S4_Early Authors & Pre-Socratic Philosophers

• Homer - author of the Iliad and the Odyssey; said to have been blind.
• The Iliad: By Homer; epic poem, 24 books long, in dactylic hexameter, tells the story of the wrath of Achilles during the Trojan War.
• The Odyssey: By Homer, epic poem, also in dactylic hexameter, and 24 books long, tells the story of the return of the Greek hero Odysseus to his home in Ithaca, and his revenge on the suitors.
• There are also Homeric hymns to Demeter, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, Dionysius.
• Hesiod - the other master of early Greek epic poetry besides Homer, lived c 700B.C., wrote the Theogony, Works and Days
• Theogony: By Hesiod, poem in dactylic hexameter, an account of the births of the gods, talks about the early gods, the Titans, and the Olympians.
• Works and Days: poem in dactylic hexameter, written to Hesiod’s brother Perses; talks about farming, mentions the five ages of man (Golden, Silver, Bronze, Heroic, and Iron) and mentions Prometheus and Pandora.
• Aesop - author of well-known fables, enslaved person from Egypt or Thrace, lived on Samos
• Alcaeus - poet born in the late-seventh century from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, conflicted with the tyrant Pittacus, went to Egypt, then reconciled with Pittacus and returned home. His work survives only in fragments. He wrote lyrical songs about a variety of topics, such as politics, love, and hymns to the gods. Like Archilochus, threw down his shield and ran from a battle.
• Alcman - lyric poet who lived in Sparta in the late seventh century. He was mainly known for partheneia, which are songs sung by a chorus of maidens at religious festivals.
• What are partheneia?

  Songs sung by a chorus of maidens at religious festivals.
• Anacreon - lyric poet of the early sixth century, born in Teos, an Ionian Greek city, moved to the tyrant, Polycrates’ court on Samos. After Polycrates’ fall, he moved to Athens. He wrote in Ionian Greek, in lyric, iambic, and elegiac poetry. These are about love and the pleasures of life.
• Anaximander - Pre-socratic philosopher from Miletus, lived c 610-545, first Greek known to have written a book in prose. This book, concerning nature, is lost. He is said to have constructed the first map of the Earth.
• Anaximenes - Presocratic philosopher from Miletus, younger contemporary of Anaximander (therefore he lived in the mid-sixth century). He believed that the primary substance was air, but his writings are lost to us.
• Archilochus - poet from Paros lived in the mid-seventh century. He also wrote a poem in which he leaves behind his shield in battle, a great dishonor, in order to survive. He was the first to use the term iambic for the meter of some of his poems.
• Arion - largely legendary lyric poet of the seventh century, said to have been born on Lesbos, and to have been a pupil of Alcman. He later lived at the court of Periander in Corinth. According to legend, while on the way back from a visit to Italy, he was thrown overboard by pirates, but a dolphin, charmed by Arion’s singing, carried him to land. He is credited with inventing the dithyramb, a form of choral lyric poetry.
• Bacchylides - lyric poet from Ceos, lived in the late sixth and early to middle fifth centuries; the nephew of the poet Simonides. He wrote odes for victors at games, in a similar style to Pindar (sometimes the two wrote about the same games, such as the Olympian games of 476 and Pythians of 470), and wrote hymns and other songs. He was considered by Aristotle to be a forerunner to tragedy.
• Empedocles - Pre-Socratic philosopher of the fifth century, who believed that the universe consists of four elements: air, fire, water, and earth. He is said to have composed two poems, On Nature, and Purifications.
• Heracleitus - philosopher from Ephesus who wrote On Nature, and said that the primary element is fire. He was later known as ‘the weeping philosopher’.
• Herodotus - author of the History of the Persian Wars, which is 9 books long; he was born in Asia Minor. His history contains earlier events and a large amount of cultural information.
• Ibycus - According to legend he was attacked by robbers while a flock of cranes was passing overhead. Before the robbers killed him, he exclaimed, “Those cranes will avenge me.” Afterwards, one of the robbers was in a crowded theater, and seeing a flock of cranes overhead, said, “There go the avengers of Ibycus.” His comment was overheard and the robbers were brought to justice.
• Parmenides - Pre-Socratic philosopher from Elea, founded the Eleatic school of philosophy. He wrote the Way of Truth and the Way of Seeming, which are one poem in two parts.
• Pindar - lyric poet from Thebes, in Boeotia, lived c 518-440, wrote odes to the victors at the four great games. Therefore, he wrote Olympian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian odes. He is said to have been instructed by Corinna. His house was the only one in Thebes spared by Alexander the Great when he leveled the city. He wrote in Doric Greek and wrote an ode to Hieron I of Syracuse, as well as to other Sicilian tyrants. He is considered by many to be the greatest Greek lyric poet.
• Pythagoras - Pre-Socratic philosopher of the sixth century, left no writings, believed in an immortal soul, which is rational and reincarnated into different bodies based on choices made in the past life (the transmigration of souls). He is credited with the theorem that bears his name.
• Sappho - lyric poetess from Lesbos, lived in the late-seventh century; a contemporary of Alcaeus, while young she went into exile in Sicily because of political troubles on Lesbos. Her poems are about love. One of these poems was translated by Catullus in his poem 51. It concerns her love of a girl at mere sight, while a young man beside her is unmoved by the same thing. She was called the ‘tenth muse’.
• Semonides - iambic and elegiac poet from Samos, and later Amorgos; lived in the mid-seventh century. He wrote in Ionic Greek and only a few fragments of his poems survive.
• Simonides - lyric and elegiac poet from Ceos, lived from 556-468; the uncle of the poet Bacchylides, he is most famous for epigrams. He wrote epitaphs (odes) for the Athenian dead at Marathon and the Spartan dead at Thermopylae.
• Stesichorus - lyric poet said to have been born in Matauros in Italy, and to have lived in Himera in Sicily; his real name was Teisias and he lived in the early sixth century. He wrote many poems, of which only fragments survive. He is most famous for supposedly being struck blind for slandering Helen in one of his poems.
• Seven Sages - name given by Greek tradition to a group of seven men: statesmen, lawgivers, and philosophers.
• The Seven Sages are:

  • Bias
  • Chilon
  • Cleobulus of Rhodes
  • Periander
  • Pittacus
  • Solon
  • Thales
• Periander: Fourth of the Seven Sages; tyrant of Corinth c 625-585, brought Corinth to its greatest prosperity and promoted the arts
• Pittacus: Fifth of the Seven Sages; a statesmen from Mytilene on Lesbos, feuded with Alcaeus, later became dictator in Mytilene
• Solon: Sixth of the Seven Sages; Athenian lawgiver, archon in 594-93; also a poet and known for his wisdom. His most important law was the seisachtheia, which ended enslavement for debt and all current debts. He is said to have visited Croesus, and told him that no man may count himself lucky until he is dead. He went into voluntary exile after enacting his laws.
• Thales: Seventh of the Seven Sages; Pre-Socratic philosopher, lived in Miletus c 600; he was the earliest Greek scientist. He is said to have predicted an eclipse of the sun in 585, and he believed the primary substance was water