Literature Greece is a subjeot.So extensive, that we eau not hope to give any adequate view of it in our limited space. Those who wish to study the matter further, must have recourse to a full treatise. Poetry seems to have been the earliest form of composition among the Greeks, as indeed it must of neces sity be in all nations, for facility of recollection; hence Memory is called the Mother of the Muses. The earliest species of poems seems to have been hymns in honor of the gods; to these succeeded sons praising the glorious deeds of heroes; but the greatest poem of ancient times which has come down to us is the Iliad of Homer, detailing the events connected with the siege of Troy, and the warriors who took part in that famous expedition. The Iliad and Odyssey have been too long and too generally known and admired to need a word said in their commendation. The remarkable popularity of the Homeric poems produced a host of imitators; and hence we find that a great many poets endeavored to rival the fame of the " blind old mail," by narrating in verse the after-fate and vicissitudes of the heroes who took part in the war of Troy, or by treating of subjects allied to that of the Iliad, and even of mythological fables. These were called the Cyclic poets; they were posterior to Homer and Hesiod; their writings were put together in chronological order by some Alexandrine grammarians about 200 The Homeric period is closed by the name of Hesiod. Homer is supposed to have flourished about 900 B.c., and Hesiod about 850 n.e. Hesiod's most celebrated writings arc the Theogony, the Shield of Hercules, and the Works amt Days, an agricultural poem. Of his others, only small fragments are preserved. Epic poetry culminated in Homer, and with him and his contemporaries it sets. Of lyric poetry, there were two schools— the .LEolic in Asia Minor and adjacent islands, especially Lesbos, and the Doric in Pelo ponnesus and Sicily. Of the iEolic school, the earliest poet was Callinus (700 n.c.); after him came Archilochus, so famed for.bis cutting satires, written in iambic verse; Tyrtmus, and Simonides of Amorgos, who contests with Archilochus the honor of having invented iambic verse. Memos and Sappho (about 610 n.e.) represent the /Eolie school in its perfection. Nor must we forget the school-boy's favorite, Anacreon (about 520 u.c.), to whom, however, are attributed many pieces which are not considered genuine. Of the Doric or choral school, it may suffice to mention Aleman, Stesichorus, Anion, Simonides, Bacchylides, and greatest of all in every known variety of choral poetry, Pindar (q.v.) the Theban (522 me.).
Greek literature reached its highest perfection in the tragedies of }Eschylus (b. 525, d. 456 n.c.); Sophocles (b. 495, d. 405 n.c.); and Euripides (b. 480, d. 406 B.c.). The writers who endeavored to follow in the track of these three great masters were of far inferior merit, and with them tragedy degenerated to the effeminacy of lyrical songs and mere rhetorical bombast.
Comedy, like tragedy, took its origin from the worship of Bacchus. The three great names of the old Attic comedy are Cratinus, Eupolis, and Aristophanes (b. 452, d. 380 B.c.). In middle comedy, we have the names of Antiphanes and Alexis; and in new comedy Philemon and Menander.
History did not engage the attention of the Greeks till a comparatively late period. Passing over the names of Cadmus of Miletus, Pherecydes of Scyros, Heeattvus, and Charon of Lampsaeus, we come to Herodotus, the father of history, or, as he has been called, the Homer of history, who flourished about 440; Thucydides, about 430; and Xenophon, about 400. In later times, we find Polybius (204-122 n.e.); Dionysius, of Halicarnassus, who flourished about 20 B.C.; Diodorus Siculus, a contemporary of Julius. and Augustus Cmsar; Plutarch; Appian (in time of Hadrian and Antoffi•ts Pius); Arrian (time of Hadrian); and Dion Cassius. In geography, we have Strabo and Pausanius. In satire, the palm is carried off by Lucian (q.v.). In oratory it may be sufficient to names of Antiphon, (b. 480 n.c.), Andocides (467 me.), Lysias (458 n.c.), Isocrates (436 n.c), tEschines. the great rival of Demosthenes (389 n.c.). ITyperides; and last and greatest of all, Demosthenes (385 B.c.). On the philosophers, see PHILOSOPHY. • Literature (modern).—The literature of modern Greece is still in its infancy. No work of importance appeared previous to the revolution; but since the establishment of the kingdom in 1829, more life has been infused into the men of a literary bent. The names of the brothers Panagiotis and Alexander Soutsos are well known to many in England. They have written dramas, love-songs, novels, lyrics, and a poem (by Alexander) in the style of Bvron's Childe Harold, detailing the wanderings, sights, and adventures of a Greek in Prance and Italy. In most of these there is much merit, though few readers can fully appreciate the style and handling. Among dramatic writers, Neruulos, ltangavis, and Charmouzis hold a foremost place. The Memoirs of Different Battles fought between the Greeks and Turks from 1820 to 1829, by Perrievos, is a well-written book. In grammar and lexicography, Banvas, Gennadios, Scarlatto Byzantino, others have done good service to the cause of learning. But of all the Neo-Helleme works yet published, the History of the Greek Resolution by Tricoupis is the most valu able—valuable not only for its statement and facts, but also for the purity and elegance its style. Many newspapers and other periodicals, in Neo-Hellenic, are .published at Athens, Constantinople, London, and elsewhere; but the expense of these literary efforts is in most cases borne by wealthy Greek merchants now so frequently met with in the west of Europe. It will require many years of good government, of national industry and prosperity, before Greece can expect to assume that position in the world of letters which the prestige of her name entitles her to anticipate.
History early history of Greece is lost in the mist of ages. The legends of gods and heroes, which constitute her only approach to history, are of that marvelous kind in which a superstitious and ignorant age delights. But how much truth may underlie the stories of Cecrops, Cadmus, Danaus, Theseus, Heracles, and many others, it is difficult to say; or to what extent the events of the Argonautic expe dition, Trojan war, hunt of the Calydonian boar, and other joint-stock exploits may be real, historians can never hope to discover. The heroic age is roughly estimated as continuing from 1400 to 1200 B.C.; but all Greek chronology is mere guess until the first Olympiad, 776 B.C. Of the migrations which took place during these early days, and of the numerous colonies planted by the Greeks, it is unnecessay to speak in this brief sketch; nor can we do more than merely refer to the wars of the Spartans against the Messenians, which, beginning in 743 73.C., did not ultimately terminate until Ithome was destroyed in the third Messenian war, 455 B.C. Meantime, wars of less magnitude are carried on in different parts of Greece; Solon legislates at Athens (594 n.c,); Pisistratus and his sons enjoy the " tyrannis" at Athens from 560 B.(7. to 510 n.c.; Crcesns, king of Lydia, and Cyrus the great, his conqueror, arc brought into contact with the Asiatic dreeks (560-542 n.c.). And now, in 499 B.C., the haul ing of Sardis by the Athenians and Ionians leads to those three invasions of Greece by the Persians which end so gloriously for Greece, and so disastrously for Persia, and with the particulars of which all are so well acquainted. The first, under Mar donius, in 492 B.C.. is everted by the shipwreck of the invading fleet off Mount Athos; the second, under Dais and Artaphernes, in 490 B.C., is hurled back from Marathon; and the third, under Xerxes, 480 B.C., is utterly shattered at Thermopylae, Salamis, and Platcea. Greece is now a mighty name, but the Athenians become the ruling state, and their supremacy continues till 404 Meantime, disunion at home succeeds the contests with foreign enemies. The great Peloponnesian war begins in 431 B.C., and wastes the energies of Greece for 27 years, until the subjugation and partial demolition of Athens, in 404 B.C., put an end for a time to the fratricidal struggle. It was in 415 B.C., the 17th of this war, that the famous and unfortunate expedition to Sicily took place. Under Pericles, who was the ruling spirit of Athens at the commence ment of the war, but who died of the great plague in 429 B.C., the Athenians reached the highest pitch of excellence in sculpture and architecture; then were raised some of those wondrous buildings whose remains still excite the admiration of posterity at a distance of more than 2,000 years. In 401 B.C. the expedition of Cyrus the younger to dethrone his brother Artaxerxes, took place; the battle of Cunaxa, in which Cyrus was slain, was fought in the same year. Cyrus had employed Greek mercenaries, and this brief war is specially famed for the masterly retreat of the 10,000 Greeks under Xenophon the Athenian in 401-400 RC, The next year (399 n.c.), Socrates the phi losopher, the teacher of Plato and Xenophon, was put to death. After the defeat of the Athenians in the Peloponnesian war, the Spartan state became the leading power in Greece, and was engaged in four wars in sucession-1. the Elena (399-398 n.c.); 2. the Corinthian (395-387 B.C.); 3. the Olynthiau (380-379 n.c.); 4. the Theban (378-362 n.c.). The great Spartan hero of these troublous times was Agesilaus, whose panegyric has been written by Xenophon with a friendly pen. During these eventful years were fought the battles of Coronea and of Corinth (394 me.), Orchomenus (375 n.c.), Leuctra (371 n.c.), Mantinea, in which the Theban hero, Epaminondas, was slain, 362 B.C. In 359 B.C. Philip ascends the throne of Macedonia, and a few years afterwards finds occasion to intermeddle in the affairs of Greece. Some of the allies of Athens renounce his supremacy, and thus arises the social war (357-355 n.c.), in which Athens loses many of her tributaries, and much of her revenue. The sacred war (355-346 u.c.) immediately follows, in which Philip takes part. About this time (352 n.c.), Demos thenes delivered the first of those powerful orations against Philip, called Philippics. In the battle of Chmronei a (338 n.c.), the Athenians and Thebans are utterly defeated by Philip; and at the congress of Corinth, in the following year, lie is appointed gen eralissimo of the Greek forces against Persia. But the hand of the assassin cut him off at a marriage-feast in Macedonia; and after an unsuccessful revolt against his son Alexander, the Greeks arc compelled to bestow upon the youthful hero the same high military office with which they had intrusted his father. The events of Alexander's career are well known. From this time Greece becomes an appanage of the Macedonian kingdom, until Macedon is in turn overcome by the Romans. During the wars which arose among the successors of Alexander, Greece was always the bone of contention; she suffered in consequence many hardships and enjoyed but few lulls of peace. The last struggle for Grecian liberty was made by the Achnan League (a con federacy of cities at one time embracing all Peloponnesus, which had a common object, a common council, and a common chief or strategus), lint it too fell before the conquer ing arms of Rome, and after the capture of Corinth in 146 n.c. by the consul Mummius, the once mighty Greece became a province of the Roman empire.