Greece, Ancient, was the birthplace of Western civilization about 2,500 years ago.

The magnificent achievements of the ancient Greeks in government, science, philosophy, and the arts continue to influence our lives today. Greek civilization developed chiefly in small citystates. A city-state consisted of a city or town and the surrounding villages and farmland. The Greek city-states were fiercely independent and often quarrelled among themselves. But their small size and constant rivalry had certain advantages. Citizens of a city-state were strongly patriotic, and many citizens took part in public affairs. The most advanced city-states established the world's first democratic governments. The best-known citystates were Athens and Sparta. The ancient Greek city-states never became united into a nation. However, a common language, religion, and culture bound the people together. The Greeks called themselves Hellenes and their land Hellas. They thought of themselves as different from all other peoples, whom they called barbarians. The ancient Greeks prized their freedom and way of life. This way of life stressed the importance of the individual and encouraged creative thought. Greek thinkers laid the foundations of science and philosophy by seeking logical explanations for what happened in the world around them. Greek writers created new forms of expression, which explored human personalities and emotions. Greek civilization reached its height in Athens during the mid-400's B.C., a period of outstanding achievement known as the Golden Age. This article provides an overview of the people, achievements, government, and history of ancient Greece. Many separate World Book articles, listed at the end of this article, have detailed information on some of the people, places, and things discussed below. The Greek world The territory of ancient Greece consisted chiefly of a mountainous peninsula that jutted into the Mediterranean Sea, nearby islands, and the west coast of Asia Minor (now part of Turkey). The peninsula made up mainland Greece. It separated two arms of the Mediterranean--the Aegean Sea and the Ionian Sea. A thin strip of land linked the southern part of the mainland, called the Peloponnesus, to the northern part.

The land. Rocky land covered much of ancient Greece. The most fertile land lay in the small valleys and along the coast. In those areas, the Greeks established their city-states. The city or town of each city-state served as a centre of trade, government, and religion. The Greeks usually fortified a hill, called an acropolis, within or near the city for defence. In addition, walls surrounded some cities to protect them from invaders. At the centre of each city was the agora--an open area that served as a market place and meeting place. Ancient Greece had a warm, dry climate. Summers were hot, and winter temperatures seldom dropped below freezing. Annual rainfall on the mainland ranged from as much as 130 centimetres on the west coast to less than 50 centimetres on the east. Ancient Greece lacked adequate farmland, rainfall, and water for irrigation, and so crop production was limited. The mountains provided huge amounts of limestone and marble for building construction and clay for making bricks and pottery. But Greece had few other mineral deposits. Timber was plentiful at first. However, it became increasingly scarce as the people cut down many trees without replanting the forests. The shortages of food and natural resources forced the ancient Greeks to depend on overseas trade for needed goods. The poor conditions at home also led many Greeks to found overseas colonies and trading posts. In this way, the Greek world expanded along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea and came to include southern Italy and the island of Sicily. The people. Greek civilization began to develop about 2000 B.C. At that time, people from somewhere to the north arrived in Greece and established small farming villages. The people of each community in time developed their own customs and dialect. The two main groups of Greek peoples were the Dorians and Ionians. By the 700's B.C., the Greek world consisted of many small, independent city-states. Within each city-state, the Greeks distinguished between citizens and noncitizens. Only citizens could own land and take part in government. Citizens were divided into social classes based on ancestry and wealth. In general, the upper class made up about 5 to 10 per

cent of a city-state's citizens; the middle class, 20 to 30 per cent; and the poor, 60 to 70 per cent. Noncitizens consisted of women, slaves, and serfs. Unlike slaves, serfs were not considered personal property. As a result of trade, many city-states also had a large noncitizen population made up of Greeks from other city-states and of foreigners. Life of the people Family life. The husband headed the household in ancient Greece and was responsible for its members. The wife ran the household and raised the children. In prosperous families, the wife supervised slaves, who looked after the children and did most of the work. Women also spun thread and wove cloth, even in wealthy families. A woman was controlled by her father before she married and by her husband after marriage. Greek parents usually arranged their children's marriage. Most girls married in their midteens, but many men married around age 30. Few families had more than two or three children. The Greeks considered it a misfortune to have many children because of the expense of raising them. Daughters were especially unwelcome because the family had to provide them with a dowry--a gift of money or property--when they married. Education. In general, only the children of citizens received an education in ancient Greece. Very few girls attended school, but some others learned to read at home. Most children also learned a few practical skills from their parents or from slaves. City-states differed in the kind of education they valued. In Athens, teachers operated separate schools for general studies, music, and physical education. The general schools taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. At music school, students learned to sing and to play the flutelike aulos or the small, harplike lyre. The physical education activities included running, jumping, and wrestling. Older boys learned to handle such weapons as the spear and sword. Education in Sparta differed greatly from education in Athens. The Spartans wanted to build a tough, warlike people, and considered reading and writing much less important than military training. At the age of 7, boys were sent to military camps, where they learned to accept severe discipline and to endure harsh conditions. Even girls engaged in

physical competition, which was shocking to most Greeks outside Sparta. Higher education in ancient Greece consisted of the study of law, medicine, philosophy, or rhetoric (public speaking). In the 300's B.C., the Greek philosopher Plato founded a l in Athens known as the Academy. Some rs consider it to be the world's first university. Plato's most brilliant pupil, Aristotle, later founded a similar school in Athens, the Lyceum. Food, clothing, and shelter. The Greek diet was based on such grains as wheat and barley, which were used to make bread, cakes, and porridge. The Greeks also ate a variety of fruits and vegetables. Their chief sources of protein were eggs, poultry, and fish. The Greeks used olive oil in place of butter, and they sweetened food with honey. Greek men and women wore a belted garment of linen or wool called a chiton. Most men's chitons hung to the knees. A woman's chiton fell to the ankles. In cold weather, Greeks draped a cloak called a himation over their shoulders and arms. Sandals were the usual form of footwear. Greece's mild climate enabled the people to carry on many activities outdoors, and so most houses were small and simple. Most poor families lived in one- or two-room houses built of sun-dried bricks with floors of hard-packed earth. Wealthy Greeks lived in larger, more comfortable houses built around a courtyard. The houses had separate rooms for cooking, eating, and sleeping. Stones or tiles covered the floors. Religion. The Greeks believed that certain deities (gods and goddesses) watched over them and directed daily events. Families tried to please household deities with offerings and ceremonies. Each city-state honoured one or more deities as protectors of the community and held annual festivals in their honour. The Greeks believed that their deities could foretell the future. People flocked to shrines called oracles to consult priests and priestesses. Deities supposedly spoke through the priests and priestesses to answer questions and reveal the future. The most important oracle was at Delphi. Sick people visited shrines dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing, in hope of being cured. Greek deities greatly resembled human beings, except for their immortality and superhuman

powers. For example, they showed such emotions as love, jealousy, and anger. The chief deities lived on Mount Olympus and were known as Olympians. Zeus and his wife, Hera, ruled over Olympus. Other Olympians included Aphrodite, goddess of love; Apollo, god of music and light; Ares, god of war; and Athena, goddess of wisdom. Recreation. Greek men enjoyed talking with friends in the agora or at drinking parties, called symposiums, in their homes. Greek men also liked sports, and they exercised and swam at public sports facilities. Greek women were permitted little entertainment outside the home, except for religious festivals. Children had dolls, balls, tops, and other toys. They also played blindman's buff and various dice and board games. Large crowds gathered for religious festivals in ancient Greece. At these festivals, athletes competed in such events as wrestling, boxing, foot and chariot races, jumping, and javelin throwing. Religious festivals also included feasts, colourful processions, and performances of plays. Several religious festivals brought together people from throughout the Greek world. The Olympic Games, the most famous of these festivals, were held every four years in honour of Zeus. Even wars halted during the Olympics. Victory in the games was the highest honour an athlete could achieve. Work of the people Farming. More than half the people of ancient Greece lived by farming or herding. Most farmers worked their land alone or with the help of a few slaves. The entire family helped out during planting and harvesting. Farmers reared pigs, grew wheat and barley, and tended olive groves and vineyards. Sheep and goats grazed on poorer land. The Greeks produced a surplus of olive oil, wine, and wool, which they exported. Manufacturing. The ancient Greeks manufactured all products by hand. Many craftsmen worked alone. There were also factories with from 20 to more than 100 workers, many of them slaves. These workers specialized in the different skills needed to make such goods as pottery, armour, and clothing. Individual city-states became known for certain products. For example, Athens was famous for its decorated pottery, Megara for woollen garments, and Corinth for jewellery and metal goods.

Trade. Greek merchants sold surplus goods abroad in exchange for slaves and such products as grain, timber, and metals. The Greeks' major trading partners included Egypt; Sicily; and Scythia, a country near the Black Sea. In each city-state, inspectors made sure that merchants used proper weights and measures, charged fair prices, paid taxes, and observed restrictions on the import and export of certain goods. Transportation and communication. The rugged terrain made travel difficult on the Greek mainland. Runners carried most messages. Few roads were good enough for travel on horseback. Wagons or pack animals hauled goods short distances. Sea travel was far more important than land travel, in spite of the dangers of piracy and shipwreck. Merchant ships sailed along the mainland coast, among the islands, and overseas. Philosophy, science, and the arts Philosophy originated in ancient Greece during the 500's B.C. The word philosophy comes from two Greek words meaning love of wisdom. Many of the questions asked by Greek philosophers would today be considered subjects of scientific inquiry. The earliest philosophers speculated about the underlying substance of the universe and how the universe operated. Later philosophers investigated the nature of knowledge and reality and sought to define such notions as good and evil. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are considered the most important Greek philosophers. Socrates taught by carefully questioning his listeners to expose the weaknesses of their ideas and arguments. Plato explored such subjects as beauty, justice, and good government. Aristotle summed up the achievements of Greek philosophy and science. His authority on many topics remained unquestioned for more than 1,000 years. Most people in ancient Greece were suspicious of philosophers and their theories. They continued to believe in superstitions and in myths. In 399 B.C., an Athenian jury sentenced Socrates to death for showing disrespect for the gods. Science. Greek scientists, like Greek philosophers, believed in an orderly universe, which operated

according to laws that people could discover. They based many of their theories on logic and mathematics. They also made careful observations of nature and, at times, conducted experiments. But Greek scientists rarely tried to solve practical problems, and so their discoveries had little influence on technology and everyday life. The ancient Greeks were pioneers in medicine, physics, biology, and mathematics. Some of their conclusions anticipated findings of modern science. In the 400's B.C., Democritus said all things consisted of atoms, tiny bits of matter that cannot be divided. In the 200's B.C., Aristarchus of Samos first stated that the earth revolved around the sun. But most Greek thinkers argued that the sun, stars, and planets moved around the earth. The arts. Greek architects, sculptors, and painters e important contributions to the arts. They strove to achieve an ideal of beauty based on harmonious proportions. The most influential architectural works were temples. A Greek temple consisted of an arrangement of columns around a long, inner chamber. The Greeks developed three influential styles for columns--the simple Doric, the graceful Ionic, and the ornate Corinthian. The best-known temples were built on the Acropolis in Athens during the 400's B.C. Greek sculptors portrayed figures of gods, goddesses, and human beings. Over the centuries, their works became increasingly lifelike and showed figures in more active poses. The most famous Greek sculptors were Phidias, Praxiteles, Lysippus, and Myron. Few Greek paintings have survived. Our knowledge of Greek painting comes mainly from paintings on pottery, Greek writings, and copies made by the ancient Romans. The pottery paintings and Roman copies portray scenes from mythology and daily life. Music often accompanied plays and poetry recitals in ancient Greece, and musicians performed at festivals and private parties. Greek music relied chiefly on melody and rhythm. Harmony was unknown to the Greeks. Ancient Greek writers introduced many important literary forms, including lyric and epic poetry, tragic and comic drama, and

history. For detailed information, see the article GREEK LITERATURE. Government The city-state took shape in ancient Greece by the 700's B.C. Most citizens of a city-state claimed a common ancestry, spoke the same Greek dialect, and followed the same customs and religious practices. A city-state gave its members a sense of belonging because they were like one large family. A small group of wealthy men governed most citystates of ancient Greece. This form of government, in which a few powerful people rule, is called an oligarchy. During the 500's B.C., some city-states began to move toward democracy. They granted all citizens the right to vote on government policies, hold political office, and serve on a jury. However, many poor citizens could not afford the time off from making a living to participate in democratic government. In addition, women and slaves had no political rights, even in the democracies. Athens became the most successful democracy of ancient Greece during the 400's B.C. Every male Athenian citizen had the right to serve permanently in an assembly, which passed laws and determined government policies. The assembly also elected Athenian generals. Each year, the citizens drew lots to select a council of 500 men. This council ran the day-to-day business of government and prepared the bills that the assembly debated and voted on. Jurors were also chosen by lot. Some wealthy Athenians disliked their system of government. They felt that the poor dominated the government and took advantage of the rich. Most Athenians, however, cherished their democracy. Sparta was the most powerful oligarchy in ancient Greece. Citizens made up only about 10 per cent of the population. Most people were helots (serfs) who farmed the land. Two kings, who inherited their thrones, headed the army. Sparta was governed by five officials, called ephors, and the gerousia, a council made up of 28 elders and the kings. Citizens elected ephors to one-year terms and members of the gerousia to life terms. Sparta had a citizen assembly. But citizens could not propose issues for debate in the assembly. Military forces. Among the Greek city-states, only Sparta had a standing army. Most city-states trained young men in the art of warfare and required all able-bodied male citizens to take up

arms in time of war. Athens had the largest navy, which included hundreds of large warships powered by nearly 200 oarsmen. A battle formation known as a phalanx dominated Greek warfare from the 600's to the 300's B.C. To form a phalanx, armed foot soldiers lined up shoulder to shoulder several rows deep. On the battlefield, two opposing phalanxes marched toward each other. Combat with spears and swords followed. The battle was won when one side encircled the other or broke through its centre. History Beginnings. The first major civilization in the region of Greece arose on Crete, an island in the Aegean Sea, about 3000 B.C. It is known as the Minoan culture after King Minos, the legendary ruler of Crete. The Minoans were expert sailors, and they grew wealthy from trade. The remains of luxurious palaces provide evidence of the Minoans' prosperity and building skills. The Minoans had a system of writing. Scholars do not know what language they spoke, except that it was not Greek.

Knowledge of writing was lost. Memories of past glories were kept alive in songs and oral poetry. The Greeks began to write again after 800 B.C. Their alphabet was based on that of the Phoenicians. Some of their oral poetry was then composed into two great epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, which are attributed to the poet Homer. The development of the Greek city-state began during the Dark Age. At times, neighbouring citystates joined together to form a larger state. However, most city-states tried to keep their independence at any cost. At first, kings ruled the city-states, with advice from wealthy nobles. But by about 750 B.C., the nobles in most city-states had overthrown the kings and become rulers. The nobility owned the best land and totally controlled the government. Meanwhile, ancient Greece faced the problem of too many people and too little farmland. As a result, neighbouring city-states often fought over borderlands. Some city-states grew at the expense of others. For example, Sparta became powerful by conquering neighbouring peoples. Many of the conquered peoples had to work the land for their Spartan masters. The land shortage forced numerous Greeks to leave their city-states. From the 700's to the 500's B.C., Greek colonists founded ew city-states along the shores of the Mediterranean and Black seas. The largest settlements developed in southern Italy and Sicily, which became known as Magna Graecia (Great Greece). Most Greek farmers worked small plots and had to borrow money to survive between harvests. In times of poor harvests, farmers could not repay their loans. They then lost their land and were forced into slavery. Other groups were also discontented. For example, merchants and manufacturers wanted a greater voice in government. But the nobility refused to share power. New forms of government. The growing unrest brought tyrants to power in many Greek city-states as a result of revolutions. The Greeks used the term tyrant to describe a leader who seized total power by force. Many tyrants achieved some of the goals of their followers. For example, they distributed farmland to the landless and put people to work on large public building projects. But eventually tyrants grew more concerned with keeping their power than with serving the people.

The development of Greek civilization began about 2000 B.C., when small farming villages were set up by people who came to Greece from somewhere to the north. By about 1600 B.C., they had built fortified towns, each centred on a palace, in the major valleys. The culture that developed on the mainland is called Mycenaean after the large and powerful town of Mycenae in the Peloponnesus, the southern part of the mainland. The Minoans dominated the Aegean world until about 1450 B.C., when the Mycenaeans took control of the region. The Mycenaeans adopted features of the Minoan culture. For example, they adapted the Minoan writing system to Greek. Historians believe Mycenae won a war against Troy, in Asia Minor (now Turkey), in the mid-1200's B.C. This war inspired many major works of classical literature (see TROJAN WAR). Mycenae and most other settlements in the Peloponnesus were destroyed shortly after 1200 B.C. Historians do not know why Mycenae fell. Soon afterward, the Dorians from northern Greece moved into the region. Many Mycenaeans fled to Asia Minor. Greece entered a period known as the Dark Age, which lasted until about 800 B.C. During this time, the people again lived in isolated villages.

Most tyrants were soon replaced by an oligarchy in which a few wealthy citizens, rather than the nobility, ran the government. However, a number of city-states moved toward democratic government. In 594 B.C., Athenians gave a statesman named Solon authority to reform the laws. Solon ended the practice of enslaving debtors. He divided citizens into classes by wealth and defined the rights and duties of each class. He also drew up a code of law. Shortly after Solon left office, civil war broke out. In 560 B.C., a tyrant named Pisistratus seized power. In 508 B.C., another Athenian statesman, Cleisthenes, proposed a constitution that made Athens a democracy. Cleisthenes extended voting rights in the assembly to all free adult men. He created a council of 500 members, which was open to any citizen. His reforms thus gave every citizen a chance to serve in the government. The Persian wars. During the 500's B.C., the Persian Empire expanded rapidly and conquered the Greek city-states in Asia Minor. From 499 to 494 B.C., these city-states rebelled against their Persian rulers. King Darius I of Persia crushed the revolt and sent his army to punish Athens, which had aided the rebels. The Athenian army was outnumbered by the Persians, but it defeated the Persian army at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. In 480 B.C., King Xerxes I, the son of Darius, led a massive Persian invasion of Greece. Many of the Greek city-states united under Sparta's leadership to fight the invaders. The Persians overwhelmed a tiny Greek force at Thermopylae, north of Athens, and went on to take Athens. The Greek navy followed a plan of the Athenian statesman Themistocles and withdrew to the Bay of Salamis. There, it thoroughly defeated the Persians and sank about half their fleet. Xerxes returned to Persia with many of his troops. The Greeks defeated the remaining Persian forces in 479 B.C. The Greeks regarded their victory over the Persians as their finest hour. It showed what they could do when they set aside their differences and united. The rivalry between Athens and Sparta. The cooperation achieved by the Greek city-states during the Persian wars did not last long. In 477 B.C., Athens organized an alliance called the Delian League. It consisted mainly of city-states in Asia Minor and on Aegean islands. Sparta led the Peloponnesian League, an alliance of city-states in the Peloponnesus. Athens was the strongest naval power in ancient Greece, and Sparta was the

strongest land-based power. The two rivals struggled for dominance of the Greek world during the middle and late 400's B.C. During the 400's B.C., Athens reached its height of power and prosperity and was the centre of culture in the Greek world. Pericles was the leading Athenian statesman from 461 to 429 B.C. His career spanned most of the Golden Age, a period that began in 477 B.C. and that became famous for its remarkable literary and artistic accomplishments. During the Golden Age, the Greek dramatists Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides wrote many of their masterpieces. The leading Greek architects and sculptors built the Parthenon on the Acropolis. The Golden Age ended with the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War in 431 B.C. This ruinous war between Athens and Sparta lasted until 404 B.C. and left Athens exhausted. In 430 B.C., a severe plague struck Athens. It killed about a third of the people, including Pericles. Athens lacked able leaders during the rest of the war and finally surrendered. Sparta dominated the Greek world for only a short time. Fighting among the city-states resumed, and Thebes defeated Sparta in 371 B.C. The quality of life declined as a result of the continuing warfare. Economic conditions worsened, and violent clashes between rich and poor became frequent. People grew less public-spirited and more self-centred. The city-states lost their vitality. Macedonia, a country north of Greece, was becoming stronger as Greece grew weaker. In 353 B.C., Philip II, king of Macedonia, set out to conquer Greece. Greek independence ended in 338 B.C., when Macedonia defeated the Greeks in the Battle of Chaeronea. Philip planned to lead a Greek and Macedonian army against Persia. But he was killed by a Macedonian in 336 B.C. The Hellenistic Age. Alexander the Great, Philip's son, succeeded his father at the age of 20. In 334 B.C., Alexander carried out Philip's plan to invade Persia. In a brilliant campaign, Alexander conquered the entire Persian Empire in less than 10 years. His empire extended from Greece to India. Alexander's conquests furthered the spread of Greek ideas and the Greek way of life to Egypt and the Near East. Alexander died in 323 B.C. His generals divided his empire into successor states, with Greece remaining under Macedonian control. The period of Greek history following Alexander's death is known as the Hellenistic Age. The period

lasted until 146 B.C. in Greece, when the Romans took control of Greece. During that time, Greek culture continued to influence the lands Alexander had conquered, and Eastern ideas reached Greece. Greece suffered from frequent warfare and widespread destruction during the 200's B.C. The city-states formed two associations to fight for independence. But Macedonian kings kept control of Greece, and the two associations fought each other. Roman rule. Through conquests, Rome had become one of the most powerful countries in the western Mediterranean by the 200's B.C. The Romans then began to expand in the east. In the 140's B.C., they took control of Greece and Macedonia. Under Roman rule, the Greek city-states had no important military or political role. But trade, agriculture, industry, and intellectual activities flourished. The Romans borrowed the art, religion, philosophy, and way of life of the ancient Greeks, and they spread Greek culture throughout their empire. The Roman Empire was divided in A.D. 395, and Greece became part of the East Roman Empire. The West Roman Empire collapsed in A.D. 476. The East Roman Empire survived as the Byzantine Empire until 1453, when it fell to the Turks. Greek was the official language of the Byzantine Empire, and Greek culture formed the basis of Byzantine institutions. The Greek heritage. The ancient Greeks laid the foundations of Western civilization. Modern democracies owe a debt to Greek beliefs in government by the people, trial by jury, and equality under the law. The ancient Greeks pioneered research in many fields that rely on systematic thought, including biology, geometry, history, philosophy, and physics. They introduced and perfected such important literary forms as epic and lyric poetry, history, tragedy, and comedy. In their pursuit of order and proportion, they created an ideal of beauty that strongly influenced Western art. Learning about ancient Greece The writings of the ancient Greeks provide much of our information about the Greek world. For example, Thucydides wrote about a major event in Greek history in his brilliant History of the Peloponnesian War. Aristotle's writings summarized and analysed much of the knowledge of his time. Greek poets and playwrights expressed the attitudes and beliefs of the ancient Greeks.

The remains of Greek settlements and shrines also add to our knowledge of ancient Greece. Archaeologists study buildings and such objects as pottery, tools, and weapons to learn about trade and colonization, technology, art, and everyday life in ancient Greece. In the 1870's, Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist, conducted the first major excavation of the buried city of Troy. Before then many people doubted that Troy, made famous in the Iliad and the Odyssey, had existed. Schliemann also made major discoveries at Mycenae. In the early 1900's, Sir Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist, located the palace at Knossos on Crete. Evans thus established the existence of Minoan civilization. These discoveries spurred further excavations. Questions What was a Greek city-state and what were some of its features? How did Cleisthenes reform the n government? How did education in Sparta differ from education in Athens? What was the Golden Age? Why did many ancient Greeks settle in colonies overseas? In which areas of knowledge did the ancient Greeks pioneer research? What form of government did most Greek city-states have? Which two empires helped to spread Greek culture? What event did the ancient Greeks regard as their finest hour?

---- end of article ---Greek literature is the oldest and most influential national literature in the Western world. Ancient Greek literature became the model for all later literature in the West, starting with Latin literature. Greek writers introduced many significant types of literature, including lyric and epic poetry, tragic and

comic drama, philosophical essays and dialogues, critical and biographical history, and literary letters. Early Greek literature Epic poetry was the first important form of Greek literature. Epics are long narrative poems. Most tell about the heroic deeds of divine beings or mortals. The greatest Greek poet was Homer, who composed two famous epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey, during the 700's B.C. The Iliad tells of the Trojan War, which probably took place about 1250 B.C. The Odyssey relates the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus as he returns home after the fall of Troy. The epics developed from a long tradition of oral poetry that covered about 500 years. The poems were based on stories recited by professional singers who accompanied themselves with a stringed instrument called the lyre. The Iliad and the Odyssey emphasized ideals of honour and bravery and had enormous influence on Greek culture and education as well as Greek literature. Hesiod, the founder of the didactic (instructional) epic, was the first major Greek poet after Homer. Hesiod wrote during the 600's B.C. In his poem Theogony, Hesiod became the first writer to organize Greek mythology into a comprehensive philosophical system. Hesiod's other great poem, Works and Days, describes the life of Greek peasants, highlighting their hard work, thriftiness, and good judgment. The poem points out that Homer's aristocratic ideal of valour in battle is not the only kind of heroism possible. Hesiod, himself a farmer, also praised the heroism of the farmer's long silent struggle with the earth and the elements. Lyric poetry. After about 650 B.C. shorter forms of poetry called lyrics began to replace the epic. Lyric poetry was originally sung to the music of the lyre. Most lyric poems described personal feelings instead of the acts of heroism portrayed in epic poetry. One type of lyric poetry is called melic poetry. Melic poems are highly emotional and avoid didactic or satirical elements. Unlike elegiac and iambic poetry, melic poetry was composed for a single voice. Usually the poet sang the poems before private gatherings of close friends. Sappho, a woman poet of the 500's B.C., was the most famous melic poet. No Greek love poetry has ever matched the passion and tragic feeling of her verse. Other lyric poets composed choral lyrics, which were sung by groups and accompanied by music and dancing. The epinikion, a serious choral ode written to honour the victor of athletic games, was a popular poetic form.

The victory odes of Pindar are masterpieces of choral poetry. Other important writers of choral lyrics were Alcman, Stesichorus, and Simonides of Ceos. Elegiac poetry was related to lyric poetry. Elegiac poems consisted of couplets that alternated a line of hexameter with a line of pentameter. Hexameter lines have six feet, or rhythmic units, and pentameter lines have five feet. Among the bestknown elegiac poets are Callinus, Tyrtaeus, Mimnermus, and Theognis. Iambic poetry is also similar to lyric poetry. Iambic poems are written in iambs, which are metrical feet consisting of a short syllable followed by a long one. Much iambic poetry expressed the poet's feelings of anger, or was satiric. The three most famous iambic poets are Archilochus, Semonides of Amorgos, and Hipponax. The Golden Age During the late 500's B.C., Athens became the centre of Greek culture, a position it held for almost 200 years. During the height of this period, from 461 to 431 B.C., the arts--especially literature-flourished. These 30 years are often called the Golden Age. Drama, particularly tragedy, became the most important literary form during the Golden Age. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were the three greatest tragic playwrights. The plays of Aeschylus are noted for their seriousness, their majestic language, and their complexity of thought. Sophocles is most famous for his characterization, graceful language, and sense of calm and proportion. Euripides was called the "philosopher of the stage." His plays explore the psychological world of human emotions and passions. Comedy was also prominent on the Athenian stage during the 400's B.C. Aristophanes, who wrote plays in the style called Old Comedy, was a great writer of bawdy and satiric comic plays. His plays reflect the spirit of Athens at that time, with the Athenians' sense of freedom, vitality, and high spirits, and their ability to laugh at themselves. After Athens was defeated in the Peloponnesian War in 404 B.C., there was less freedom of speech. Old Comedy, with its elements of political and social satire, was no longer permitted by the leaders in the government. Comedy revived in Athens during the late 300's B.C., but in a new style called New Comedy. Plays in this style focused on the individual and the problems

people confront in everyday life. Menander was the most popular writer of New Comedy plays. Historical literature. By the end of the 400's B.C. prose had surpassed poetry and verse drama in Greek literature. Historical writings were especially popular. Herodotus, "Father of History," travelled throughout the civilized world during the mid-400's B.C. and recorded the manners and customs of nations older than Greece. His central theme was the conflict between East and West. Thucydides, writing a few years later, was the first scientific historian. He wrote a stirring account of the Peloponnesian War. In recording the events of his day, Thucydides tried to explain the effects of politics on historical events. Philosophical literature. About 450 B.C., a group of philosophers called sophists became prominent. Sophists were scholars and teachers of theories of knowledge. Their great literary invention was rhetoric, the art of composing and delivering persuasive speeches. The sophist movement contributed to the rise of prose, especially oration, over poetry in Athens. Such famous writers of orations as Isocrates and Demosthenes were important political figures. A new literary form was developed by the pupils of Socrates, after the philosopher's death in 399 B.C. This form, called the philosophical dialogue, was based on Socrates' question and answer method of arriving at some important truth. Although Socrates left no writings, his ideas are preserved in the written dialogues of his students, especially Plato. Other groups of philosophers, such as the Epicureans, the Stoics, and the Peripatetics, reflected the concerns of Plato's writings. Aristotle also wrote important works, including Poetics, a masterpiece of literary criticism. The Hellenistic Age During the 300's B.C., the great Macedonian king Alexander the Great conquered and ruled all of ancient Greece as well as most of the rest of the civilized world of his day. As Alexander's empire grew, Greek ideas and culture spread throughout the East. The period following Alexander's death in 323 B.C. is called the Hellenistic Age. At this time, Athens lost its dominant role as the centre of Greek culture, and the city of Alexandria in Egypt became the new capital of Greek civilization. Theocritus, an important poet writing in the 200's B.C., is credited with inventing pastoral poetry.

Pastoral poems convey an appreciation for nature and country life. Theocritus' poems reflect the discontent of those living in the increasingly overpopulated cities of the Hellenistic era. The chief literary figure of this period was Callimachus, a scholar, poet, and critic, who wrote short, highly polished poems. Many poets followed the example of Callimachus and produced powerful poetry within the narrow limits of brief, witty poems called epigrams. Not all poets approved of the trend to short poems, however. Apollonius of Rhodes favoured traditional long epic poetry and wrote the long romantic epic the Argonautica in the 200's B.C. The Graeco-Roman Age The period following the Hellenistic Age is known as the Graeco-Roman Age because of the Roman conquest of Greece in 146 B.C. During the Roman rule, prose again became the most prominent literary form. The biographer and essayist Plutarch is most famous for his biographies contrasting Greek and Roman leaders in Parallel Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Romans. Later, Lucian of Samosata wrote amusing commentaries that satirized the popular philosophical schools of his day. Renewed interest in the art of oratory and rhetoric resulted in the Second Sophistic Movement in the A.D. 100's. During this period, Epictetus, a former slave, became the spokesman of the Stoic school of thought. His philosophy emphasizes acceptance and endurance. On the Sublime, a brilliant long essay on literature by Longinus, may also date from this period. Many new and varied types of writings appeared during the A.D. 100's. The travel writer Pausanias wrote an important description of ancient Greece that remains a valuable source of Greek history and religion. A Greek doctor named Galen produced medical writings, discussing anatomy, physiology, and psychology. Ptolemy, an astronomer, mathematician, and geographer, also wrote influential scientific works. Another important work of the period is the Sophists' Banquet, written by Athenaeus of Naucratis. Athenaeus pretends to record a dinner table discussion between 29 famous wise men. The work contains quotations from many literary works which would otherwise be unknown. Longus wrote an influential pastoral romance, Daphnis and Chloe, during the A.D. 100's or 200's. It is regarded as a forerunner of the novel. The most important writer of the 200's was Plotinus, founder of the Neoplatonic school of philosophy. His

work was the last great creation of ancient philosophy. Medieval literature Greece was part of the Byzantine Empire from A.D. 395 until the empire fell to the Turks in 1453. Constantinople (now Istanbul), the Byzantine capital, became the centre of Greek culture and literature for 1,000 years. The Byzantine arts reflect the combination of Greek learning and literary tradition with the teachings of Christianity. Christian religious poetry became the most prominent Greek literature of the Middle Ages. Romanos the Melode, who lived in the 500's, was the greatest Greek poet of the Middle Ages. He was the chief composer of kontakia (singular kontakion), which were long metrical hymns that were especially popular during the 500's and 600's. The kanon, another type of religious poetry, was introduced during the early 700's by Saint John Damascene, a famous theologian. Modern Greek literature After Constantinople fell to the Turks in 1453, folk songs and folk tales were almost the only Greek literature produced for 400 years. The first great modern Greek poet, Dionysios Solomos, wrote during the early 1800's. Solomos adapted demotic Greek, the vivid, popular language spoken by the common people, for his poems. Before his poetry, only the official scholarly form of Greek, called katharevousa, was used in literature. The Demotic Movement of the 1880's urged the return of art and literature to themes of daily life. Before World War I, Greek prose was limited largely to short stories describing provincial life and customs. After the war, the psychological and sociological novel became the leading prose form. Nikos Kazantzakis wrote powerful novels dealing with such themes as the conflict between human passion and spiritual ideals. Modern Greek poetry earned international respect in the 1900's. Constantine Cavafy's narrative and lyric poems received high praise after the poet's death, when they were first translated. In 1963, George Seferis, a lyric poet, became the first Greek to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. Another Greek poet, Odysseus Elytis, won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1979. ---- end of article ----

Iliad is the oldest surviving Greek poem. According to tradition, it was composed by the ancient Greek poet Homer, probably in the 700's B.C. The Iliad describes certain events in the final year of the Trojan War, which was fought between Greece and the city of Troy. According to legend, the Trojan War lasted 10 years, until Greece defeated Troy. Most archaeologists now believe the war took place during the mid-1200's B.C. Some incidents in the Iliad may be based on events that actually occurred about that time. For information on the historical background and authorship of the Iliad, see HOMER. The Trojan War was fought over Helen, the beautiful wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Helen had been taken from Sparta to the city of Troy by Paris, a son of the Trojan king, Priam. Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, led an army of Greek heroes to bring Helen back to Sparta. The Iliad is divided into 24 books. The story covers 54 days. Most of the action takes place in the Greek camp, inside the walls of Troy, and in nearby areas. A quarrel develops between Agamemnon and Achilles, the greatest of the young Greek heroes. Achilles feels he is not being adequately rewarded for his services to the Greeks. Agamemnon, in turn, feels that Achilles does not have enough respect for his position as commander of the army. Achilles withdraws into his tent and refuses to fight. The war goes on. But without Achilles, the Greeks are driven back by Trojan forces led by Hector, another of Priam's sons. Achilles' closest friend, Patroclus, goes to fight in Achilles' armour to help the Greeks. Hector kills Patroclus, which arouses Achilles to seek revenge. Achilles then kills Hector outside Troy. The story ends with Hector's funeral. For nearly 3,000 years, readers have found the Iliad a moving expression of the heroism, idealism, and tragedy of war. In addition to the battle scenes, the Iliad tells about life within Troy. It describes Hector's visit with Paris and Helen and the emotional farewell between Hector and his wife, Andromache, who foresees his death. Hector is a great soldier. But he basically represents the family man who is called on to defend his country and, in so doing, loses his life. ---- end of article ---Odyssey, an epic poem, is perhaps the most influential and most popular work in ancient Greek literature. The Odyssey ranks among the greatest

adventure stories in literature. It became a model for many later adventure stories. According to tradition, the Odyssey was composed by the Greek poet Homer, probably in the 700's B.C. The central character is Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), the king of Ithaca. The poem describes Odysseus' journey home after fighting for Greece against the city of Troy in the Trojan War. The author wrote about this war in the Iliad, another great epic poem. See HOMER. The Odyssey consists of 24 books (sections). The story takes place during a period of about 10 years. The tale begins after much of the action has already occurred. This device of starting a story in the middle and returning to the start is called in medias res. Many later writers used it. The Odyssey begins on the island of Ogygia, where Odysseus has been the prisoner of the sea nymph Calypso for seven years. At a council of the gods on Mount Olympus, Zeus decides the time has come for Odysseus to return to his wife, Penelope, in Ithaca. The scene then changes to Odysseus' palace in Ithaca, where a group of unruly young noblemen has settled. The noblemen want Penelope to assume that her husband is dead. They demand that she marry one of them and thus choose a new king of Ithaca. Odysseus' son, Telemachus, resents the noblemen. The goddess Athena suggests that he go on a journey to seek news of his father. Telemachus agrees and leaves Ithaca. The tale next returns to Odysseus' adventures. The god Hermes makes Calypso release Odysseus. Odysseus sails away on a raft, but the sea god Poseidon causes a storm and he is shipwrecked on the island of the Phaeacians. Nausicaa, the beautiful daughter of the Phaeacian king, discovers him. Odysseus describes his wanderings since the Trojan War while being entertained by the Phaeacians. He tells of his visit to the land of the lotus-eaters, whose magic food makes people forget their homeland. Some of his men who ate the food wanted to stay with the lotus-eaters, but Odysseus forced them to leave with him. Odysseus and his men then sailed to an island where they were captured by Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant called a Cyclops. They escaped after blinding the Cyclops with a heated stake. But the Cyclops prayed to his father, Poseidon, to avenge him by making Odysseus' homecoming as difficult as possible.

After more adventures, the ship carrying Odysseus and his men landed on the island of the enchantress Circe. Circe changed Odysseus' men into pigs and made Odysseus her lover. She told Odysseus that to get home, he must visit the underworld to consult the prophet Teiresias. In the underworld, Odysseus saw the ghosts of his mother and of Trojan War heroes. He also witnessed the punishment of sinners. Teiresias warned Odysseus of the dangers awaiting him, and Circe told him how to sail past the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Circe also warned him about the Sirens, sea nymphs who use their beautiful singing to lure sailors to death on a magic island. Odysseus' ship sailed past these dangers and seemed ready to reach Ithaca without further trouble. But some of Odysseus' men stole and ate the sacred cattle of the sun on the island of Thrinacia. As punishment, the ship was destroyed by a thunderbolt and the men drowned. Odysseus was washed up on Ogygia, where the story began. Odysseus returns home. After Odysseus finishes his story, the Phaeacians take him to Ithaca. Athena tells him of the noblemen in his palace and advises him to return home in disguise. Odysseus goes to his palace disguised as a beggar. Penelope has agreed to marry the man who can string Odysseus' huge bow and shoot an arrow through 12 axes. The Odyssey as literature. The Odyssey is a skillfully written adventure story. The story combines realistic accounts of life in ancient Greece and elements of historical events with fairy tales about imaginary lands. The work also contains skilful characterization. Odysseus represents the model of a man of courage and determination. In spite of many setbacks, he never abandons his goal of returning home. But he has other human traits that keep him from being only a symbol. He enjoys life, even while struggling to get home. He is restless, clever, and even tricky and is able to invent lies easily. In fact, some later Greek dramatists made Odysseus a symbol of deceit. Penelope stands for the faithful, loving wife. Telemachus symbolizes the youth who matures by facing a difficult challenge. The travels of Odysseus and Telemachus may represent the human journey through life and the search for self-fulfillment and self-knowledge. ---- end of article ----

Achilles was one of the greatest heroes of Greek mythology. He played a major part in the Trojan War, in which Greece defeated the city of Troy. A description of the last year of the war appears in the epic poem the Iliad. Achilles was the son of Peleus, the king of Thessaly, and Thetis, a sea nymph. Soon after Achilles' birth, Thetis dipped him in the River Styx to protect his body from harm. However, the water did not touch the heel by which Thetis held him. After the Trojan War began, Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces, sent soldiers to ask Achilles to join the army. But Thetis feared that Achilles would be killed, and so she dressed him in women's clothing and sent him to live with King Lycomedes on the island of Skiros. Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), a sly general, found Achilles and showed him some weapons. Achilles' delight at the sight of the weapons gave him away, and he agreed to join the army. During the 10th year of the Trojan War, Achilles refused to fight after he had quarrelled with Agamemnon. He finally returned to the battlefield after his friend Patroclus had been slain by Hector, the greatest Trojan hero of the war. Aided by a suit of armour that had been made by the god Hephaestus, Achilles then killed Hector in order to avenge the death of Patroclus. Later, however, Hector's brother Paris shot an arrow that the god Apollo guided into Achilles' unprotected heel. Achilles died of the wound. See also TROJAN WAR; ILIAD. ---- end of article ---Hector, in Greek mythology, was the greatest hero of the ancient city of Troy. He played a major part in the Trojan War, in which Greece defeated Troy. The epic poem the Iliad tells of important events during the last year of the war. Hector was the son of Priam, the king of Troy, and Hecuba. According to some myths, the Greek god Apollo was Hector's father. The Iliad described Hector as brave, handsome, and patriotic. During the Trojan War, Achilles, the greatest Greek warrior, refused to fight after quarrelling with Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces. As a result, Hector's soldiers drove the Greeks from the walls of Troy. Achilles agreed to the request of his friend Patroclus, who wanted to wear Achilles' armour and

fight in his place. Hector, aided by Apollo, killed Patroclus during the battle. Achilles returned to the battlefield to seek revenge for the death of Patroclus. The sight of Achilles terrified Hector, who tried to flee. But Hector realized that he must fight Achilles, even though he knew he would die. Achilles killed Hector and tied the corpse behind his chariot. He dragged Hector's body around the walls of Troy for several days. King Priam secretly went to Achilles and begged him for his son's corpse. Achilles pitied Priam and gave him Hector's body so that the Trojans could bury it properly. See also ILIAD; PRIAM; TROJAN WAR. ---- end of article ---Paris, in Greek mythology, was a son of Priam, king of Troy. Paris' mother, Hecuba, dreamed that her unborn son was a torch that set the country on fire. A soothsayer said the dream meant the child would cause the destruction of Troy. Priam gave Paris to a slave and ordered him to kill the child. The slave left him to die, but a shepherd saved him and raised him as his own son. Paris married the nymph Oenone. One day messengers came from Priam to take a bull as a prize for a wrestling contest. They took Paris' favourite bull, so he entered the contest and won it back. His sister Cassandra recognized him, and Priam accepted him, disregarding Hecuba's dream. Zeus, the king of the gods, had Paris judge a contest among three goddesses--Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera--over the Apple of Discord. This apple bore the words "To the fairest." Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world, and so he chose her over the other goddesses. Hera and Athena hated him and Troy after that. Paris fell in love with Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus, and took her to Troy. Menelaus was the king of Sparta, in Greece. Agamemnon, Menelaus' brother, led the Greeks in the Trojan War to get Helen back. Late in the war, Paris killed the Greek hero Achilles with a bow and arrow, but was himself later killed by the Greek archer Philoctetes. See also HELEN OF TROY; TROJAN WAR; TROY (The legendary Troy). ---- end of article ----

Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the major cause of the Trojan War, in which Greece defeated the city of Troy. Helen was the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leda, a human being. According to one myth, Zeus appeared in the form of a swan when he visited Leda. Helen later hatched from a swan's egg. Another myth tells that Zeus mated with Nemesis, the goddess of fate, who gave Leda the egg from which Helen was born. When Helen was a child, an Athenian hero named Theseus fell in love with her and kidnapped her. Helen's brothers, Castor and Pollux, rescued her. Many Greek heroes courted Helen, but she married Menelaus, the king of Sparta. A Trojan prince named Paris visited Sparta and persuaded Helen to return to Troy with him. Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, led a Greek army against Troy to win Helen back. Paris was killed during the war. Helen then married Paris' brother, Deiphobus, who was also killed. After the Greeks captured Troy, Helen and Menelaus were happily reunited. According to a legend told by the poet Stesichorus, Helen never reached Troy with Paris. She and Paris travelled as far as Egypt, where she remained as the guest of King Proteus. A phantom of Helen went to Troy in her place. After the war ended, Menelaus and Helen were reunited in Egypt. Helen's personality has fascinated writers for centuries. Some authors have portrayed her as a deceitful woman driven by passion to betray her country and family. However, other writers have regarded Helen as an innocent victim of her own great beauty. See also MENELAUS; TROJAN WAR. ---- end of article ---Menelaus, a king of Sparta, was the husband of Helen of Troy. Paris, a Trojan prince, persuaded Helen to elope with him to Troy. Menelaus and his brother, Agamemnon, gathered an army and attacked Troy. After 10 years they took the city, and Menelaus recovered Helen. They wandered for eight years but finally reached Sparta. Menelaus and Helen lived there peacefully for many years. See also HELEN OF TROY.

---- end of article ---Agamemnon, in Greek mythology, led the Greek army that conquered Troy in the Trojan War. Agamemnon was the king of Mycenae (or Argos). He married the princess Clytemnestra. Their children included Electra, Iphigenia, and Orestes. Agamemnon assembled the Greek forces at Aulis before sailing for Troy. But the goddess Artemis refused to send favourable winds because Agamemnon had offended her. At Artemis's command, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia so that the army could sail for Troy. According to one story, Iphigenia died in the sacrifice. Another story tells that Artemis rescued her. In the last year of the Trojan War, Agamemnon angered the god Apollo because he refused to return the captured maiden Chryseis to her father, a priest of Apollo. As punishment, Apollo sent a plague to afflict the Greek army. Agamemnon then returned Chryseis but in exchange he demanded the captive maiden Briseis from his rival, the warrior Achilles. The bitter quarrel that resulted between Achilles and Agamemnon became a major theme of the Greek epic the Iliad. After Troy fell, Agamemnon returned to Mycenae with the Trojan princess Cassandra as his captive. Clytemnestra, aided by her lover, Aegisthus, killed them out of revenge for what she thought was the death of Iphigenia. Orestes killed his mother and Aegisthus to avenge the murder of Agamemnon. See also ILIAD; IPHIGENIA; ORESTES; TROJAN WAR. ---- end of article ---Clytemnestra was a princess in Greek mythology. She married Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and her sister Helen married his brother Menelaus. Clytemnestra bore a son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigenia, Electra, and Chrysothemis. Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia to obtain a favourable wind from the gods for the Greek fleet sailing to attack Troy (see TROJAN WAR). Clytemnestra hated Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter and waited for 10 years until the end of the war to take revenge. While awaiting Agamemnon's return, Clytemnestra fell in love with his cousin Aegisthus. When her husband came back from Troy, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus killed him.

Orestes avenged his father's death by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Clytemnestra's story is told in the ancient Greek drama the Oresteia, a trilogy by Aeshylus (see AESCHYLUS). See also AGAMEMNON; ORESTES. ---- end of article ---Iphigenia, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, the commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis so that the goddess would send the Greek fleet favourable winds for their voyage to Troy. One version of the myth tells that Iphigenia died during the sacrifice. According to another version, Artemis rescued Iphigenia, substituting a deer in her place. The goddess carried Iphigenia to the land of Tauris, where she became a priestess of Artemis. Orestes, Iphigenia's brother, later murdered Clytemnestra. As punishment, the god Apollo ordered him to go to Tauris and bring back a sacred wooden statue of Artemis. The Taurians, who sacrificed all outsiders, captured Orestes, but Iphigenia recognized her brother and saved him. Under the protection of the goddess Athena, Iphigenia and Orestes escaped from Tauris with the statue. Iphigenia again became a priestess of Artemis after she returned to Greece. ---- end of article ---Cyclops, in Greek mythology, was any member of a race of giants with one eye in the middle of the forehead. Three Cyclopes--Arges, Brontes, and Steropes--were sons of the sky god Uranus and the earth goddess Gaea. The three made the thunderbolts carried by Zeus, king of the gods. The best-known of the Cyclopes was Polyphemus. The epic poem the Odyssey describes how the Greek hero Odysseus and his men sailed to an island inhabited by Polyphemus. The Cyclops imprisoned the Greeks and ate six of them. After Odysseus made Polyphemus drunk, he and his surviving men put out the giant's eye with a burning stake and escaped. The blind Polyphemus prayed to his father, the sea god Poseidon, to punish Odysseus. As a result, Odysseus suffered many hardships and delays before reaching his home. Another story tells how Polyphemus killed the Sicilian youth Acis, his rival for the love of the sea nymph Galatea. ---- end of article ----

Penelope, in Greek mythology, was the wife of Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), king of Ithaca. She became famous for her faithfulness to her husband. After the birth of their son, Telemachus, Odysseus left on an expedition against Troy. He did not return for 20 years, but Penelope remained faithful to him. Her story is told in the epic poem the Odyssey. Many nobles from Ithaca and neighbouring islands courted Penelope, claiming that Odysseus would never return, but she refused to remarry. For three years, she held suitors off by a trick. She said that she must first weave a shroud for her father-in-law, Laertes. Each night she unravelled what she had woven that day. After a maidservant revealed Penelope's deception, she promised to select the suitor who could string and shoot Odysseus' great bow. Each suitor tried and failed. A beggar, who had come to the palace and was given shelter, asked to try. He easily strung and shot the bow. The beggar was Odysseus in disguise. With the bow, he killed the suitors. Odysseus regained his kingdom and was reunited with Penelope. See also ODYSSEY; ULYSSES. ---- end of article ---Fenelon, Francois de Salignac de la Mothe- (16511715), was a French author and a Roman Catholic archbishop, known for his advanced political, social, and educational ideas. Fenelon's Treatise on the Education of Girls (1687) shows his keen understanding of child psychology. His best-known work is Telemachus (1699), a novel written to instruct the Duke of Burgundy, grandson of King Louis XIV. The book is about a young man who observes the governments of many countries. It was intended to teach the duke the duties of high office. Fenelon's criticism of absolute monarchy was implied in Telemachus and clearly stated in a Letter to Louis XIV, published after Fenelon's death. The main idea described in Telemachus had been foreshadowed by his Dialogs of the Dead (1692). In Maxims of the Saints (1697), Fenelon favoured quietism, a religious movement that denied the value of conventional religious practices. The church condemned the Maxims, and Fenelon lost his influence in religious and court life. Fenelon was born in Perigord, France. He was ordained in about 1675 and was appointed archbishop of Cambrai, France, in 1695.

---- end of article ---Priam, in Greek mythology, was the last king of Troy and ruler of the city during the Trojan War with Greece. He was noted for his kindness, dignity, and respect for the gods. Priam's wife was Hecuba (or Hecube). Priam had 50 sons and 50 daughters by Hecuba and various other women. The most famous were his sons Hector and Paris and his daughter Cassandra. Most of Priam's sons died in the war. The king went alone at night to the tent of the Greek warrior Achilles to beg for Hector's body so he might give it a proper burial. Achilles pitied the old man and returned the body to him. Later, as Priam clung to the altar of Zeus on the night that Troy fell, Achilles' son Neoptolemus (or Pyrrhus) killed him. See also HECUBA; ILIAD; PARIS. ---- end of article ---Hecuba was the second wife of Priam, the king of Troy, in Greek mythology. Hecuba and Priam had many children, including the Trojan heroes Hector and Paris. The deaths of her husband and several of their children during the Trojan War caused Hecuba great suffering. When the city of Troy fell to the Greeks, Hecuba was awarded to the Greek leader Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) as a slave. Odysseus sailed to Thrace, where Hecuba discovered that King Polymestor had murdered Polydorus, her youngest son. Polydorus had been sent to Polymestor for safety during the war but Polymestor killed him for the treasure the young man brought with him. Hecuba lured Polymestor and his two sons into her tent. There, Hecuba and her handmaidens killed the children and blinded Polymestor. Hecuba was later transformed into a fiery-eyed dog. See also PARIS (mythology); CASSANDRA. ---- end of article ---Cassandra was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba, king and queen of Troy in Greek mythology. According to the myth, her beauty was so great that Apollo fell in love with her and gave her the power to foretell the future. But she would not love him in return. Apollo angrily punished her by ordering that no one should ever believe her prophecies.

Cassandra repeatedly warned her countrymen not to keep Helen of Troy captive or take the Trojan Horse inside the walls of Troy. But they paid no attention. Cassandra was praying at the altar of Athena when Troy fell. Agamemnon took her to Mycenae as a slave. There Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdered her. The story of Cassandra has been told often in literature. She is a major character in two ancient Greek tragedies, Agamemnon by Aeschylus and The Trojan Women by Euripides. Cassandra also appears in William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida, written between 1598 and 1602. Her story has been told in poems by Friedrich Schiller, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Cassandra's name has come to stand for any prophet of doom. See also TROY. ---- end of article ---Laocoon, a Trojan priest, warned his people against the Greeks at Troy. The Trojans and the Greeks had been at war for 10 years. Pretending to give up the siege, the Greeks left a huge wooden horse outside the gates of Troy. Laocoon suspected treachery, and told the Trojans not to take the horse inside the city walls. "I fear the Greeks, even when bringing gifts," he said. Later, as Laocoon worshipped, two sea serpents attacked him and his sons and crushed them to death. Believing this to be a punishment from the gods, the Trojans rejected Laocoon's warning and took the wooden horse into the city. Laocoon had been right. The horse concealed Greek soldiers who came out of the horse during the night, and captured the city. Virgil describes the death of Laocoon in the second book of the Aeneid. See also TROJAN WAR. ---- end of article ---Oracle, in the ancient Greek world, was a shrine where people consulted special priests or priestesses. These priests and priestesses were believed to have the power to reveal the will of the gods and to foretell the future. The word oracle also refers to the priest or priestess and to the message or prophecy.

The most important oracle was in Delphi in central Greece. It was dedicated to the god Apollo. The priestess of Delphi, called the Pythia, sat on a large, three-legged stand. She often went into a trance and talked hysterically. The Greeks believed that Apollo spoke through the Pythia during these trances. In most cases, the meaning of the Pythia's oracles was unclear, and priests at the shrine interpreted them for the public. Most oracles were dedicated to Apollo. Some were dedicated to Zeus or other gods. One famous oracle of Zeus was in a grove of oak trees in Dodona in north-western Greece. The people believed that Zeus spoke through the rustling of the oak leaves. The priests at Dodona interpreted these rustlings. Other important oracles were in Italy, Libya, and Syria. See also DELPHI. ---- end of article ---Delphi was a town situated on the southern slope of Mount Parnassus. The town had the oldest and most influential religious sanctuary in ancient Greece. It was in the district of Phocis. The ancient Greeks believed that the site of Delphi was sacred to the god Apollo. It gained importance as early as the 1100's B.C. Later, the site of Delphi became an international Greek shrine. The sanctuary of Delphi contained the main temple of Apollo, a stadium, a theatre, and many small buildings and monuments. The temple contained the famous oracle, or prophet (see ORACLE). A woman oracle, called Pythia, would utter strange sounds while in a frenzy. People believed these were the words of Apollo (see APOLLO). Cities, as well as private individuals, sought her advice. As a result, the oracle greatly influenced Greek religion, economics, and politics. This influence gradually waned in later Greek and Roman times. ---- end of article ---Apollo was a major god in Greek and Roman mythology. In Greek mythology, he was the son of Zeus--the king of the gods--and the goddess Leto. The goddess Artemis was his twin. In Roman mythology, Apollo's parents were Jupiter and Latona, and his twin was Diana.

Apollo was the god of light, purity, and the sun. The Greeks and Romans sometimes called him Phoebus, meaning bright. Apollo played the lyre and wrote poetry, and he became a patron of musicians and poets. He also had healing powers, as did Asclepius (Aesculapius in Latin), his son by the mortal woman Coronis. According to myth, Apollo killed a dragon named Python at Delphi (see DELPHI). The town became the major centre of Apollo's worship in Greece. As the god of prophecy, Apollo foretold the future through his oracle at Delphi. The oracle, a prophetess called the Pythia, sometimes went into a trance and uttered indistinct words, supposedly under Apollo's influence. Priests of Apollo's temple interpreted the oracle's words to the public. The Greeks and Romans regarded Apollo as the ideal young man--handsome, honest, intelligent, and strong. To them, Apollo represented goodness and reason. But Apollo could be cruel. He and Artemis killed the children of Niobe, queen of Thebes, who had boasted that she was superior to Leto (see NIOBE). Apollo loved a handsome boy, Hyacinthus, but accidentally killed him with a discus. Apollo then caused a flower to grow from the boy's blood. Apollo also loved Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus (see DAPHNE). Apollo pursued Daphne, but she ran from him and begged Peneus to protect her. Peneus changed her into a laurel tree. Apollo made the laurel his sacred tree. See also ASCLEPIUS; CYCLOPS; LYRE; MIDAS. ---- end of article ---Niobe was a queen in Greek mythology who was famous for eternally mourning her dead children. Niobe was the daughter of King Tantalus and Queen Dione, and married Amphion, king of Thebes. She boasted that because of her six (or seven) fine sons and six (or seven) beautiful daughters, she deserved worship more than the goddess Leto, who had only two children, Apollo and Artemis. In anger, Leto ordered Apollo and Artemis to kill Niobe's children with their arrows. Niobe was heartbroken and wept unceasingly for her children. The gods in pity changed her into a rock that spouted water like tears. According to tradition, this rock with a waterfall below stands on Mount Sipylon in what is now Turkey. ---- end of article ----

Daphne was a nymph in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of a river god, either Ladon or Peneus. The best-known myth about Daphne recounts her flight from the god Apollo. The god Eros shot both Daphne and Apollo with arrows in revenge against Apollo for insulting his skill as an archer. Eros shot Apollo with a gold-tipped arrow, causing him to fall madly in love with Daphne. He shot the nymph with a leaden one, making her hate all suitors. Apollo pursued Daphne relentlessly. One day, when he was finally about to catch her, Daphne prayed for escape, and was transformed into a laurel tree. Although Apollo could not possess her, he made the laurel his sacred tree and wore a crown of laurel leaves on his head. See APOLLO; CUPID. ---- end of article ---Midas was a character in Greek mythology. He was king of Phrygia, an ancient country in central Asia Minor. The god Dionysus gave Midas the power to turn everything he touched into gold, because he had helped Dionysus' teacher Silenus (see DIONYSUS). At first, Midas' miraculous power pleased him. But soon it became a curse, because even his food turned to gold the moment he touched it and he was unable to eat. He prayed to Dionysus to help him, and the god told him to bathe in the river Pactolus. Midas washed himself, and the magic touch left him. But the sands of the river turned to gold. Midas acted as judge at a musical contest between Apollo and Pan (see APOLLO; PAN). He awarded the prize to Pan, and Apollo angrily turned Midas' ears into those of an ass. Midas was very ashamed and kept his ears covered. But he could not hide his ears from the slave who was his barber. The slave did not dare tell anyone about the king's ears, because he feared punishment. The slave dug a hole and whispered the truth into it. Reeds grew out of the soil and whispered the secret whenever the wind blew. The expression to have the Midas touch is used to describe a person who makes money in everything he or she does. A Midas is a wealthy person. ---- end of article ---Dionysus was the god of wine in Greek mythology. After coming into contact with Greek culture, the Romans adopted Dionysus as their god of wine, but they called him Bacchus.

The ancient Greeks associated Dionysus with violent and unpredictable behaviour, especially actions caused by drinking too much wine. Most stories about Dionysus tell of his sessions of drunken merrymaking. Dionysus' followers at these gatherings included nymphs (maidens) and creatures called satyrs that were half man and half horse or goat (see NYMPH; SATYR). The merrymaking ended with religious ceremonies carried out to honour Dionysus. Dionysus' parents were Zeus, the king of the gods, and Semele, the mortal daughter of King Cadmus of Thebes. Dionysus married Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos of Crete. Not all the stories about Dionysus concern drunkenness or violent behaviour. Many Greeks believed that Dionysus taught people farming techniques, especially those related to growing grapes and making wine. The Greeks also dedicated the great theatre in Athens to Dionysus. Their concept of tragedy in drama grew from a ceremony that honoured Dionysus. The word tragedy comes from the Greek word tragos, meaning goat. The goat was sacred to and symbolic of Dionysus. See also BACCHUS; DRAMA (Greek drama). ---- end of article ---Nymph was a lovely maiden of mythology who guarded the different realms of nature. Oreads watched over the hills and mountains, and Nereids over the Mediterranean Sea. The naiads were the nymphs of the rivers, brooks, and streams. The ocean was protected by the Oceanids. The dryads and hamadryads took care of the trees and forests. Many of the naiads watched over springs that were believed to inspire those who drank their waters. The naiads were thought to have powers to prophesy and to inspire people. The oreads were also known by names that came from the particular mountains where they lived. Nymphs were friendly and kind to mortals. They were shy and fled from human beings, but sometimes they took revenge on people who hurt the things under their protection. Nymphs are represented with fauns and satyrs in the forest, or playing around the keels of ships. Only oreads and naiads were immortal. See also ARETHUSA; NIX.

Nereids were 50 beautiful sea nymphs who attended the sea divinities Poseidon and Amphitrite. They were the daughters of the sea goddess Doris and of Nereus, called the Old Man of the Sea. The Nereids lived under the sea and surfaced to dance in the waves. Their leader was Thetis, mother of the hero Achilles. Other famous Nereids included Psamathe and Galatea. See NEREUS; ANDROMEDA. Andromeda, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Cassiopeia and Cepheus, rulers of Ethiopia. Cassiopeia compared her beauty to that of the Nereids (sea nymphs) who attended Poseidon. In anger, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Ethiopia. An oracle said Andromeda should be sacrificed to the serpent to save the land. Perseus saw Andromeda chained to a rock, fell in love with her, and killed the monster. He then married Andromeda. Among their descendants was Hercules. After her death, Andromeda became a constellation. ---- end of article ---Satyr was a minor god of the countryside and woods in Greek mythology. Satyrs looked basically like ordinary human beings. But most of them had some animal features, such as goats' legs, hoofs, horns, and pointed ears, in a number of different combinations. Satyrs followed Dionysus, the god of wine, and Pan, the god of woods and pastures. Most satyrs were young, playful, and mischievous. They sometimes became wild and uncontrolled but rarely harmed anyone. Their favourite occupations were drinking wine and pursuing lovely maidens called nymphs. They also enjoyed music and dancing. Some older satyrs, though drunkards, were considered extremely wise. The Roman word for a satyr was faun. See also DIONYSUS; FAUN; PAN. ---- end of article ---Lyre is an ancient stringed musical instrument that resembles a small harp. It has a bowl- or boxshaped frame with two arms extending upward. A crossbar is attached to the top of the arms. The instrument has 4 to 10 strings, which extend from the crossbar to the base of the frame. The player plucks the strings with the fingers of one hand or with a plectrum (pick). The fingers of the other

hand press down on the strings to set the required pitch. In Europe, some types of lyres are played with a bow instead of by plucking the strings. The sound of a lyre is amplified by a piece of cattle skin stretched tightly across the open side of the frame. The lyre was especially popular among the ancient Greeks. The instrument was the symbol of Apollo, the Greek god of music and poetry. The Greeks used the lyre to accompany their songs and recitations. The words lyric and lyrical come from this use of the instrument. ---- end of article ----

GREEK DRAMATISTS Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) was the earliest writer of Greek tragedy whose plays exist in complete form. He wrote more than 80 plays, of which seven survive. These reveal a deeply patriotic and religious artist who brought Greek tragedy to maturity. Before Aeschylus, tragedies had a single actor who could only respond to the questions or suggestions of the chorus. Aeschylus increased the number of actors to two, which created dialogue that permitted interaction between characters. Aeschylus' plots are simple. Most of them centre on a conflict between an individual's will and the divine powers that rule the world. Aeschylus wrote tragedy in the grand manner, with a richness of language and complexity of thought that only the English playwright William Shakespeare has rivalled. Aeschylus' greatest work is the Oresteia (458 B.C.), which consists of three plays forming one drama. They are Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides (The Furies). In these plays, Aeschylus turned the violence after the return of King Agamemnon from Troy into a drama about the reconciliation of human suffering with divine power. Aeschylus' other surviving plays are The Persians (472), Seven Against Thebes (467), The Suppliants (463?), and Prometheus Bound, which was probably written late in Aeschylus' life. Aeschylus was born into a prominent family in Eleusis, near Athens. In 490, he fought at the Battle of Marathon, in which Greek forces gained an important victory over Persia. See also DRAMA (Greek drama).

---- end of article ------- end of article ---Euripides (about 480-406 B.C.), was the third of the three great writers of Greek tragedy. He dealt with the same mythological heroes as the other two, Aeschylus and Sophocles. But he showed the heroes as ordinary people and used his plays to criticize political, social, and religious ideas of the time. He used much simpler language than the earlier playwrights, but his plots were more complicated. Euripides was not popular during his lifetime. His ideas were not always the accepted ones, and he sometimes offended writers and politicians. The Greek playwright Aristophanes satirized Euripides in several comedies (see ARISTOPHANES). But Euripides' plays have been revived more frequently than those of his rivals. Of the 90 or so plays that he wrote, 18 tragedies and one satyr play (a type of comedy presented at the conclusion of a trilogy) survive. The satyr play, Cyclops, is probably one of Euripides' later works. The tragedies are Rhesus, Euripides' earliest existing play; Alcestis (438 B.C.); Medea (431); The Children of Heracles (about 430); Hippolytus (428); Andromache (about 426); Hecuba (about 424); The Suppliants (about 422); Heracles (about 417); Electra (about 417); The Trojan Women (415); Iphigenia in Tauris (about 412); Helena (412); Ion (about 412); The Phoenician Women (about 410); Orestes (408); Bacchae (405?); and Iphigenia in Aulis (405?). Euripides was born on the island of Salamis. He grew up in Athens. As a youth, Euripides was trained to be an athlete. He also studied philosophy and literature. Among his instructors were the philosophers Anaxagoras and Protagoras. Euripides began to write plays before the age of 20, and entered a contest for playwrights when he was 25. From this time on, he wrote plays steadily. Euripides became a close friend of the philosopher Socrates, who may have influenced his writing. Unlike Aeschylus and Sophocles, Euripides seems to have played no active role in Athenian public life. In about 408, Euripides left Athens. He went to Thessaly, in northern Greece, and then to Macedonia, where he wrote the plays Bacchae and Iphigenia in Aulis. See also DRAMA LITERATURE. (Greek drama); GREEK Sophocles (about 496-406 B.C.) was the second of the three great Greek writers of tragedy. The others were Aeschylus--the earliest of the three--and Euripides. Unlike Aeschylus, who favoured the presentation of trilogies (groups of three related plays), Sophocles preferred single plays. Sophocles' plays deal with a struggle of a strong individual against fate. In most of the plays, this individual chooses a course of action that the chorus and the lesser characters do not support. This course costs the individual suffering or even death, but it makes the individual nobler and somehow benefits humanity. Sophocles did not create ordinary characters who could be used to criticize conventional morality as Euripides did. The Greek philosopher Aristotle said Sophocles portrayed people as they should be, whereas Euripides portrayed people as they are. Artistically and in their dramatic construction, Sophocles' plays are more finished than those of Aeschylus or Euripides, and Aristotle regarded his works as models. Sophocles added a third actor, fixed the size of the chorus at 15, and used scene painting. His plays show intrigue and suspense. Of the more than 120 plays Sophocles wrote, seven complete ones have survived. These are Ajax, Antigone, Trachinian Women, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes, and Oedipus at Colonus. Part of a play called The Trackers was found in 1907. Sophocles was born at Colonus, near Athens. His tragedies earned him many prizes in drama competitions. He served as an Athenian general and as a member of delegations to other states. He also played an active role in the religious life of Athens. Sophocles wrote one of his greatest plays, Oedipus at Colonus, when he was nearly 90. See also ANTIGONE; DRAMA (Greek drama); GREEK LITERATURE; OEDIPUS. ---- end of article ---Aristophanes (445?-385? B.C.) was the greatest ancient Greek writer of comedy. His plays combine fantasy, rollicking wit, and graceful lyrics with serious criticism of politics, manners, education, music, and literature. He was a master of song and rhythm, and he had a rich imagination.

His comedies provide our best picture of Athenian life at its most interesting period. They also provide some of the earliest and best examples of political and social satire. Aristophanes began to produce comedies before he was 20. He wrote more than 40 plays, of which 11 have survived. They are Acharnians (425 B.C.), Knights (424), Clouds (423), Wasps (422), Peace (421), Birds (414), Lysistrata (411), Thesmophoriazusae (411), Frogs (405), Ecclesiazusae (393 or 392?), and Plutus (388). Aristophanes' most popular plays are Frogs, which criticized Euripides; Clouds, which satirized Socrates; Birds, a fantasy about a city in the sky; and Lysistrata,a partly farcical play in which the women of Greece force their husbands to stop warring against each other. See also DRAMA SOCRATES. (Old comedy); EURIPIDES;

teachings. Aristotle seemed to agree generally with Plato's view of Socrates. However, Aristotle claimed that the theory of forms was more characteristic of Plato's philosophy than that of Socrates. In Aristophanes' Clouds, Socrates appears as a bumbling, foolish man who supports fantastic theories. Socrates was born and lived in Athens. He dressed simply and was known for moderation in eating and drinking. He was married to Xanthippe, who, according to tradition, was ill-tempered and difficult to live with. Socrates and Xanthippe probably had at least two children. Socrates taught in the streets, market place, and gymnasiums. He taught by questioning his listeners, and showing them how inadequate their answers were. He had a following of young men in Athens, but many people mistrusted him because of his unorthodox views on religion and his disregard of public opinion. Inevitably, Socrates made enemies among influential Athenians. He was brought to trial, charged with corrupting the young and showing disrespect for religious traditions. Socrates defended himself by stating that clear knowledge of the truth is essential for the correct conduct of life. Action, he said, equals knowledge. Thus, virtue can be taught because correct action involves thought. Socrates implied that rulers should be men who know how to rule--not necessarily those who have been elected. Socrates may have appeared dangerous to Athenian democracy, but what he defended were the foundations of that democracy. Plato described Socrates' defence in his dialogue, the Apology. The jury found Socrates guilty and sentenced him to death. The jury may have given Socrates the severe sentence because it resented the unbending pride with which he conducted his defence. He refused several opportunities to escape from prison, and carried out the sentence by calmly drinking a cup of hemlock poison. An account of the death of Socrates appears in Plato's Phaedo. The Socratic method. Socrates introduced the idea of universal (standard) definitions. He believed that although individual people or things vary and are constructed differently, the definitions of how they are similar or vary remain constant. For example, individual dogs differ in shape, colour, and size. Yet there are some common characteristics by which we identify these animals as dogs, not as cats or camels. These common characteristics are the

---- end of article ---Socrates (469?-399 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher and teacher. His noble life and courageous death, together with his teachings, have made him one of the most admired figures in history. Socrates believed that human nature leads people to act correctly and in agreement with knowledge. He felt that evil and wrong actions arise from ignorance and the failure to investigate why people act as they do. Socrates is credited with saying "the unexamined life is not worth living" and "no man knowingly does evil." Socrates devoted himself completely to seeking truth and goodness. Socrates' life. Socrates wrote nothing of his own. Most of our information about his life and teachings comes from Memorabilia and Symposium by the historian Xenophon; dialogues by the philosopher Plato; Clouds, a comedy by Aristophanes; and writings by the philosopher Aristotle. Xenophon and Plato were Socrates' pupils, and Aristotle was a pupil of Plato's. Aristophanes was a leading playwright in Socrates' time. According to Xenophon, Socrates was a respected teacher chiefly interested in helping people become good. Plato's dialogues tell us that Socrates cared not only about ethics, but also about logic and a theory of forms. This theory tried to identify the quality in an object or idea that remains constant and unchangeable. Plato's dialogues contain the most probable account of Socrates' life and

universal, to which people must turn when they judge anything. Socrates believed that the correct method of discovering the common characteristics was by inductive means--that is, by reasoning from particular facts to a general idea. This process took the form of dialectic (philosophic) conversation, which became known as the Socratic method. Two or more people would begin a discussion with the assumption that each knew the definition of some key term. The conversation first showed that their assumptions were different, and then that the assumptions were inadequate to claim true knowledge. In this way, they proceeded from less adequate to more adequate definitions. They also progressed from definitions that applied to only a few particular examples to a universal definition that applied to all examples. Although they often reached no satisfactory conclusion, their goal was always the same--to gain a true and universal definition. The Socratic method tended to expose people's ignorance. It showed that many things they assumed to be true were false. Socrates also used irony to expose ignorance of key concepts--that is, he claimed to differ from other people only in knowing that he was ignorant. Socrates' insistence on his ignorance reminded others of their own ignorance. ---- end of article ---Trojan War was a conflict in which ancient Greece defeated the city of Troy. The legend of the war inspired many leading works of classical literature. Some of the events that occurred during and after the Trojan War became the subject of three great epic poems--the Iliad and the Odyssey, attributed to the Greek poet Homer, and the Aeneid by the Roman poet Virgil. The heroes and victims of the war were portrayed in such Greek tragedies as Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Ajax by Sophocles, and The Trojan Women by Euripides. Scholars do not agree about the truth behind the legend of the Trojan War. Some of them believe it distorts and exaggerates small conflicts involving the Greeks from about 1500 to 1200 B.C. Others think the legend is based on one great war, which most say probably took place during the mid-1200's B.C. The Homeric epics combine historical material of different times with fictional material. As a result, the works are not reliable historical documents. But

archaeologists have found historical evidence in the ruins of Troy and other places that confirms certain events described in the epics. The beginning of the war. According to ancient Greek myths, the Trojan War resulted from an incident at the wedding feast of Peleus, the king of Phthia, and Thetis, a sea goddess. All the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus had been invited except Eris, the goddess of discord. Eris was offended and tried to stir up trouble among the guests at the feast. She sent a golden apple inscribed "For the most beautiful." Three goddesses--Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite--each claimed the apple, and a quarrel began. Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy, judged the dispute. He awarded the apple to Aphrodite because she had promised him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Helen was already married to King Menelaus of Sparta. But when Paris visited her, she fled with him to Troy. Menelaus and his brother, Agamemnon, organized a large Greek expedition against Troy to win Helen back. The Greek army included such heroes as Achilles, Ajax the Greater, Nestor, and Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin). The siege of Troy. The Greek army laid siege to Troy for 10 years but could not conquer the city. The Iliad describes some of the events that occurred during the last year of the struggle. The war began to go badly for the Greeks after Achilles, their bravest warrior, left the battlefield. Achilles refused to fight because Agamemnon, the Greek commander, had insulted him. The Trojans, led by Hector, drove the Greeks back to their ships. Achilles finally returned to combat after his best friend, Patroclus, had been slain by Hector. Achilles killed Hector to avenge Patroclus' death. The Iliad ends with Hector's funeral, and Greek legends relate events that followed. According to these legends, the Trojans received help from their allies, the Ethiopians and an army of women warriors called Amazons. But Achilles enabled the Greeks to defeat their enemies by killing Penthesilea, the queen of the Amazons, and Memnon, the king of the Ethiopians. Paris, aided by the god Apollo, later shot Achilles in the heel with an arrow and killed him. The fall of Troy is described in the Aeneid. The Greeks built a huge wooden horse, which has become known as the Trojan horse, and placed it outside the walls of Troy. Odysseus and other

warriors hid inside the horse while the rest of the Greek army sailed away. The prophetess Cassandra and the priest Laocoon warned the Trojans against taking the horse into their city. But Sinon, a Greek prisoner, persuaded them that the horse was sacred and would bring the protection of the gods. The Trojans then pulled the horse into Troy. That night they fell asleep after celebrating their apparent victory. Odysseus and his companions then crept out of the horse and opened the city gates for the rest of their warriors, who had returned from a nearby island. The Greeks took back Helen, slaughtered almost all the Trojans, and burned Troy. According to the Aeneid, the few Trojan survivors included the warrior Aeneas, whose descendants founded Rome. ---- end of article ----