Greek literature

Preclassical Greek literature primarily revolved around myths and include the works of Homer; the Iliad and the Odyssey.

During the Roman era, significant contributions were made in a variety of subjects, including history, philosophy, and the sciences.

Poems created in the Preclassical period were meant to be sung or recited (writing was little known before the 7th century BC).

Of the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during this time period, only a limited number of plays survived.

The Hellenistic age is defined as the time between the death of Alexander the Great and the rise of Roman domination.

Greek poetry flourished with significant contributions from Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes.

Theocritus, who lived from about 310 to 250 BC, was the creator of pastoral poetry, a type that the Roman Virgil mastered in his Eclogues.

Literature in Greek in the Roman period contributed significant works to the subjects of poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.

Significant historians of the period were Timaeus, Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian of Alexandria, Arrian, and Plutarch.

The physician Galen pioneered developments in various scientific disciplines including anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, and neurology.

Byzantine literature combined Greek and Christian civilization on the common foundation of the Roman political system.

Byzantine literature possesses four primary cultural elements: Greek, Christian, Roman, and Oriental.

[9] Digenes Akritas (Διγενῆς Ἀκρίτας) is the most famous of the Acritic songs and is often regarded as the only surviving epic poem from the Byzantine Empire.

This period saw the revival of Greek and Roman studies and the development of Renaissance humanism[10] and science.

The Greek authors George Seferis and Odysseas Elytis have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.