Beginning about 500 BC, Greek artists and architects began working at an unprecedented level of sophistication, paralleling the rise of Athens as a Mediterranean power. This program illustrates the awakening of that classical Greek vision, from which emerged the most influential sculptures and buildings of Western culture. With detailed visual analysis of the Parthenon, its frieze in the British Museum, the theater at Epidavros, and other exemplary works, The Greek Awakening offers a wide-ranging tour of the nation’s most enduring monuments and an understanding of their relationship to classical Greek identity. (24 minutes)
Use Sparknotes to further your understanding of literature. Sparknotes has summaries and character profiles for thousands of pieces of literature, including the Brontë sisters, works by the Shelleys, William Blake, and other literature studied in English 242. Simply use the search box in Sparknotes.
Homer: The Odyssey (eBook) by
This handy guide to The Odyssey will introduce students to a text, which has been fundamental to literature for nearly 3000 years. Readers will be introduced to the world in that the Odyssey was produced, to the text itself and to its origins in oral poetry. This volume gives a summary of the poem and examines its structure. The unity, values and techniques of the poem are clearly outlined, as are the reasons for its longstanding appeal. This guide delves into the diverse world of the story; that of monsters, gods, and enchantresses which interacts with the very different world of the home, marriage and the family. Students will be introduced to the essential themes of loyalty and betrayal, and guided through the narrative of Odysseus' adventures, which also illustrate the workings of the world and the justice of heaven. Readers will also find a very helpful guide to further reading.
Reading Sappho (eBook) by
"Reading Sappho" considers Sapphos poetry as a powerful, influential voice in the Western cultural tradition. Essays are divided into four sections: "Language and Literary Context," "Homer and Oral Tradition," "Ritual and Social Context," and "Womens Erotics." Contributors focus on literary history, mythic traditions, cultural studies, performance studies, recent work in feminist theory, and more.
The Aeneid by
In dramatic and narrative power, Virgil's "Aeneid" is the equal of its great Homeric predecessors, "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." It surpasses them, however, in the intense sympathy it displays for its human actors-a sympathy that makes events such as Aeneas's escape from Troy and search for a new homeland, the passion and the death of Dido, the defeat of Turnus, and the founding of Rome among the most memorable in literature. This celebrated translation by Robert Fitzgerald does full justice to the speed, clarity, and stately grandeur of the Roman Empire's most magnificent literary work of art. (Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
The Epic by
- Each volume's introduction presents Bloom's general overview of the genre and his thoughts on its development - Each volume's bibliographic information is genre specific and directs the reader to additional resources for further study - All essays are written by Harold Bloom
The Iliad by 
Who's Who in the Greek World by
Was there such a person as Homer? Who were the key figures in the first democracy of the Western World? Who is the father of tragedy? Who is the father of history? Of all the world's ancient civilisations, it is perhaps the Ancient Greece that has the strongest hold over the modern imagination. The history, philosophy and literature continue to intrigue and enthral. Now John Hazel has compiled the definitive biographical guide to the Greek and Hellenistic world from 750 BC to the end of the Roman Empire. The lives of Alexander the Great, Socrates and Plato are opened up, but so too are those of lesser-known figures: Bacchylides the lyric poet; Chares the general; and the traitor Ephialtes, giving a thorough and fascinating overview of life in Ancient Greece.
