Brief Essay On Homer's Odyssey

The earliest Greek literature was Homer’s poems, including the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Odyssey describes the story of Odysseus’s 20 year journey back home. Homer’s poems were created around 900 B.C.E. Since they could not be written down because Greece lacked written language at the time, the poems were passed down by word of mouth.

Another poet, Hesiod, wrote the Theogony around 700 B.C.E. Theogony is about the genealogy of the gods. Hesiod’s poems were mostly Greek mythology, but some were an insight on everyday lives of the Greek farmers of the time.

The earliest Greek dramatist was Thespis. He was the winner of the first theatrical contest held in Athens in the 6th Century B.C.E. Thespis was also (according to Ancient Greek sources and Aristotle) was the first person ever to

During the festivals, the Greeks performed the plays as a tribute to the gods. The first drama festival of the spring honored the god Dionysus.

On stage, actors could play many different roles by wearing different masks. A chorus of people in the background sang from time to time, serving as narrators to help move the plot along.

Tragic Literature - All three of the most famous Greek writers were specialized in tragedies. Tragedy is a form a drama where the main character or the hero fails and is punished by the gods. Usually, the hero has a fatal flaw that causes his defeat.

For many years, Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.E.) was the most successful dramatist in Athens, winning several competitions. One of his rivals, the Athenian writer Sophocles (496-406 B.C.E.) wrote the famous play Oedipus Rex, (Oedipus the King). In this play, the central character, Oedipus is fated by thie gods to kill his father and marry his mother. Despite Oedipus’s attempts to avoid this conclusion, it happens just as the gods predicted. In shame, Oedipus blinds himself and is then