ancient Greek literature Archives - Page 8 of 9

What Did Helen of Troy Look Like?

Many people over the years have wondered what Helen of Troy might have looked like. After all, she was supposedly “the face that launched a thousand ships.” Who wouldn’t want to see what that face looked like? The truth, however, is that Helen of Troy never really existed and she can look however you imagine her to have looked. Nonetheless, in this article, I intend to briefly examine how various ancient Greek and Roman authors describe Helen’s appearance and how she is portrayed in ancient Greek and Roman art.

The Importance of the Homeric Poems in Ancient Greek Culture

The Iliad, the Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony and Works and Days, and the Homeric Hymns formed the foundation for all of ancient Greek literature and they were the basis for a large swathe of ancient Greek culture. Of these poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey were the most important and influential. It can sometimes be difficult for modern audiences to understand the sheer importance of the Homeric Poems in ancient Greek culture. These poems held a revered status that is paralleled in our own culture only by the revered status of the Bible itself, but yet it would be a mistake to call the Iliad and the Odyssey “the ancient Greek Bible.”

The Other Homeric Poems (The Ones Most People Have Never Heard Of)

Everyone has heard of the Iliad and the Odyssey. They are considered masterpieces of world literature and the foundation of the western literary canon. Likewise, everyone knows that the Iliad and the Odyssey are traditionally attributed to a poet named “Homer.” Most people, however, are not aware of the fact that there were many other poems that were sometimes attributed to Homer in antiquity aside from just the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Fake and Misattributed Ancient Quotes

People who have been following my website for a while may recall that I wrote an article about real ancient quotes that have been misunderstood or misinterpreted back in August 2018. Now I am going to treat a whole different beast: quotes attributed to people from ancient times that are entirely misattributed. Misattributed quotes of this nature are absolutely rampant on the internet and in popular books of wise quotations. I cannot possibly hope to address all of them in this article, because there are far too many, but I will address a few of the more popular ones.

Misconceptions about the Library of Alexandria

The Great Library of Alexandria is by far the most famous library that existed in the ancient world. At its height in the third century BC, it attracted renowned scholars from all over the Hellenistic world. It is likely that it held more scrolls than any other library in the Mediterranean at the time. Many people today see this library as a symbol of everything the ancient world accomplished.

As a result of the Great Library’s fame, however, it has become heavily mythologized. Many of the things that many people today believe about the library are simply not true. For instance, contrary to what you may have read on the internet, the Library of Alexandria was not the first library ever built, its famous destruction is not the primary reason why so many texts from ancient times have been lost, and it was certainly not deliberately destroyed by religious obscurantists of any kind.

Just How Gay Were the Ancient Greeks Really?

The ancient Greeks have a longstanding reputation in modern culture for their alleged tolerance of homosexuality—a reputation that has been so thoroughly ingrained that a common euphemism for the word homosexuality itself is “Greek love.” Additionally, the modern English word lesbian, referring to a female homosexual, comes directly from the name of a Greek island (i.e. Lesbos) and the word sapphic with the same meaning comes from the name of an ancient Greek poetess (i.e. Sappho).

While the ancient Greeks’ modern reputation does have some basis in truth, the modern popular stereotype of the “boy-loving Greeks” is far from a complete and accurate portrait of ancient Greek sexuality. In reality, the subject of sexuality in the ancient Greek world is a deeply complicated—sometimes downright convoluted—matter. Homosexual activities were considered acceptable in some ancient Greek cultures under some specific circumstances, but, under other circumstances, the same activities were not tolerated at all.

The Real-Life Female Warriors Who Probably Inspired the Legendary Amazons

Everyone has heard of the legendary Amazons, a nation of fearsome female nomadic warriors who, according to legend, lived in the steppes north of the Black Sea. Have you ever wondered, though, if the legend of the Amazons might have some historical basis? Well, if you have, you are in luck, because there really just might be a grain of truth behind this famous legend.

The True Origins of the Cyclops in Homer’s ‘Odyssey’

The Odyssey has long been one of my favorite books of all time, possibly even my number one favorite. It is a masterpiece of world literature and a true classic in every sense. One of my favorite episodes from the Odyssey is the part in Book Nine where Odysseus and his men have an encounter with the one-eyed giant Polyphemos. Have you ever wondered where this story about a one-eyed giant comes from, though? Well, read on, because, in this article, I will be exploring not only the origins of the story but also some of the clever wordplay and symbolism embedded in this scene from the classic epic.

What Is the Difference between a Siren and a Mermaid?

If you enjoy reading about mythology, you have most likely heard of mermaids and Sirens, but you may not be familiar with the difference between them. Most people today generally consider them the same thing. We usually tend to imagine both a mermaid and a Siren as a beautiful woman with the tail of a fish instead of legs. Sirens, however, originally come from Greek mythology and this is not at all how the ancient Greeks envisioned Sirens. On the contrary, the ancient Greeks did not envision Sirens (or, as they are called in Greek Seirenes) as having fish-like attributes at all.

Misconceptions about Ancient Greek Drama

Most high school students in the United States read at least one work of ancient Greek drama at some point in one of their English classes and, when they do, they are usually taught lots of Greek words like tragedy, comedy, hubris, and hamartia. Unfortunately, a lot of these terms have been egregiously misunderstood over the years and do not actually mean what many English teachers—and consequently English students—think they mean.

Not only are Greek terms often misunderstood; so are the Greek plays themselves. One of the most commonly taught Greek plays is Oidipous Tyrannos (Oedipus Tyrannus). Partly on account of its popularity, this particular play has been widely misunderstood by English teachers and students alike.

Some of these misunderstandings can even prevent students from fully appreciating Greek drama, so I think it is worthwhile to address them here. Below I address some of the most widespread misconceptions about Greek drama.