The Influence Of Literature In Ancient Greece

Adkins, Lesley, and Roy A. Adkins. "Literature in Ancient Greece." Handbook to Life in Ancient Greece, Updated Edition. Facts On File, 2005. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. As for science, literature did not exist as much. According to Adkins “Only a small amount of literature survives, including the names of over 370 playwrights, 44 complete plays, and titles and fragments of more than 1,600 other plays.” Greek literature commenced with poetry and was told as oral epic poetry, but was meant to be sung. Ancient Greek literature consists of Poetry, Drama, History, Biography, Letters and Novels. In Poetry it describes meters and how it uses verses, but it relies on quantity such as Long and short syllables. As Adkins mentions “They often recited Homer, but also other poetry, and were especially common in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, competing at public festivals and games.” I can relate to this because …show more content…
"Epic Poetry, Ancient Greek." Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World, Third Edition. Facts On File, 2015. Ancient and Medieval History Online. Web. 21 Oct. 2015. During ancient Greek times poetry was more tense. True we interpret and use different types of poetry, however, the most common use type is rhyming. The Greek language originally has a rhyme so their poetry does not consist of rhyming words. According to Sacks, “Greek poetry did not employ rhyme; the Greek language had too many natural rhymes for this to be considered beautiful.” During these times Rhapsoidoi or Aoidoi would recite poems such as the Odyssey and Iliad for shows and festivals as entertainment. Poetry was either sang or said in a steady tone. Sacks mention “Today the non-Homeric epics exist only in fragments quoted by later writers.” The Homeric and non- Homeric was one of the most popular poetry types they were still recited and passed on by legends. Also, they were epic poets, whose poems are still used today, such as Apollonius, Vergil, and