Writers and Writing

The Homeric Poems

The heroic age of Greece may be said to have come to an end with the final destruction of Mycenae, but memories of Mycenaean greatness and the age of heroes were kept alive in song. Homer, who sang in his Iliad of the Achaean war against Troy, lived long after the Trojan war, i.e. in the eighth century. The Iliad was followed by the Odyssey, which complements it. The Iliad is concerned with fighting and war conditions; in the Odyssey we have a wider canvas and more varied social conditions.

History

Herodotus is called "The Father of History", as he was the first writer to try to distinguish between fact and legend. In his nine books, the Historiai, he wrote about the Persian Wars and his own travels. Chart of Greek writers and philosophers

Socrates	469-399 BC	Philosopher. He encouraged people to question all their beliefs.
Plato	428-348 BC	Philosopher. He founded a famous school called he Academy. His writings include Dialogues and the Republic.
Aristotle	384-322 BC	Philosopher. He was Plato's pupil and taught Alexander the Great for a time. His writings include Politics.
Aeschylus	525-456 BC	Writer of tragedies. The most famous is the Oresteia.
Sophocles	496-407 BC	Writer of tragedies. His plays include Antigone, Electra and Oedipus Rex.
Euripides	485-406 BC	Writer of tragedies.
Aristophanes	450-385 BC	Writer of comedies. His plays include The Birds, The wasps and The Frogs.
Hesiod	8th century BC	Writer. Wrote a history of the gods and farming.
Thucydides	471-400 BC	Historian. He wrote about the war between Athens and Sparta.