Intro: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Literature (Volume A)

• original purposes for writing

• Mesopotamia, 3300–2900 B.C.E.

• pictographs• wedge marks,

2800 B.C.E.

Invention of Writing

Writing Forms• hieroglyphs, “sacred

carvings”• Egypt, Sumer, and

scribal culture• Phoenician alphabet

Cuneiform• wedge-shaped script• 2100 B.C.E.

• clay tablets• Sumerians

Background• slavery• Nile, Euphrates, Tigris

valleys• polytheism• orthopraxy, orthodoxy

The Greeks• Minoa, Crete• Linear B• fire and oral traditions• Phoenician influence• city-state structure

and influence on writing

Persian Influence

Sparta and Athens

• Sparta, oligarchy• Attica, democracy• rights for slaves and

women• political approach• Spartan defeat of

Athens, 404 B.C.E.

Herodotus

• nomos• historia• abduction of women• Persian culture

Greek Education and Culture

• children’s education• slave tutors• Sophists• Socrates

Macedonian Rule• Greek city-states• King Philip, Macedon• Alexander,

imperialism• Ptolemy, Egypt• Hellenism• koine

Rome

• tradition (mos maiorum)• seriousness (gravitas)• courage (virtus)• industry (diligentia)• duty (pietas)• Catullus, Virgil, Ovid• origins and themes of Latin literature• Julius and Octavian, empire and Republic

Roman Values

The Ancient Middle East

The Persian Empire

Greece during the Peloponnesian War

Roman Expansion

The earliest literature took the form of: _________ .

a. oral stories and songsb. poems collected in anthologiesc. stories in holy booksd. epics inscribed on stone tablets

Test Your Knowledge

The earliest written documents (dating from about 3300–2990 B.C.E.) were: ___________ .

a. epic poetryb. political and legal records c. religious textsd. historical fiction

Test Your Knowledge

One of the earliest literary texts was the Sumerian poem called The Epic of Gilgamesh (NAWOL, Volume A). What writing system was used to first record this epic poem?

a. Phoenicianb. Latinc. cuneiformd. hieroglyphics

Test Your Knowledge

Most ancient cultures were: ___________.

a. monotheisticb. atheisticc. polytheisticd. dualistic

Test Your Knowledge

During the Dark Ages of Greece, Greeks lost which of the following?

a. wealthb. writing c. industryd. all of the above

Test Your Knowledge

As Greece emerged from its Dark Ages, what empire ruled most of Asia Minor?

a. Romanb. Persianc. Egyptiand. Indo-European

Test Your Knowledge

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The Norton Anthology Of World Literature.

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The Norton Anthology

Of World Literature