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This
is a 3-page paper on the role of Greek and Roman literature and the role it
plays in today’s society.
THE
ROLE OF GREEK AND ROMAN LITERATURE
Over the years, literature of ancient
Greece
and
Rome
has affected art, religion, philosophy, science and mathematics, medicine,
drama, and poetry profoundly. It
has served as a basic model for the development of later European
literatures and, consequently, the writings of the historians, geographers,
philosophers, scientists, and rhetoricians are read today as sources of
historical information and enjoyment.
Alfred Whitehead, the famous
British philosopher-mathematician, once commented that: “[A]ll philosophy
is but a footnote to Plato” (Comptons Encyclopedia). A similar point can
be made regarding Greek literature as a whole.
The Greek world of thought was far ranging and ideas discussed today
have been previously debated by ancient writers.
In fact, until recently, in Western culture, an acquaintance with
classical Latin (as well as Greek) literature was basic to a liberal
education. Roman literature such as epic and lyric poetry, rhetoric,
history, comic drama and satire (the last genre being the only literary form
that the Romans invented) serve as today’s backbone for a basic
understanding of expression and artistic creativity, as well as history.
Greek comedies such as those
of Naevius and Andronicus, as well as historical writings in epic poems
(First Punic War), tell the story of
Rome
and its conquests and served as prototypes for Aroman epics.
Later poets imitated early Roman writers as they used these early
writings for springboards into further development of drama.
For example, Plautus’s lively plays were a model for much
subsequent European comedy and are still performed today (encarta.msn).
Epic Greek poetry was exclusively in verse, but evolved from the folk
ballads of early people of
Greece
who had an oral literature composed of songs about the actions of their
heroes. Mythical and heroic
events that are not celebrated in the Homeric works became the subject
matter of a number of subsequent epics.
Many of these epics, composed from the 8th century to the
6 century B.C. by unknown poets called the cyclic poets, concerned the
Trojan War and war of the Seven Against Thebes.
Historians have learned a great deal about Greek life through poems
such as Hesiod’s major work Works
and Days, which draws from everyday life of a Boeotian farmer (encarta.msn
2).
Tragedy in drama as we know it today is said to have been originated
in the 6th century B.C. by Attic poet Thespis, who is credited
with spoken passages for actors to complement the lyric utterances of the
chorus. Sophocles and Euripides,
Greek playwrights, used psychological insight into their characterizations.
Comedy, grouped in two divisions (Mid
dle
and New) from 400-336 B.C. and 336-250 B.C. replaced satire with social
comedy which involved family types, plot and character development, and
romantic themes. Menander was
the chief writer of New Comedy and his work had a strong influence upon the
Latin dramatists of the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC,
notably Plautus and Terence. Extensive
portions of many of these plays survive today.
Plato and Aristotle were two major Greek philosophical writers.
Plato developed some aspects of Socrates’ philosophy and expressed,
in written dialogues, the philosophy later called idealism.
They are also literary masterpieces, having many qualities common to
poetry and drama. Aristotle, a pupil of Plato, wrote a large number of works
on logic, metaphysics, ethics, rhetoric, and politics.
These writings are read and analyzed by many people still today (encyclopedia.com).
Greek culture was very widespread in the Mediterranean world during
the Hellenistic Age, 4th century to 1st century BC.
Literary schools that came into being and the greatest library of
antiquity were located in
Alexandria
,
Egypt
. Alexandrian poetry
concentrated on foreign customs, names of months, and local nomenclature.
It was at this time that Callimachus perfected the epigram, literary
didactic poems and pastoral poetry. Others
followed him in pastoral verse that is cherished even today (encyclopedia.com).
Theological writings after the fall of the
Byzantine Empire
in 1453 attacked the various heresies that arose during the first millennium
of the Christian era. Accounts
of saints’ lives were also published, i.e., Acts of the Martyrs by
Metaphrastes and Fathers of the Church by Saint Gregory of Nazianzus and by
Cosmas of Jerusalem in the 86h century.
These were filled with beautiful poetry, dramatic forces and easy
flow of vividly descriptive colloquial idioms.
Ancient Greek and Roman
literature has affected literally every phase of societal intelligence over
the years. As noted, this is
evident in areas such as medicine, history, geography, philosophy, science
and mathematics, drama, poetry, and religion.
Even today, mankind frequently refers to early Greek and Roman
writings for knowledge and expertise in directing their creative talents in
a more precise and meaningful manner.
References
Greek
Literature.
Comptons
Encyclopedia. Online.
Available at: http://www.comptons.com/encyclopedia
Greek Literature.
Comptons
Encyclopedia. Online.
Available at: http://encarta.msn/index/conciseindex
Greek
Literature.
Comptons
Encyclopedia. Online.
Available at: http://encarta.msn.com/kind.print
Latin
Literature. Encarta
Encyclopedia. Online.
Available at: http://encarta.msn.com/find/rint
Philosophy
of Aristotle: Aristotle’s Life and Heritage.
Monarch Notes Aristotle; 01-01-1963.
Encyclopedia.com
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