The 5 Most Important Works of Ancient Greek Literature

The ancient Greek civilization had many structures, philosophers, ideas, artists and of course literary works that have shaped the modern world. These works, written by philosophers or artists of the ancient Greek civilization, despite thousands of years, still retain their popularity. Philosophical ideas that arose thousands of years ago continue to be the subject of fierce debate, poetry is read and theatrical performances are staged. In a word, the traces of Ancient Greece in the field of literature continue to live today. Here are 5 important works written in ancient Greek literature…

1. Iliad and Odyssey, Homer

Written by Homer, one of the most important poets of ancient Greece, the Iliad and the Odyssey are considered among the most important literary works not only of the ancient period, but of all time. The Iliad and the Odyssey, in which the myths, legends, and epics of ancient Greece are composed in poetic language, are also one of the works that make up Western literature and form. The stories about love, war, death, humanity and history, written by Homer thousands of years ago, are still read with interest by millions of people today.

There is no doubt that The State is one of the most important works written in the history of philosophy. For many, this is not one of the most important jobs, but the most important! So much so that the English philosopher Alfred North WhiteheadThe whole history of Western philosophy consists of footnotes to Plato.”He draws attention to the importance of Plato in his own words… Plato, one of the first philosophers to apply the practice of thinking politics and philosophy together, speaks of the ideal social order, state, administration, administrator, people, society, and a concept that is a common subject of many political and philosophical views in the republic.

3. Medea, Euripides

Medea is one of the most important works of Euripides, the leading poet and tragedian of ancient Greece. The work, which tells about the tragic story of the princess Medea of ​​the Kingdom of Colchis, deceived by her husband, was first staged in 431 BC. Built on love, betrayal, revenge and female identity, Medea has managed to become one of the most impressive stage works of all time. For this reason, in our time it has been staged many times.

4. Theban trilogy, Sophocles

The Thebai trilogy is also known as Oedipus, the protagonist of the work. However, the work written by Sophocles is considered the pinnacle of ancient Greek tragedy. The story of Oedipus, the unfortunate character of ancient Greek mythology, sentenced to kill his father and marry his mother; Surprisingly, it deals with thousand-year-old concepts of destiny, will, and humanity in a shocking way.

5. History, Herodotus

Numerous works were written in the fields of philosophy, theater or poetry in Ancient Greece. However, this ancient civilization managed to produce very impressive works in historiography. Herodotus, also known as the “Father of History”, recorded in his book “History” many important events, from the Persian-Greek wars to the Battle of Marathon. In this regard, the work was one of the first to use the systematic collection of information to transform events into a coherent and critical historical narrative. However, it is not very possible to accept History as a scientific history book in the modern sense, because of those parts of Herodotus that were written imaginatively or exaggeratedly processed. Despite this, it is a very useful piece of work that will never go out of style for those who want to take a look at important events that happened thousands of years ago.

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