GREEK AND

ROMAN
LITERATURE
•THE GREEK
 GREEK CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
• He Greeks made important contributions to philosophy,
mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.
• Literature and theatre was an important aspect of Greek culture
and influenced modern drama.
• The Greeks were known for their sophisticated sculpture and
architecture.
• Greek culture influenced the roman empire and many other
civilizations, and it continues to influence modern cultures
today.
 HISTORY

• ANCIENT GREEK CIVILIZATION

- the period between the end of the Mycenean civilization
(1200 BCE) and the death of Alexander the Great
 (323 BCE) that significantly influenced later western
culture in politics, philosophy, and art.
ANCIENT GREECE at its height comprised
settlements in Asia minor, southern Italy, Sicily, and the
Greek islands.
DIVISIONS OF CITY-STATES
were among the most powerful—that functioned
• Athens independently of one another. There were frequent wars
between Athens, Sparta, and their allies, including the 
• Spartan Peloponnesian war (431–404 BCE) and later the
Corinthian war (395–386 BCE).
•An interest in athletic competition
was prevalent in ancient Greek
culture, and the first Olympic games
 were held in 776 BCE.
• ANCIENT GREEK CULTURE continued on in
the writings of its philosophers, notably PLATO
 AND ARISTOTLE; its historians, notably 
THUCYDIDES; and in the literature of HOMER,
the presumed author of the ILIAD AND
THE ODYSSEY.
• The ancient Greeks also contributed to
developments in art and architecture through the
numerous sculptures and temples they
constructed—the buildings of the Athenian
acropolis, for example—to memorialize their
deities.
•RELIGION AND
BELIEF SYSTEM
• The early Greeks personalized every aspect of
their world, natural and cultural, and their
experiences in it. The earth, the sea, the
mountains, the rivers, custom-law (Themis), and
one’s share in society and its goods were all
seen in personal as well as naturalistic terms.
 THE GREEKS WERE
POLYTHEISTS
• The Greeks worshipped many humanlike gods
who lived on Mount Olympus and influenced all
aspects of life.
• The gods had personalities, relationships, and
flaws, and often interacted with mortals
in myths and legends.
• The Greeks honored their gods
with rituals, sacrifices, festivals, temples, statues,
and oracles.
• The Greeks also had beliefs
in heroes, nymphs, monsters, fate, and the afterlife,
which varied by region and time.
•Greek religion influenced
art, literature, philosophy, and
politics, and shaped the culture and
identity of the ancient Greeks.
RITUALS
FESTIVALS
STATUES AND TEMPLE
 SOCIETY AND ITS PEOPLE
• Ancient Greek society was dominated by the male citizen,
but the population was diverse, with women, children,
immigrants, laborer's, and slaves all having defined roles.
There was interaction between classes and movement
between social groups, particularly during times of stress
such as wars.
 THE SOCIETY OF ANCIENT GREECE WAS
LARGELY COMPOSED OF THE FOLLOWING
GROUPS:
• Male citizens - three groups: landed aristocrats (aristoi), poorer farmers (perioikoi)
and the middle class (artisans and traders).
• Semi-free laborer's (e.g. the helots of Sparta).
• Women - belonging to all of the above male groups but without citizen rights.
• Children - categorized as below 18 years generally.
• Slaves - the douloi who had civil or military duties.
• Foreigners - non-residents (xenoi) or foreign residents (metoikoi) who were below
male citizens in status.
CLASSES OF PEOPLE/ SOCIAL TREE

'BEST PEOPLE', THE ARISTOI.

'DUSTY-FEET’ , PERIOIKOI

BUSINESS CLASS
•PHILOSOPHIES AND
PHILOSOPHERS
•In ancient Greece, philosophers contemplated and theorized about many
different ideas such as human nature, ethics, and moral dilemmas.
Ancient Greek philosophers can be categorized into three groups:

• the pre-Socratics,
•the Socratics, and ;
•the post-Socratics.
PRE-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS
• They mostly investigated natural phenomena. They believed
that humans originated from a single substance, which could
be water, air, or an unlimited substance called “apeiron.” One
well-known philosopher from this group was Pythagoras, the
mathematician who created the Pythagorean theorem.
 THE SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS
•SOCRATES

Is remembered for his teaching methods and for asking thought-provoking questions. Instead of
lecturing his students, he asked them difficult questions in order to challenge their underlying
assumptions—a method still used in modern-day law schools. Because Socrates wrote little about his
life or work, much of what we know comes from his student Plato.
• PLATO

Studied ethics, virtue, justice, and other ideas relating to human behavior. Following in Socrates'
footsteps, he became a teacher and inspired the work of the next great Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
•ARISTOTLE

While also interested in ethics, studied different sciences like physics, biology, and astronomy. He is
often credited with developing the study of logic, as well as the foundation for modern-day zoology.
 THE POST-SOCRATIC PHILOSOPHERS
• The post-Socratic philosophers established four schools of philosophy: cynicism,
skepticism, epicureanism, and stoicism. The post-Socratic philosophers
focused their attention on the individual rather than on communal issues such as
politics.
• For example, stoicism sought to understand and cultivate a certain way of life,
based on one’s virtues, or wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. Modern
philosophers and educators still employ the patterns of thinking and exploration
established by ancient Greek philosophers, such as the application of logic to
questions of thought and engaging in debate to better convey philosophical ideas.
•CUSTOMS AND
TRADITIONS
• The Greeks honored their gods by worshiping them and by
holding festivals and games in their honor. Culture early 
Greek literature included stories that taught lessons and long
poems that told of adventures. Greeks believed angry gods
could cause trouble for humans. Therefore they believed it
was important to honor gods; did so with statues, temples,
events.
The ancient Greeks had distinct methods of burial, and it was often
believed if you were not provided a proper burial along with the
appropriate rituals, you were destined to suffer between worlds until your
rites of passage into the underworld were completed.
There are several theories of the origin of this custom. One of
them is that in the past the newlyweds broke plates at the door
of the house to scare away the bad spirits. Another explains
that by breaking the dishes, they were made to believe that a
violent scene was taking place and, therefore, they fled.

BREAKING
OF PLATES
The vast majority of Greeks are orthodox Christians. For them, a prominent date is
January 6, epiphany day, when they celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Likewise, for
the Greeks the celebration of the saint is more important than the birthday.

As for superstitions, in rural areas they

believe in the evil eye or matiasma. This is
created by the envy of a person and
produces discomfort. To prevent this, they
wear an amulet: a blue eye.
•THE ROMAN
• According to legend the city of Rome was founded by one of two
brothers, named Romulus. The two - Romulus and Remus, were
considered to be the children of the roman god mars and after
Romulus killed Remus, he built the city and named it after himself.
• Later on the poet Virgil wrote an epic poem called the Aeneid where
he told the story of Aeneas, who escaped from troy and eventually
arrived in Italy where he and his fellow trojan survivors became
ancestors of the romans.
• After Romulus founded Rome, he needed to provide his new
citizens with wives. To do so, he abducted women from
neighboring tribes in an event known at "the rape of the
Sabine women".
• The war with the Sabines that followed marked the beginning of
a thousand year period in which roman kingdom, then republic,
and finally empire would expand - first across Italy and then
through Europe and the Mediterranean region.
 RELIGION AND BELIEF SYSTEM OF
ROME

• PAGANISM
 Worship to nature
 POLYTHEISTIC

Like Greeks they are polytheistic, they worship different gods because
their beliefs are influenced by Greeks when Roman empire fall.
• The romans believed in many gods
and goddesses, each with a specific
function and domain, and
worshipped them through rituals,
sacrifices, and festivals.
• The most important god was
Jupiter, the king of the gods
and the protector of the
state, who shared his power
with his wife Juno and his
daughter Minerva.
• The romans also adopted gods and goddesses
from other regions, such as Venus from the
Etruscans, apollo from the Greeks, and Isis from
the Egyptians, and incorporated them into their
pantheon.
CONSTANTINE- He began to favor Christianity beginning in 312.

• The roman religion changed significantly with the rise of

Christianity, which challenged the traditional polytheism
and eventually became the official religion of the empire in
the 4th century AD.
 SOCIETY AND ITS PEOPLE
The family was the nucleus of Roman society and formed the
basis of every community. Stable families made for a stable
• “STABLE FAMILIES society and were the most important component of a strict
WERE THE MOST hierarchy based on gender, citizenship, ancestry, and census
IMPORTANT
rank (where one lived and how much land one owned). A
COMPONENT OF A
STRICT HIERARCHY
citizen was initially defined as any male above the age of
BASED ON GENDER, fifteen who was a member of one of the original three tribes of
CITIZENSHIP, ANCESTRY, the Latins who then dictated the lives of the people politically
& CENSUS RANK.” and socially.
 TWO CLASSES IN ANCIENT ROME

•  PATRICIANS- THE UPPER-CLASS

• PLEBEIANS- THE WORKING-CLASS

• ROman patricians were campaigning against neighboring tribes for supremacy in

the region and needed men for their armies. In 494 BCE, the plebeians, who
made up the bulk of the fighting force, refused to serve in the military until they
were given a voice in government.
• Prior to the conflict, plebeians were strictly second-class citizens who were
forbidden to marry patricians while, after 445 BCE, this law was changed and
plebeians could marry whomever they chose and had a voice in politics. By the time
the conflict of the orders ended, roman society was defined by five social classes:
• PATRICIANS
• EQUITES
• PLEBEIANS
• FREEDMEN
• SLAVES
 PHILOSOPHIES AND
PHILOSOPHERS
• Most philosophy that the romans adopted and practiced
was based largely in Greek thought that they came into
contact with as Rome conquered Greece. The two
major schools of philosophy in Rome, though by far
not the only ones, were epicureanism and stoicism.
• EPICUREANISM Is a philosophy that teaches that pleasure is the highest
good and the way in which you attain tranquility and freedom from fear
and physical pain. This philosophy was founded by Epicurus and the main
known surviving book that presents the ideas of epicureanism to the public
is Lucretius' "on the nature of things".
• STOICISM Is a philosophy that teaches that life is best lived in harmony
with reason and based on knowledge with complete indifference to pain
and pleasure. This philosophy was founded by Zeon and remains a very
popular philosophy down to modern times. Surviving ancient books that
presents the ideas of stoicism are the works of Seneca and Marcus aurelias.
 CUSTOM AND TRADITION
ROMAN THEATER MASK
• Roman masks played an important part in ancient
roman plays and the roman theatre. An actor’s entire
head was covered by his mask, which included his
hair, so the roman mask was quite large. The design
of the mask was quite simple and they were made
from were made cheap materials such as linen or
cork. They had big holes in the mouth and the eyes.
 GLADIATORS
• Rome's version of television was gladiatorial fights.
Gladiators were armed swordsmen who entertained
audiences by fighting each other, mostly but not always
to the death in arenas. Gladiators fought other gladiators
as well as wild animals. Gladiators can be considered to
be the celebrities of the era by the general public though
legally and socially they were despised. Gladiatorial
fights were ultimately only banned when Christianity
was adopted as the official religion of the roman empire.
 THE CARNIVAL/ CARNEVALE
• This is celebrated in major cities like Venice, Naples and of course Rome. Its
origins can be traced back to the middle ages and it is one of the most popular
traditions in Italy. Traditionally, in Rome, the carnival would run for 8 days,
ending on ‘fat Tuesday’ – marking the beginning of lent. Today, it’s similar –
there are over a week of musicals, theatre shows, and concerts. As you walk
though the city’s main streets you’ll no doubt get swept along with such and
exhilarating atmosphere - full of music, masks and costumes. 
• The greatest festival of the roman calendar was saturnalia,
honoring the agricultural god of seed, sowing, and the
harvest, Saturn. Saturnalia was celebrated, in some periods,
from the 17th-23rd of December and during the festival all
work stopped, businesses closed, and traditions were
suspended.
 LITERARY WORKS

• A. THE TROJAN WAR (INGRI D’AULAIRE

AND EDGAR PARIN D’AULAIRE)
• B. OEDIPUS THE KING (SOPHOCLES)
• C. CUPID AND PSYCHE (EDITH HAMILTON)
 THE TROJAN WAR
INGRI D’AULAIRE AND EDGAR PARIN D’AULAIRE

• The trojan war was a legendary conflict between Greeks and

trojans over the beautiful Helen, who was abducted by Paris, a
prince of troy.
• The war lasted for ten years and involved many
heroes, gods, and mythical creatures, such as Achilles,
hector, Odysseus, Athena, apollo, and the trojan horse.
• The war was partly triggered by a divine dispute over a
golden apple, inscribed with "for the fairest", that was
awarded to Aphrodite by Paris in exchange for Helen's love.
• The war ended with the fall of troy, after the Greeks tricked the trojans
into bringing a wooden horse filled with soldiers inside the city walls,
and then attacked at night.
• The war was immortalized by homer in his epic poems, the Iliad and
the odyssey, which influenced many later writers, artists, and cultures.
• The war's historicity is uncertain, but some scholars believe that it may
have been based on a real event that occurred in the late bronze age,
around the 12th or 13th century BCE.
 OEDIPUS THE KING
SOPHOCLES

• Oedipus the king is a tragic play by Sophocles, based on an ancient

Greek myth of a doomed king who kills his father and marries his
mother.
• The play begins with a plague in Thebes, where Oedipus rules as a
popular and respected leader. He sends his brother-in-law Creon to
consult the oracle at Delphi for a cure.
• Creon returns with the news that the plague is caused by the unpunished
murderer of the former king Laius, who was killed on the road by a
bandit. Oedipus vows to find and punish the killer, unaware that he is the
one.
• Oedipus questions a blind prophet named Tiresias, who reveals that
Oedipus is the murderer and the son of Laius and Jocasta, his wife.
Oedipus accuses Tiresias of lying and conspiring with Creon.
• Oedipus learns from a messenger that he was adopted by the king and
queen of Corinth, and that his real parents were Laius and Jocasta,
who had tried to avoid the prophecy by abandoning him as a baby.
• Oedipus rushes to the palace, where he finds Jocasta dead by
hanging. He takes her brooches and gouges out his own eyes, then
exiles himself from Thebes, leaving his children in Creon's care.
 CUPID AND PSYCHE
EDITH HAMILTON

• Psyche is a stunning beautiful girl, who was born after her

two sister. People throughout the land worship her beauty so
deeply that they forget about the goddess Venus. Venus
becomes angry that her temples are falling to ruin, so she
plots to ruin psyche. She instructs her son, cupid, to pierce
the girl with an arrow and make her fall in love with the most
vile, hideous man alive. But when cupid sees psyche in her
radiant glory, he shoots himself with the arrow instead.
• His family become worried for her and decided to went to apollo for advice. She hid
apollo’s advice that her husband would be a serpent. She live with the serpent in a
grand mansion, due to her loneliness and eagerness to see her family she convince her
husband to let them visit her.
• Her sisters were extremely jealous of her that they let psyche doubt her husband.
Confused and conflicted, psyche turns on a lamp one night as her husband lies next to
her. She saw cupid, a beautiful man laying beside her.
• Cupid awakens and desert her because of her lack of trust in him. Psyche, meanwhile,
journeys all over the land to find cupid. She decides to go to Venus herself in a plea for
love and forgiveness, and when she finally sees Venus, the great goddess laughs aloud.
• Venus give her a lot of challenges for her to see cupid again. She successfully did all
the challenges except one.
• Venus challenges psyche to go into the underworld and have Persephone
 put some of her beauty in a box. Miraculously, psyche succeeds.
• On her way toward giving the box to Venus, she becomes curious, opens
the box, and instantly falls asleep. Meanwhile, cupid looks for psyche
and finds her sleeping. He awakens her, puts the sleeping spell back in
the box, and takes her to Zeus to request her immortality. Zeus grants the
request and makes psyche an immortal goddess. She and cupid are
married. Venus now supports the marriage because her son has married a
goddess—and because psyche will no longer distract the men on earth
from Venus.
•THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!