual life, a desire to revive ancient cultural traditions.
Plutarch (c. 46-127) the main condition of the "Hellenic revival" considered the cultural and moral improvement of society and the individual. This moral philosopher became famous for his "Comparative Lives" - parallel artistic biographies of famous historical figures of Greek and Roman antiquity. Although giving preference to the Greeks, the author depicts all his heroes in accordance with the principle borrowed from Aristotle: those character traits that determine the moral character of a person are not so much revealed in his actions as they are manifested through actions. In other words, great deeds do not necessarily indicate the high morality of the hero, but together with the accompanying circumstances, they are the catalyst for discovering his true nature. The book is valuable not only as a historical source, but above all as an original example literary portrait- a genre actually created by Plutarch.
Lucian (c. 120-180). This remarkable Greek satirist is called the "Voltaire of classical antiquity." One of major topics The writer's satire was a criticism of religion, both pagan and Christian. If in "Conversations of the Gods" he ridicules the gods of Greek mythology, then in the work "On the Death of Peregrine" - the figures of Christianity. Lucian is looking for such artistic genres that would allow him to introduce comic element into philosophical dialogue. And here, the orientation of the writer to his fellow countryman, the Syrian Menippus from Gadar (lived at the beginning of the 3rd century BC), turned out to be especially fruitful, who laid the foundation for the so-called Menippe satire. In the style of Menippe, he composed a number of philosophical and satirical dialogues with a fantastic narrative frame ("Twice Accused"). AT last years of his work, Lucian proceeds to an open pamphlet - a letter, where he directly on his own behalf smashes both clergymen and pseudoscientists, and everything flattering, hypocritical, ignorant in society.
Long (late 2nd - early 3rd century). Let's get acquainted with his wonderful bucolic novel Daphnis and Chloe. Although the name is narrative genre- "novel" - was given by the French only in the Middle Ages, works of art of this type have come down to us from ancient times. The earliest novels are considered to be the story of the Assyrian prince Nina and his wife Semiramis, as well as the utopian novel of the prose writer Yambul, which tells about the wonderful "islands of the sun", written around the 3rd century BC. BC e. The ancient novel, like the "new Attic" comedy, is built according to a certain, relatively monotonous plot scheme: the story of a young man and a girl in love who are separated, undergo various adventures, their lives and loyalty to each other are often endangered; the end of the novel is always happy. The ancient Greek novel uses the experience of previous literature (short story, sophistical recitation, bucolic poetry, adventure, geographical and historical-biographical literature), being at the same time a qualitatively new genre.
Acquaintance with the novel completes the study of Greek literature of the era of antiquity. The ideology of Christianity that triumphed in the 4th century completes the history of ancient Greek literature, although its traditions will be reflected in all subsequent art, and above all in Byzantine literature that immediately followed it.
The development of ancient Greek literature, available to us within the known literary monuments, covers approximately the 8th century BC. BC. - IV century. AD However, it is always necessary to remember the richest folklore heritage of the Greeks, the creative potential of which will indicate its main specificity. This is taken into account in the proposed periodization:
1. Archaic period:
a) pre-literary stage (the most ancient times - the 9th century BC);
b) early literary stage (VIII-VI centuries BC).
2. Attic (classical) period (V-IV centuries BC).
3. Hellenistic period (III-II centuries BC).
4. The period of Roman rule (I century BC - IV century AD).
archaic period
Pre-literary stage. Mythology. Myth-making as a spontaneously manifested need of a person over the routine of everyday life to build in the word an intuitive-figurative universe of ideal gods and heroes, albeit to a different extent, is inherent in all peoples. However, few, like the ancient Greeks, managed not only to create a branched mythology, but also to fill it with the literary and artistic potential that remains in demand to this day. The person who created myths directly lived in them as well as in a natural environment, since he had not yet learned to distinguish between material-physical and spiritual-psychic phenomena. The world of myths knows no doubts, it is built on the absolute truths of the gods and fate. Therefore, mythology developed along with the pagan religious cult, acting as a guarantor of the mercy of the gods.
The oldest generation of gods, where Uranus (heaven) and Gaia (earth) ruled, inspired only fear. It was born by the imagination of a person, still completely helpless before the forces of nature, at any moment threatening suffering and death. The children of Uranus and Gaia were terrible giants and monsters. One of the titans - Kron (time) overthrew his father and began to rule with his sister-wife Rhea (one of the epithets of the earth). This second generation of gods, like the first, remains hostile to people and frightening them. The third generation is the gods of Olympus (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Hestia) and others, the main of which is Zeus (that through which everything exists), also takes power from his father Kron by force and marries his sister Hera (guardian, mistress). The design of the mythological pantheon of these gods, which are noticeably more merciful to people, historians attribute to the middle of the 16th century. BC, when the Hellenes established themselves in the main Greek territories. By this time, primitive man managed to make significant progress in mastering the world around him, understanding his own nature. The Olympians are already enlisting mortals to take part in the battles against the terrible creatures of Chaos, to promote the establishment of the Cosmos.
This is how the first people-heroes appear, blood related to God and man, powerful, but mortal, along with the immortals, who received the right to be actors in mythological narratives. Virtually, the centuries-old movement from chaos to order, from ugliness to beauty, from gods to man continues. However, it is important to remember here: within the framework of mythological consciousness itself, there is not and cannot be equating ordinary earthlings with gods and heroes. At this stage, the limit of human insolence was to present them as anthropomorphic. A real earthly inhabitant, whose lively fantasy drew a whole picture of the forces that controlled him, was not yet ready to see himself beyond the limits of the daily exhausting struggle for existence, to appreciate the gift of free, akin to divine creation that had long manifested itself in him. The boundary between the heavenly and the earthly from the side of people remained impenetrable: to the gods - the sublime, to people - the vain.
oral epic. The turn of the XII-XI centuries. BC. opens up new prospects for material and ethno-cultural development in the Greek territories. Armed with bronze swords and spears, the Achaeans are defeated by the Dorians, who have mastered iron weapons. A stronger and lighter metal begins to actively take root in all spheres of life. The role of private property, agricultural and handicraft production is noticeably increasing, people are equipping their life more confidently and thoroughly, and are more boldly confronting the elements of nature. Through the merger of small settlements, early city-states are formed (the Greeks called them policies), where, overcoming the resistance of tribal leaders, the tribal aristocracy comes to power and where the main events of antiquity subsequently unfold. The communal way of life is gradually destroyed by the advancing slave formation.
The growing awareness, purposefulness of collective actions, the expansion of the circle of individuals who have come forward from the general mass - the emerging tribal nobility, the activation of the linguistic presence in the arrangement of life push a person, so to speak, to discover himself, to look more closely not only at heavenly, but also at his own daily affairs. Along with the transcendent mythological distance, folk fantasy in a solemn style draws large-scale pictures of the exploits of great ancestors, albeit still relegated to the distant idealized past, but already turned to the present as a necessary role model. The epic hero, like the mythological one, does not belong to himself, he is just as closed in his fatal predestination, however, the motivation, the demand for his heroics are already conditioned by the earthly. Hence, if the mythical image is hermetic and equal to meaning, then the meaning of the epic is determined by the ideals prevailing in the given community. The appeal to the mercy of the gods in the epic is not limited to their praise and begging for less cruel treatment of man. Every now and then, the desire to really contribute to the resolution of his pressing problems comes to the fore. A contemporary, an ordinary mortal, is not yet among the characters, but in this way his emerging claim to free will indirectly declares itself. Of course, in the epic, where events are described as something separate from the narrator, and the hero is equal to his destiny, any expression of will is objectified and does not go beyond the generally accepted norms.
The oral epic was created both in poetic and prose expression. Narratives were especially branched heroic pathos, glorifying the glorious era of tribal unity, powerful forefathers, great wars and endless tribal revenge. Multiple tales, legends, legends gradually form large narrative cycles, the most important of which are the Trojan, Theban, about the Argonauts, about the exploits of Hercules. First of all, they are destined to become fertile material for the literary heroic epic and tragedy. Another type of oral epic was also quite common - didactic, in the form of unwritten rules of folk wisdom, which concentrated both instructions and observations on people and nature. These are commandments, work experience, aphorisms, signs of the folk calendar and everyday life. The most popular were small forms: proverbs, riddles, spells.
Song folklore . If one has to judge a large-scale epic, as well as mythology, mainly by their literary revisions, then one could get acquainted with the song in later times in its oral existence. Perhaps that is why, and also because of the demand for literally all spheres of human life, its special species richness is observed. Labor songs were performed during harvesting, squeezing grapes, grinding grain, baking bread, spinning and weaving, scooping water, and rowing. Diverse military, amorous, children's, ritual(especially wedding epithalamus and funeral laments) songs. The mytho-epic beginning is seen in iconic songs, hymns, prayers, performed at the feasts of the nobility, and at public meetings as an accessory to the festive ceremony and as an element of free time. Wide subject matter drinking songs, where especially often serious content was intertwined with humorous, even satirical, and mocking, disgraceful "iambs" were directed both against individuals and entire groups.
As you can see, the subsequent formation of written literature was thoroughly prepared by a diverse pre-literary tradition.
Early literary stage. The first sign indicating the separation of literary creativity from folklore is usually considered the appearance of works fixed in writing, and therefore stable in volume and content, for which there is a specific author. Deep down behind this is a radical change in the worldview of people who have finally realized not only the separate existence of the sphere of fantasies and the sphere of realities, imaginary and real, intentions and actions, but also their most complex interconnection. The divine Cosmos, which was presented in mythology as perfect and complete, collapses, the system of values counting begins to change polarly: not a person for the world, but the world for a person. Along with the unwritten, self-evident traditional truths, more and more new ones, written by specific people and not everyone seems unconditional, declare themselves. The area of literature will be this junction, the zone of correlations, human contrasts (an exit to the problem of the problematic nature of a person who undertook to equip the universe according to his understanding). The unusual capacity, multi-vector nature of the emerging artistic world will affect the fact that from the very beginning in ancient Greek literature all three main genres will take shape: epic, lyric, drama.
Epos. The works of literary epic, which are united in their focus on an objective (super-individual, generally established) approach, on creating high role models, on demonstrating the growing ability of the human community to worthily share responsibility for the world order with higher powers, can seriously differ in plot-thematic material and forms of meaning formation. . Therefore, we will talk about the heroic epic, the didactic epic, the hyrocomic and hysterical poems, and literary prose.
The main material for heroic epic were chronologically distant key moments of the legendary and mythological past (for example, the events near Troy, the fall of which is attributed to the turn of the 13th-12th centuries BC, literature will turn only after four hundred years). This distance in time is an important artistic discovery of the epic. The author is provided with additional opportunities for idealization of heroes, shifting emphasis from the external specifics of life and actions (they seem to remain an attribute of the past) to the inner world of the characters, their spiritual greatness, truly heroic dedication. The oldest surviving monuments of Greek literature are the heroic poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", which are based on plots from the Trojan mytho-legendary cycle. According to most scholars, they were written in the VIII century. BC. blind aed Homer, but there are other points of view. The dispute about their authorship even gave rise to the notorious "Homeric question", where different opinions also clashed about the origin of the poems, the options for their creation. There are three main positions: the theory of small songs, the unitary theory (or the theory of unity), the theory of the main grain. We will adhere to a unitary theory that defends Homeric authorship and the artistic integrity of his works.
The poem is recommended for programmatic reading. "Iliad", however, familiarity with the Odyssey is also desirable. When studying, it is necessary to trace the plot unity of each of them (“The Iliad” is a poem about the wrath of Achilles, “The Odyssey” is about the return of Odysseus to his homeland). It is also important to come to an understanding of the features of the epic style (constant epithets, repetitions, frozen formulas, detailed comparisons, hyperbole), composition and central conflict. Indeed, for the author, the main thing is no longer the mythological clash of the Greeks and the Trojans, but the categorical differences in the understanding by the heroes of the best possible fulfillment of their fateful destiny and duty. This is also the reason for the attention-grabbing variety of characters (in the Iliad - Achilles, Agamemnon, Hector, Paris, Menelaus, Patroclus, Helen, Andromache, Nestor, Priam, Diomedes, Odysseus, Ajax, gods and goddesses; in the Odyssey - Penelope, Odysseus, Telemachus, Alcinous, Nausicaa, Eumeus, Eurycleia, Nestor, Helen, Menelaus, Kirk, "suitors", various monsters, gods and goddesses). In the end, the heroic in Homer is composed both of the qualities glorified in legends and myths, and of the strong-willed and physical efforts shown by his characters to overcome their own delusions and pride, an endless series of internal and external obstacles on the way to the fulfillment of their fatal predestinations and social duty. Through heroic poems, one should also get acquainted with the basics of ancient Greek versification, with such a poetic meter as hexameter.
By the end of the VIII - the beginning of the VII century. BC. is developing didactic (instructive) epic, an example of which is Hesiod's poem "Works and Days". In it, for the first time, we see the personality of the author (the poet speaks in his own name, gives specific biographical information), a number of other artistic decisions that allow us to talk about a significant difference, both in subject matter and in semantic orientation, of the didactic epic from the heroic. The poem becomes an expression of the worldview of the free, already outside the community of living villagers, at their own peril and risk ensuring their own well-being. It reflects the age-old peasant wisdom, helping the farmer to feed himself from a small piece of land, which others are not averse to encroaching on. Hence a very critical attitude towards the existing order, a protest against the injustice of the "kings" and judges. The well-known legends about five centuries included in the poem (where the ancient one was “golden” and fair, and the modern one was iron and dishonorable), about Pandora, the fable about the nightingale and the hawk, help to better understand the artistic intention of Hesiod. Ultimately, all the didactic guidelines of the poem are focused on the glorification of labor as a source of material well-being, moral balance, and mutual respect of man for man.
AT cycle poems scale, solid focus on the lofty ideals of the heroic and didactic epic is replaced by fragmentation, multidirectional narration. They detail not the most heroic episodes from the life of gods and heroes, much attention is paid to everyday life. The authors, as it were, string chains of small poems on the rods of traditional plots, developing in their own way the well-known cycles (in Greek - cycles): Trojan, Theban, about the Golden Fleece, about the exploits of Hercules. Such are the "Cyprias" of Stasin from Cyprus, the "Ethiopides" and "The Destruction of Ilion" by Arctinus of Miletus, the "Small Iliad" of Leshes from Pyrrha, and many others. Losing in epic monumentality, the cyclic poems went much more boldly towards the diversity of reality, oriented, what can you do, not only to the high.
The most radical changes in the epic manifested themselves in heroic poems, whose artistic principles can be correlated with Menippean satire, tragicomedy, burlesque, travesty. This is a kind of expression of longing for the lost paradise, regret for the heroic, so often relegated to a farce. We pay special attention: this intentional or unintentional farce is subjected to ridicule, but not the heroism itself. Recall the poem "Margit" (the speaking name is a fool), about the hero of which it is said that he knew a lot, but everything is bad. Knowing how to count only up to five, he intends to calculate the number of sea waves, reveal the secret of human conception and, in general, enthusiastically grasps cases of which he has a very approximate idea. Of course, everything turns out topsy-turvy, even on the wedding night. The “War of Mice and Frogs” (“Batrachomyomachia”) is widely known, where in a spirit that is clearly reminiscent of the Iliad, it is no longer glorious heroes that act, but mice and frogs. The cause of the conflict is ironically presented, their weapons are presented in a mythologically pompous manner, the description of the battle using traditional epic formulas looks ridiculous. The mice begin to win, and even the all-powerful thunderbolts of Zeus cannot help the frogs. Then God sends crayfish to their aid, the mice take flight, the end of the “one-day war” is celebrated.
Finally it's becoming time literary prose in which the mythological theme is inferior to the historical and everyday. In terms of plot and style, it largely inherits the prosaic forms of folklore, in particular, the fairy tale. Noteworthy are such prose genres as a fable, everyday and historical story, early works of a historiographical, philosophical, rhetorical nature. By the VI century. BC. include the work of the legendary fabulist Aesop, who in prose form was able to compose short, ironic, understandable stories for the common man, where entertainment was accompanied by didactic morality based on everyday experience. In the future, already predominantly poetic fables will inherit his plots and images up to the present day.
Lyrics. Early literary lyrics are based both on folklore traditions and on the epic developments that precede it, especially in the language and technique of versification. For us, the consideration of its formation in Ancient Greece is also the initial approaches to comprehending the laws of the most lyrical kind of literature, the difficult correlation of subjective and objective principles in it. First of all, in the fact that the isolation, the emphasis on the uniqueness of the experience of the lyrical subject does not at all indicate its isolation from phenomena that are generally significant for the era, the people, and other people. To some extent, the herd principle of integration of the primitive communal masses was already ineffective in the slave-owning policy. What was needed was a new, civic organization of the community, where common tasks are implemented through formulated laws, the conscious involvement of everyone in their implementation. More and more actively for the necessary orientation, rallying people, not only labor and military duties are used, but also leisure time.
The oldest official festivities were originally ritual and only for the top of society. Taking a countdown from the VIII century. BC. The Olympic Games in honor of the god Zeus at first were also religious and cult. Later, sports and music competitions were introduced, although victories were awarded only to athletes. A similar order was followed at the Italian games in honor of the god Poseidon. And in the Eleusinian mysteries, where the goddess Demeter was famous, only initiates - mysts - could participate. However, the development of polis democracy, the need to manage an increasing number of people required a different type of public holidays, which are beginning to be dedicated to previously not very famous gods. The most significant and massive are those related to the cult of Dionysus: Lenei, Anthesteria, Dionysia. During the Great Lenya (late January - early February) and the Great Dionysius (late March - early April), winners begin to be determined in the musical and poetic competitions of lyricists, then playwrights.
It must be remembered that the term "lyric" itself arose only in the era of Hellenism, when the lyre became the main instrument of musical accompaniment. At this stage, these were the flute and cithara. The most famous types of early lyrics were elegy, iambic and melika.
Elegy. The elegies of Tyrtaeus (7th century BC) are distinguished by the simplicity and clarity of images, the expressiveness of the verse. They primarily pursue practical goals, call on the Spartans to courageously defend their homeland, glorify brave warriors and reproach cowards. A similar theme is that of his contemporary Callinus of Ephesus. The Athenian legislator Solon (634-559 BC) uses the form of an elegy to promote his political and moral-philosophical views. The political and social struggle of the era is the main content of the elegies of the aristocratic poet Theognis (VI century BC). The founder of the love elegy is Mimnerm (7th century BC): he glorifies the joy of life and love, regrets the passing of youth, fears old age and death. The collection "Nanno" is named after his beloved flutist, which marked the beginning of erotic poetry and influenced many subsequent poets.
Yamb. Among the authors of iambic poems, Archilochus (7th century BC) is the most famous - one of the first bright poetic human individuality in the history of ancient literature. In his poems, the poem "On the Shipwreck", the characteristic genre features of iambic poetry are finally formed - mockingly accusatory, satirical content, sharp attacks against enemies, a tendency to self-irony and at the same time the assertion of a "cheerful spirit". Semonides of Samos (7th century BC) in his “women's iambs” compared women with animals (pig, fox, dog, donkey, ermine, horse, monkey), bee, earth, sea, preferring the industrious bee. Hipponakt Klazomensky (VI century BC) invented the “lame iambic” (holiyamb), with the help of which he wrote realistic, witty-rough, impudent, blasphemous and pleading verses.
Melika (song poetry) divided into solo (monodic) and choral. As the name implies, the works of the solo melik were intended to be performed by one person, they were perceived as the most sincere expression of the poet's spiritual experiences. The famous poetess Sappho (7th-6th centuries BC) made love the main theme, she organized a whole “school” in which she taught girls the art of living, loving and the ability to be real women. Together with the cult of Aphrodite, the poetess glorified nature: the starry night, the moon, the wind, which together help to achieve the ideal of beauty. Her fellow countryman and contemporary Alkey paid much attention to political strife on his native island of Lesvos (the cycle “Songs of the Struggle”), to the glorification of the Olympic gods. His satirical cycles are known, as well as songs glorifying the joys of life, love, wine and a friendly feast. Anacreon (VI century BC) put the chanting of worldly pleasures, wine, feasts at the center of his poetry, which later, under the name "Anacreontic", is famous for imitations and alterations. At the same time, he is known both as a satirist and as the initiator of philosophical lyrics.
The choral melika was intended for a solemn performance with musical and choreographic accompaniment. Its main types were:
dithyramb - a hymn in honor of the god Dionysus;
paean - originally a hymn in honor of the god Apollo, and later in honor of other gods and even people;
epiniky - glorification of the winners in war or sports;
enkomy - a laudatory song in honor of gods or people, performed during festive processions;
parthenium - a hymn of the maiden choir to the glory of women.
The most recognized author of choral songs was Pindar (VI-V centuries BC), who especially stood out for his epinicia, written in a complicated, elevated style. The glorification of the winner of sports competitions necessarily included praising not only the merits of himself, but also the clan, the community. The mythological component, instructive reflections were also obligatory. The epinicia of Bacchilids (VI-V centuries BC) were easier to perceive, prone to a pessimistic view of the world. His gods give happiness to very few, and it is so rare in this world to live without worries and unrest. The dithyrambs of Bacchilids are sharply dramatized, which indicates their connection with the emerging dramatic art. Of the other authors of the choral melika, Simonides of Keos, Arion, Alkman, Stesichorus should be mentioned.
Drama and theatre. Although the dramatic art of antiquity was quite multi-genre, we will pay attention only to tragedy and comedy. The approval of the cult of the god Dionysus makes the central festivities and hymns in his honor - praises. This genre of choral meliks reaches its special brilliance in the middle of the 6th century. BC. in the work of Arion, whose praises were performed by a choir dressed in costumes of satyrs (probably, the name of the tragedy will appear from here). The poet Thespides was the first to use, along with the choir, which included its leader - the luminary, also a separate actor-reciter - the exarchon, thus introducing a dialogue. The officially approved production by Thespides of just such a complicated dithyramb in 534 BC. on the Great Dionysia is also considered the time of the birth of tragedy. Consequently, the tragedy was originally presented by a choir of 12 people and one actor. The earliest tragedies have not come down to us, and only Phrinich's "The Capture of Miletus" is known from the names.
On the feasts of Dionysius, free ritual games were organized outside the sanctuaries. These folk amusements included processions of choirs with dances and comic songs, performances of mummers, amusing squabbles in a crowd that was on a spree (it was called komos, hence the word comedy). Since its inception, comedy has been characterized by a combination of serious, civil issues with fiction, fantasy, fairy tales and farcical elements. In it, long enough to enhance the satirical, grotesque, buffoonery atmosphere of mass celebrations, there remains a large choir in number - 24 people, divided into two half-choirs. Epicharmus, Cratin, Eupolis are considered the oldest comedians. Comedy will receive official recognition much later than tragedy; its authors will be able to claim victory in poetry competitions only from 486 BC. on the Great Dionysia and from 442 BC. on the Great Lanes.
Theatrical performances took place in the open air, the actors dressed in long robes, used special shoes with high wooden or leather soles (koturny). They dressed up in masks and wigs, a special mouthpiece was inserted into the mouth of the mask to amplify their voice. Each role was assigned a separate mask. All roles - both male and female - were performed by men. The choreves were without masks, and their attire was determined by the image reserved for the choir in this drama.
Yarkho V. N. Greek literature of the archaic period
Origins of Ancient Greek Literature
History of world literature: In 8 volumes / USSR Academy of Sciences; Institute of world literature. them. A. M. Gorky. - M.: Nauka, 1983-1994.T. 1. - 1983. - S. 312-316.
The first written monuments of Greek literature are the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", the author of which antiquity considered the semi-legendary narrator Homer; there is no doubt, however, that these works are the result of a long development of unwritten epic creativity, which was one of the varieties of Greek folklore. The Homeric poems themselves contain indications of the existence of various genres in ancient Greece. oral art, also known in the folklore of other peoples.
Among the pictures of peaceful life depicted on the shield of Homeric Achilles, we find a description of the grape harvest, accompanied by a round dance and dance to the accompaniment of a forminga (a stringed instrument similar to a lyre; Iliad, XVIII, 567-572). An example of a working song, to which the settlers forcefully roll off a stone from a deep cave, is given by Aristophanes in the comedy The World.
The original song of the flour millers from the island of Lesbos (6th century BC) has also been preserved, in which the name of the Lesbos ruler Pittaka is mentioned:
Run, mill, run! After all, Pittacus, the Great Mitylene, was also ground.
Topical topics especially actively penetrated into drinking songs - the so-called scoli, performed alternately by the participants in the feast. The samples of Attic scoli that have come down to us contain calls to the gods to protect Athena from troubles, the glorification of the Salaminian patron hero Ajax, memories of the brave men Harmodia and Aristogeiton, who killed in 514 BC. e. the Athenian tyrant Hipparchus, etc.
The practical needs of everyday life were also answered by proverbs, sayings, instructive instructions and aphorisms, often in poetic form. They were also related to prose fables told for the occasion (the plots of these fables reveal similarities with the fables of the Middle East, dating back to Sumerian literature); the later tradition called the semi-legendary slave-sage Aesop (6th century BC) the “father of the fable race”, but admitted that fables existed before him. Recordings of "Aesopian fables" begin to be made in the 5th-4th centuries. Samples of the folklore short story are already included in the History of Herodotus (mid-5th century), and poetic maxims and proverbs even earlier served as material for creating a didactic epic.
Ritual songs were widespread in Greece, accompanying the holidays of the onset of spring and harvest, the initiation of young men into the category of warriors or hunters, weddings, funerals, etc. These songs were characterized by their performance by certain sex and age groups, reflecting the ancient division of labor in primitive community(cf. games in the old Russian wedding ceremony, where the choir of the groom's friends was opposed by the choir of girls "protecting" their girlfriend). Thus, a short text of the “competition” of three choirs of Spartans is known: old men, mature men and young men: the first remembered their former strength, the second were proud of their current power, the third promised to become even stronger in the future. At the end of the spring and autumn field work, groups of young people went around the houses of their fellow villagers, singing songs reminiscent of Eastern European carols: the performers demanded rewards for themselves, and in case of refusal they jokingly threatened the owner with punishment. At fertility festivities, symbolically depicting the death and resurrection of a plant deity, mischievous iambs sounded, at weddings - hymens or epithalamus, glorifying the bride and groom and wishing them abundant offspring. These types of ritual folklore were subsequently processed by Greek lyric poets of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Special art required the execution of funeral lamentations - tren (threnos). The Iliad (XXIV, 719-776) describes in detail such a rite over the body of the murdered Hector: special “mourners” “begin” crying, they are answered by the assembled women, who are joined in turn by the widowed wife, mother, daughter-in-law of the murdered. The funeral lament was subsequently also used in the literature of the classical period, entering tragedy as a "lament".
Cult hymns performed by choirs during religious festivities in honor of various gods were closely related to ritual folklore: pean was dedicated to Apollo, dithyramb was dedicated to Dionysus, parthenia, i.e., girlish songs, were dedicated to female deities. According to individual samples of these genres, which received literary processing in the choral lyrics of the 7th-5th centuries. BC e., it is clear that a significant place in them was occupied by mythological themes in the form of memories of the legendary exploits of the god himself or some hero under his protection.
Heroic (heroic) legends were even more saturated with mythological material. How they were composed and performed, we again learn from the Homeric poems. We find here a recollection of two stages in the development of the epic tradition. Achilles delights his leisure with a song about the glory of the heroes of bygone times (Iliad, IX, 186-192); along with this, the epic already knows the Aeds - professional singers who own a specific technique of heroic narration (Demodocus - in the state of the feacs, Phemius - in the palace of Odysseus). Aeds could sing about the deeds of the gods, but more often about the exploits of heroes, including participants in the recently ended Trojan War. At the same time, the heroic legend can be combined with elements of a fairy tale and reminiscences from typologically earlier layers of the epic, absorb small folklore genres (fable, parable, admonition, proverb), which simultaneously continue to coexist with it and subsequently also receive literary design. For recent centuries The heroic epic becomes the leader of the tribal system, scooping material for itself in a rich mythological repertoire.
In Greek mythology, as in any other mythology, primitive production and public relations early family structure. Thus, mastering the art of making and maintaining fire forms the basis of the legend of Prometheus, who steals heavenly fire and delivers it to people. The transition from matrilocal marriage to the patriarchal family, extremely important for the early stage of human development, is captured in the myth of Oedipus: while the relationship is on the maternal side, the murder of the son of an unknown to him own father cannot be considered a greater crime than the murder of a traveler who happened to meet. In the tales of Perseus and the wanderings of Odysseus, the motifs of a fairy-heroic fairy tale are easily distinguished, in which the hero has to overcome all sorts of obstacles by cunning rather than by force in order to achieve the goal set before him by an obvious ill-wisher in the hope of the death of the hero. The liberation of Andromeda by Perseus goes back to the same ancient motif of fairy-tale matchmaking, as well as the union of Odysseus with Penelope - to the old folklore story "a husband at his wife's wedding."
However, if all sorts of wonderful objects (sword-treasurer, invisibility cap), enchanted people and animals, and finally, numerous good and evil wizards who help the hero or erect various obstacles in his way, play a significant role in the heroic tale, then in ancient Greek legends the hero most often you have to deal with people like himself, and completely human-like gods also act as his patrons or direct enemies, only occasionally resorting to magic. The anthropomorphism of Greek mythology, in which the early stages of its development (in particular, the theriomorphic) have been preserved only in the form of individual relics, is its important feature that distinguishes the system of Greek myths from the mythological representations of other ancient peoples of the Mediterranean that are genetically and typologically related to them. Along with this property of Greek myths, the absence of religious dogma in Ancient Greece created great opportunities for their subsequent artistic comprehension: even in the classical era, Greece remained divided into many independent states, and each of them had its own local cults and the most revered gods with which they were associated. diverse, often not repeated in other states and not at all obligatory for them legends. Throughout antiquity, there were no canons in Greece prescribing adherence to any once and for all ideas about the origin, genealogy, and even the functions of numerous gods. The system of gods and heroes created by the ancient Greek entirely in his “image and likeness” opened up the widest scope for its various interpretations and for saturating folklore images and situations with relevant ideological content.
It is very important to note one more feature of Greek myths, which distinguishes them from the folklore of other peoples. While, for example, a fairy tale consciously avoids indicating the time and place of the events it describes (“in distant kingdom, in the thirtieth state"), Greek myths quite accurately localize their heroes and arrange them in a certain chronological sequence: the activities of Theseus, representing the Attic version of the cultural hero, are associated with Athens, and the image of his double, the Dorian purifier of the earth from wild monsters, Hercules - with Argos; in neighboring Mycenae, the clan of Atreus is located, whose sons or grandsons are the supreme leader of the Greeks under Troy, Agamemnon, and his brother, the Spartan king Menelaus, the husband of the beautiful Helen. In turn, the participants in the Trojan War themselves consider themselves the next generation after the heroes of the campaign of the Argonauts and the "Seven against Thebes"; the history of Oedipus is invariably associated with this city. Among the Greeks of the classical and late period, the reliability of information about Hercules, Oedipus, Menelaus did not cause the slightest doubt, and even in the 2nd century. n. e. Pausanias in his "Description of Hellas" spoke of the events whose heroes were Theseus, Ariadne, Orestes, etc., as being completely real facts indicating exactly where they took place.
Such localization is explained by the fact that already in the II millennium BC. e. on the territory of Greece and numerous islands of the Aegean Sea, an ancient culture arose, now called by the name of its two major centers Crete-Mycenaean. The excavations begun over 100 years ago by the German amateur archaeologist G. Schliemann and continuing to this day in various regions of Greece, as well as the writings of the Mycenaean period deciphered in 1953 by the Englishman M. Ventris, together with other historical evidence make it possible to restore in general terms the situation in "prehistoric" Greece.
In the middle of the 2nd millennium, a rich and powerful state existed in Crete, which had a strong fleet and, thanks to this, was able to establish very extensive ties with the islands of the Aegean archipelago and some centers of continental Greece. Approximately in the XIV century. BC e. The kingdom of Crete suffered a severe catastrophe, and from that time the flowering of the early slave-owning states in mainland Greece began, among which the most significant role was played by Mycenae located in the northeastern corner of the Peloponnese, which gave the name to the entire period of Greek history of the 16th-12th centuries. BC e. Other ancient centers of Mycenaean culture were on the southwestern outskirts of the Peloponnese - Pylos, in central Greece - Attica and Boeotia, in the north - Thessaly. If the activities and exploits of the largest heroes of Greek myths were associated precisely with these centers, then this means that the Mycenaean era was the time of the emergence of the main composition of ancient Greek heroic legends: cosmic or plant myths, traditional folklore situations turned out to be attached to very specific places and began to be perceived as part of the legendary stories. The formation of the Olympian pantheon, which plays such a significant role in all ancient literature, also belongs to the Mycenaean era. Although at present there is reason to talk about the Near Eastern influence on the system of religious ideas of the ancient Greeks, the position in the Homeric poems of the supreme god Zeus, forced to restrain the discontent of other obstinate gods, undoubtedly reflects the nature of the power of the Mycenaean king, surrounded by restless semi-dependent local kings; the high authority of the warrior goddess Athena probably goes back to her cult of the patroness of the royal families of the Mycenaean time, and the sympathy shown by Apollo and Aphrodite for the defenders of Troy is explained by the Asia Minor origin of these deities.
However, the Trojan War itself, which served as the basis for a number of epic poems, is one of the historical events mythologized by folk fantasy.
The Mycenaean leaders pursued a very aggressive foreign policy, directing its tip mainly towards the coast of Asia Minor; This is evidenced, in particular, by Egyptian and Hittite documents of the 14th-13th centuries. BC e., in which the names of the attackers are found Asia Minor tribes "Ahaivasha" ("Akhkhiyava") and "Danauna", corresponding to the names of the Greeks in the Homeric epic - "Achaeans" and "Danaans". On the other hand, in that place of the Asia Minor coast, which occupies a key position on the approach to the straits connecting the Mediterranean with the Black Sea, already at the end of the 4th millennium BC. e. A settlement was founded that lasted until Roman times. In the history of this city, which was called Troy (otherwise - Ilion), archaeologists distinguish a number of layers successively replacing each other. For ancient Greek mythology, Troy II and Troy VIIa are of particular interest: in the first of them, which died c. 2200 from the fire, Schliemann also found a lot of gold items, which he took for the treasures of King Priam; the second, not so rich, was destroyed as a result of hostilities a thousand years later. The attackers were the Achaeans (perhaps in alliance with other states of Asia Minor), and this campaign (or several short-term expeditions) was preserved in the memory of posterity as a grandiose long-term war, and memories of its distant rich predecessor were transferred to the next destroyed Troy. However, the Mycenaean states themselves soon fell into decline; the reason for this was the enemy invasion, which could not be stopped by the powerful fortress walls erected by the Mycenaean rulers. Ethnicity and further fate terrible aliens are still one of the mysteries of the early history of Greece. There is no doubt, in any case, that they greatly facilitated the penetration of a new wave of Greek tribes, the Dorians, into the south of the Balkan Peninsula.
The invasion of southern Greece, first by unknown enemies, and then by the Dorians, without significantly affecting the Mycenaean centers in Thessaly and Attica, forced the Achaeans from the Peloponnese to seek refuge on the islands and the coast of Asia Minor. They brought here memories of "fortified castles" and "gold-rich palaces" of the Mycenaean state, abandoned during the era of the Dorian invasion. Passed down from generation to generation, the mythologized history of the Achaean times served as the basis for the Greek epic, the final form of which took place no earlier than the 8th century. BC e. and completed the centuries-old period of existence of the oral epic tradition, rooted in Mycenaean, and sometimes pre-Cenean times.
The resettlement of the Dorians and unfolding at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. Greek colonization completed the process of formation and settlement of ancient Greek tribes and the formation of the corresponding dialects, which subsequently played a significant role in differentiation literary genres. The northeastern part of Greece (Thessaly), Boeotia in Central Greece, as well as the northern part of the Asia Minor coast and adjacent islands, including the island of Lesbos, were occupied by the Aeolian group *; It is believed that it was here that the original core of the heroic epic arose and that it was in Thessaly that memories of the Mycenaean kings and their power were combined with legends about the local hero Achilles. South of the Aeolians, on the coast of Asia Minor and on most of the Cyclades, the Ionians settled; Homeric poems are written in the Ionian dialect (with a small admixture of aeolisms). It also formed the basis of the declamatory genres of lyrics (elegy, iambic). A variety of Ionian is the Attic dialect - the language of ancient Athens and classical Athenian drama and prose. In the south and southeast of the Peloponnese, in Crete and Rhodes, which close the basin of the Aegean Sea, and in the adjacent part of the Asia Minor coast, the Dorians strengthened themselves; the Dorian dialect became one of the components of the language of choral lyrics. The difference between the main ancient Greek dialects was not so great as to make linguistic communication between their representatives impossible, but nevertheless gave a very noticeable and quite definite color to the works written in each of them.
Footnotes
* Aeolian dialects, together with Arcado-Cypriot, are sometimes combined into the Achaean group, using the Homeric name of the Achaeans to refer to the bearers of the Mycenaean culture, either not affected by the Dorian migration (Thessaly, Arcadia), or moved under its influence to the coast of Asia Minor and even further to the east ( the island of Cyprus).
