1. Sophocles increased the number of actors who could be on stage at one time from two to three. 2. He enlarged the chorus from 12 to 15 members.
The major works of Hesiod are 'Theogony' and 'Works and Days'. 'Theogony' concerns the origin of the gods, while 'Works and Days' provides advice to his brother on living a life of honest work. In his works, Hesiod gives quite a bit of information about himself, such as living and tending sheep in Ascra in Boeotia, and that his father was an immigrant from Asia Minor (Cyme in Aeolia).
The play often does not end well for the main character(s), leading to pain, suffering, and/or death.
The two most famous works attributed to Homer are the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Iliad concerns the wrath of Achilles during the Trojan War, while the Odyssey concerns Odysseus' long journey home from the Trojan War.
The misinterpretation of divine communication and the false sense of reality it represents often leads to the pain, suffering, and/or death of one or more of the main characters.
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer who flourished around 150 CE. His notable work is the 'Description of Greece', the only surviving example of an ancient travel guide, which documents and describes the monuments, rituals, and local 'history' of many urban centers and their surroundings in regions of southern Greece.
Theogony is a poem by Hesiod in which he outlines the origins of the gods and the cosmos, and how Zeus and the Olympian gods achieved domain over the cosmos. It is written in a genealogical style with small narratives concerning key figures.
'Varied History' by Aelian concerns ethics, historical and cultural curiosities, and anecdotes about famous figures from the historical and mythological past.
Arnobius, active at the end of the 3rd century and beginning of the 4th century CE, was a teacher of rhetoric in North Africa who converted to Christianity around 295 CE. To prove his full conversion, he wrote 'Adversus Nationes', in which he attacked those who argued that Christ was a mortal magician and defended the positive impact of Christianity.
The Catalogue of Women is a poem traditionally attributed to Hesiod, which documents heroic genealogies and narrates the deeds of key heroes. It is written in a genealogical style and survives only in fragments. Many scholars now believe it was written in the 6th century BCE.
The three famous Athenian tragedians are Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Euripides produced around 90 plays, of which only 18 (or 19) survive. More of his works survive from antiquity than those of Aeschylus (7) and Sophocles (7) combined. Although Euripides was the least popular during his lifetime, winning the Great Dionysia only four times out of approximately 22 competitions, his works became more popular by the Hellenistic Age. Euripides is regarded as the least conventional by both ancient and modern critics, known for making the chorus more decorative and modifying traditional tales.
The 'Bibliotheca' by Apollodorus is significant because it provides a thorough summary and organization of mythological material, including a great number of proper names and genealogical information. It is valuable for preserving many names and versions of myths that might otherwise be lost. However, it lacks elements like character development, dramatic tension, and plot twists, presenting the material in a barebones, scholarly manner.
'Adversus Nationes' by Arnobius contains arguments against the idea that Christ was a mere mortal magician and defends Christianity against claims that it worsened the world. The work amasses a large amount of antiquarian knowledge, including traditional tales, which are valuable for modern studies of mythology.
'Recognition' is used for tragic effect, as protagonists often fail to understand the divine messages sent to them until it is too late, leading to their downfall.
Ovid, or Publius Ovidius Naso, was a famous Roman poet who lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE. His notable works include the Amores (elegies concerning the misadventures of a poet in love), the Ars Amatoria (the 'Art of Love', a poem concerning the arts of courtship and erotic intrigue), the Metamorphoses (a collection of tales deriving from Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern myth united by the theme of 'change'), and the Tristia ('sorrows', letters concerning his suffering during his exile to a town on the Black Sea).
Euripides' play 'Medea' is significant because it features Medea's intentional and rationalized killing of her children, a modification of the traditional tale that became influential and almost canonical. Euripides is known for modifying traditional tales to tell his stories while keeping the characters and structure of the story the same, playing with his audience’s expectations of the gods, heroes, and women.
The 'Argonautica' by Apollonius of Rhodes is characterized by its Homeric style, using hexameter and similar storytelling techniques. It incorporates the latest information and theories from fields such as geography, ethnography, physiology, and medicine. The main narrative of the myth is derived from various well-known authors, such as Pindar and Euripides.
The 'stage' is an element of theatre where actors perform. It is a platform or area where the action of a play is presented to an audience.
Sophocles used the chorus as he would actors, involving them directly in the action of the plot.
1. Oracles 2. Dreams 3. The reading of signs by seers
The Homeric Hymns are a collection of thirty-three anonymous ancient Greek hymns of varying length attributed to Homer in antiquity. They were composed in the same meter as the Iliad and the Odyssey, use many of the same poetic formulas, and are written in the same dialect. Most were composed in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, each in honor of a particular god, and were likely performed at festivals.
The Metamorphoses is a collection of tales by Ovid deriving from Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern myth, united by the theme of 'change'. It is important in the study of myth, especially since a number of traditional tales are only known through this work.
Key themes in Euripides' plays include: 1. Human isolation and inexplicable suffering 2. Failures of communication 3. The victimization of women and the drive to revenge Euripides is also known for his treatment of human psychology, particularly women's, and his plays often involve darker and more disturbing aspects of everyday reality.
Diodorus Siculus provides extensive information about Greek myths in his 'Bibliotheke'. For example: 1. Book IV contains summaries of many Greek myths. 2. Book V records events leading up to the Trojan War and Roman myths concerning the early history of Rome. Mythological information is also peppered throughout his discussions on various regions of the known world, such as Egypt (Book I), Asia (Book II), Africa (Book III), and Europe (Book V).
'Scholars at a Banquet' by Athenaeus is set in a banquet in Rome attended by 29 guests. The work discusses a wide array of topics and is notable for its symposium format, which was started or made famous by Plato. Some of the banqueters may be based on real people.
The 'Bibliotheke' by Diodorus Siculus is a 'universal history' that covers the period from the beginnings of the world to 60-59 BCE, just before Julius Caesar conducted his campaign in Gaul, or when he started his campaign in Britain (54 BCE). Of the forty books he wrote, only books 1-5 and 11-20 have been transmitted to contemporary times in full. The work is valuable in the study of myth because it records myths and interpretations from important authors whose works otherwise do not survive.
Apollonius of Rhodes, active in the first half of the 3rd century BCE, was a royal tutor of the Ptolemy dynasty in Egypt and head librarian at the Library of Alexandria. His notable work is the 'Argonautica', the only piece of epic poetry to survive from the Hellenistic Age, which concerns the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts in their quest for the golden fleece.
Athenaeus, active in the late 2nd century AD, was likely from Naucratis in Egypt. His notable work is 'Scholars at a Banquet', a symposium-format text where banqueters discuss various topics. It is the largest surviving symposium work from antiquity.
Aelian, also known as Claudius Aelianus, was a Roman writer who lived from 161/77 to 230/8 CE. He wrote on a variety of subjects, including 'On the Characters of Animals' and 'Varied History'. 'On the Characters of Animals' survives in full, while 'Varied History' survives in an epitomized version and fragments.
Apollodorus or Pseudo-Apollodorus, active around the 2nd century CE, is the author of the 'Bibliotheca' or 'Library', a compendium of myth that serves as an ancient textbook of mythology. Modern scholarship has challenged the traditional attribution of this work to a scholar from Athens named Apollodorus.
