GREEK EPICS

The legacies of Greece and Rome are so intertwined that people often speak of
them together with the term “Greco-Roman”. thus the famous phrase: “the glory that
was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome. “Even the Ancient Civilization Almanac
(1999) would say, “Thanks to Rome, Greece would never die”.

INTRODUCTION

The Greeks are recognized as an exceptional people. They are known in history
as the “noble Greeks”. Because of their attainments in literature, sculpture,
architecture, and philosophy, the term “the glory that was Greece is particularly
applicable to them.

Out of the darkness of barbarism that prevailed in ancient times when absolute
despots governed their people capriciously, cruelly, and ruthlessly, when the governed
were wretched and miserable, when superstition and ignorance were rampant, the
cities of Greece progressed. These cities became centers of white-hot intellectual
energy, and their inhabitants pursued beauty in all its forms, and developed and
passion for democracy in its true sense.

Their neighbors did not understand the Greeks and their way of life. Herodotus,
the great historian, was a great traveler. When he was in Persia, Atossa, the Persian
queen asked him, “Who are the Greeks”?

“I am a Greek,” Herodotus answered. “When you look at me, you see a Greek.”

“What masters do they obey?” the queen asked again.

“The Greeks have no matters; they are not slaves,” was Herodotus’s bold answer.

“Whom do they obey then? the queen insisted.

“They obey the laws!”

“The laws? What are the laws? They have no master. What a stranger people!” the
queen shook her head.

GREECE

Greece, which is officially named the Hellenic Republic, is a country in the

Mediterranean. To the north of Greece lie Albania, Bulgaria, and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia. To the east is Turkey. Greece has miles and miles of
beautiful coastline, and no matter where you are in Greece, you are always close to
the sea. To the southeast of Greece is the Aegean Sea, to the south is the
Mediterranean Sea, and to the west is the Ionian Sea. Surrounding Greece are about
1,400 islands, 169 of which are inhabited. The largest islands in Greece are Crete and
Evia. Most of Greece is mountainous, and most of the land is over 1,500 meters above
sea level. Northern Greece has dense forests, but the majority of the southern hills are
covered with shrubs, wildflowers, and wild oregano, basil, and thyme. The climate of
Greece is regulated by the Mediterranean Sea. The winters are mild and wet, although
the temperatures in the mountains are quite cold. The summers of Greece are dry and
hot. Spring and fall are the nicest time to visit Greece, as the weather is warm, but not
too hot, and the sun is shining.

The capital city is Athens. The main language is obviously Greek, probably the
oldest language in Europe, but most people also speak English. About 98% of the
Greek people are Greek Orthodox, but the rest are split among Roman Catholic,
Jewish, and Muslim faiths.

There are many holidays and festivals in Greece, most of which are religious
holidays. After New Year’s Day, the next holiday of the new year occurs on January
8th, and is called Gynaikratia. On this day, the traditional roles of the people of
northern Greek villages are reversed. Men stay at home and do the housework, such
as cooking, cleaning, and looking after the children, and the women spend the day
drinking coffee in the cafes! The Greek Carnival season lasts for three weeks in
February and March, just before the beginning of Lent. During the Carnival, people
dress up in fancy costumes, and there are feasts, parades, dances, and a general party
atmosphere. Easter is the most significant festival in the Greek year. At Easter time,
there are candlelit processions through the streets, more feasting, and fireworks.
Summer festivals are common in Greece, and the biggest of these is the Hellenic
festival form mid-June until late September. During the Hellenic festival, there are
concerts featuring traditional and modern Greek music styles, as well as drama
performances, all occurring in the ancient theaters.

GREEK ART AND LITERATURE

The Greeks produced a civilization that in many ways has never been surpassed
in the world. Greek art is known throughout the world. There are four major the forms
of Greek art: architecture, painting, sculpture, and pottery. Of what they accomplished
in art, little remains, and nobody is even sure that what still exists is the best. But what
remains has aroused the admiration and astonishment of the world. There is no
sculpture comparable to theirs; there are no buildings more beautiful and more
admirable than those they built; there are no literary pieces superior to theirs. In fact,
in literature they are all supreme--- the world has produced no epic poet to compare
with Homer, no lyric poet to equal Pindar. The Greeks cultivated prose rather late, but
history has no greater practitioner than Herodotus and Thucydides; and there is no
prose, aside perhaps from the Bible, more poetic than that of Plato. Of the four great
tragic poets the world has produced, three are Greeks; the fourth is Shakespeare. Of
their painting little has survived, but there is the statement of a contemporary art critic
commenting on a painting of Helen of Troy by Polynotus: “In her eyes, one could
read the story of the Trojan War!”

Greek history goes back to the Bronze Age, between 300 and 1200 B.C. In the
Golden Age or Classical Age of Ancient Greece, many of the Greek masterpieces
were constructed. This is the time that the Parthenon was built in Athens, and
Sophocles wrote Oedipus the King. It was also during this time that the beginnings of
democracy started in Greece. Modern democracy, the form of government in many
countries, came form the government of ancient Greece.

To understand the Greeks, one must try to recapture their experiences and ask
what these did for them and what these cost. Such a search cannot be entirely
successful, for to probe a distant past is extremely difficult. Documents and
monuments exist, but they sadly incomplete and we cannot reconstruct things as they
really were. We cannot recover the sights of everyday life, the casual conversations in
field or household, the daily task of a community that would enable us to judge the
Greeks by their own standards, and to understand them as they understood
themselves. Another obstacle to a true understanding is that we read Greeks works
only through translations. Translations are indenspensable because ancient Greek is
now a dead language; nobody speaks it any longer. But a translation can only
indicate; it cannot replace the original. This is especially lamentable in relation to
Greek literature because the greater portion of their literary works were written in
poetry. One must remember that a poem, especially a typical lyric poem, is two-thirds
melody and one-third thought. This is what particularly distinguishes poetry form
prose. Translation cannot duplicate the rhythm, the tone, the combination of vowel
sounds and consonant values that give poetry its inimitable and enduring quality.

The history of Greek literature is divided into three period. The first period,
covering the Pre-Homeric Age and the Homeric Age, extends from remote antiquity
to the age of Herodotus (484 B.C.). This period includes the earliest poetry of Greece
and the works of Homer. The second period, which coincides with the Athenian
Period to the Golden Age of Pericles, extends from the Age of Herodotus to the death
of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.). The third period, the Period of Decline, extends
from the death of Alexander the Great to the enslavement of the Greeks by the
Romans and extends to A.D. 1453.

Greek literature has the following qualities.

1. Permanence and University. Greek literature has an enduring quality. It is as alive

today as it was when it was written more than 3,000 years ago. It has a universality
that is truly remarkable: it is read and admired by all nations of the world regardless
of race, religion, or culture.
2. Essentially Full of Artistry. Greek literature is a product of a people who purposely
and conscientiously developed their physical and intellectual powers. Greek art is the
highest form of classic art. The Greek mind became the foundation of the literature of
the Western world, and its masterpieces afford the most splendid examples of artistic
beauty and excellence that the world has ever known. The Greeks had such a great
love of beauty that they surrounded themselves with beautiful objects. Their vases, the
baskets they used-- all were conceived in beauty. It would seem that anything ugly
struck them as a physical blow.
3. Originality. The quality of literary originality does not mean that all literary types
originated form Greece. The drama had been produced by the Egyptians and narrative
poetry had been cultivated in India. The Greek mind modified and improved all that it
touched.
4. Diversity of Talent. The Greek mind never rested complacently on any one subject;
it was ever searching, ever seeking. It was fond of diversity of application.
5. Intellectual Quality. This means that the Greek mind challenged one to think for
some purpose-- to bring about some inner transformation.