Greeks Philosophers, Drama and Comedy

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Homer

Homer, an extraordinary poet and historian, established a written work from oral tradition within his two epic works the Illiad and the Odyssey. His poems give historians insight into the ten-year war between the Trojans and Greeks as well as the times in which Homer lived. Within his epic poems, Homer uses themes of virtue and vice in which the gods reward virtue but punish vice. Homer established 8th-century ideas in his epic poem the Illiad about 12th-century events.

In book 18, Homer describes images on the shield of Achilles that help historians understand the civilization of 8th-century Greece.

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Homer conveys the conflict between humans and deities, Zeus being the dominant god of the Greeks. Within the Odyssey, Homer describes the virtues and vices of King Odysseus. Homer emphasizes on Odysseus's courage and loyalty to his family and kingdom. The historical significance of the Homeric poems is that he uses contemporary elements of 8th-century Greek life to describe Greek life and ideas within the 12th-century.

Hesiod

Hesiod, a Greek poet, is best known for his didactic poetry in which he established the textual basis of Greek education and a canon for Greek religion. Hesiod composed his epic poem the Theogony, a creation myth that provides the origins of humanity and the genealogy of the gods. Hesiod relied on mythic traditions to explain the natural world. Hesiod also composed his great poem Works and Days, which he dedicated to his prodigal brother Perses, who cheated Hesiod out of their father's estate. This famous poem is the first formal description of Greek thought concerning virtue and vice.

In his development of virtue and vice, he provides a foundation of how Zeus rewards virtue and punishes vice. Hesiod's development of virtues and vices teaches how crucial it is to live a life of morality. The historical significance of the great work of Hesiod is that he provided a canon for Greek religion and established the textual basis of Greek education.

Sophocles

Historians consider Sophocles to be one of the great Classical Greek playwrights, whose surviving works are studied and performed to this day. Sophocles is one of the three major ancient Greek tragedians who influenced Greek drama, mainly through his method of developing the characters in his play. Sophocles plays stress the battle of the individual with their fate and uses themes of human integrity, dignity, moral dilemma, ethics, and civil obedience. Sophocles’ play Antigone, is an excellent example of his use of ethics and civil obedience in his dramatic plays. Sophocles’ plays allowed a form of free speech since his themes and plot lines were considered fiction for entertainment. His plays also provided an emotional outlet in the form of social purification from the themes and emotions portrayed in his plays. Sophocles is historically significant because his plays had a significant influence upon Greek culture in that it provided social purification and illustrated free speech.

Euripides

Euripides, one of the three great Greek tragedians, is known as the 'critic' who is the most secular and humanistic out of the three. Euripides is the most controversial among playwrights because he's a skeptic who questions things within his plays. Euripides is a feminist with a keen appreciation for women, and within his plays, he focuses on strong female characters with realistic personalities. He produced his work with a slight pessimistic tone about society. Euripides uses iconoclastic and unconventional themes within his great works such as Medea, Trojan Women, and Iphigenia in Tauris. The historical significance of Euripides is that his drama played a crucial role in Greek culture in provided a platform in which he questions existing institutions and the status quo of Greek life.

Plato

Plato is known as one of the most influential philosophers. Plato did not write any works of his own but is Socrates most famous student who wrote a dialogue called the Apology of Socrates trial. Within Plato's dialogues, he does represent himself as a speaker or witness. One of Plato's most well-known works is the Republic which he speculates on the soul of a person and examines the problems of epistemology and the government. Plato argues that one cannot obtain truth through the physical senses. Within the Republic, Plato raised new arguments about forms and matter in which he believed in a separate world where all forms are perfect. He claims that the physical realm was imperfect, always changing and unreal. Plato argues that only the forms are real and can be perceived through abstract reasoning. Plato is interested in humanities perceptions of reality. Plato is historically significant for his understanding of pure wisdom and the enormous influence he had on thinkers such as Aristotle and philosophers today.

Socrates

Socrates, an extraordinary philosopher of ancient Greece, is an influencer of Western philosophy. In Socrates philosophical method he questioned the great thinkers of his time. He asked these great thinkers within a question-and-answer dialogue. Socrates was a firm believer that humans demand understanding, and he was concerned with what it means to be a human and argues that a life unexamined is not worth living. Socrates admits that he doesn't know and he claims that one argues for finding the truth. He engaged with the ethical aspect of philosophy and had a tremendous influence on the young men of Athens. Socrates way of thinking led men to truth and wanted men to understand what they believed in. Socrates was a man of humility and sought for what was ethical and true of the world. Socrates is historically significant because he was a critical thinker who argued and debated about what is justice, piety, and truth.

Dionysia

Dionysia was a spring dramatic festival celebration for Dionysus, the god of spring planting and fertility. This festival honored Dionysus to mark the early spring planting. This celebration was an establishment by tyrant Pisistratus and sponsored by choregias. The choregias were extremely wealthy producers who were selected to fund the festival, playwrights, and actors. During this great festival, actors would wear frowning masks during tragic play and smiling masks during a comedy. Actors would wear fancy attire and break into song and dance during the play. Dionysia is historically significant because it expresses the importance of art and literature within classical Greece, as well as demonstrates the Greek customs towards celebrating deities.

Aristophanes

Aristophanes a famous comic playwright who is known as the 'father of comedy,' invented parodies and satire. His dramatic plays focus their attention on social issues from a comic point of view. Within his great plays, he uses themes of political and social satire. Aristophanes was put on trial every year for mocking someone, but he was not punished because he was doing so through drama, and not philosophy. Aristophanes most famous work Lysistrata is an anti-war play composed in the middle of the Peloponnesian war. Lysistrata is a strong, intelligent woman who is fed up with war and gathers the women of Athens and Sparta to tell their husbands they will not sleep with them until they end the war. Aristophanes is historically significant because his plays built a foundation for future comic playwrights and as well as providing a means to question the social life and politics of Greece.

Olympian Games

The ancient Greeks celebrated the Olympic Games in 776 BC for religious purposes to honor the Olympian god Zeus. This event takes place every four years in which all Greeks come together and required a quadrennial truce. The Olympic Games was limited to male athletes and audience only. Women were not allowed to partake or view the games. A male participant must reflect military and combat skills. The victors of the games would have lifelong support, and their names were composed in Pindar's poem in which they were honored and famous forever. The Olympian games are historically significant because it brought the nations together every four years to honor the mighty god Zeus, and created an environment where all military combat stopped and the Greeks could socialize together.

Thermopylae

Thermopylae was a significant battle during the war between the Greeks and Persian. The battle is famous for the defense that was given by King Leonidas and his 300 Spartan warriors. A Greek armed force consisting of the Spartans and several hundred other allies, protected Thermopylae for several days against an overwhelming Persian armed force commanded by King Xerxes. The Persians were not able break Greek lines until a Greek backstabber guided a Persian group unexpectedly around Thermopylae through a hidden pass to emerge behind Greek lines.

The Greeks acknowledged that they could no longer hold their position at the pass. The Spartans however, commanded by King Leonidas, and a couple hundred other Greeks, chose to remain and battle until the very end. This battle delayed the Persian advancing force long enough for the evacuation of Athens before the Persian army could sack the city. The historical significance of the Thermopylae is that it gave restoration to the Greeks in their later resistance against the Persians, and allowed the Athenian citizens to escape before the Persian army sacked the city.