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Greek

Chinese
 Roman

Ancient
Civilizations
Hebrew Sumerian

Indian Egyptian
ANCIENT LITERATURE

CHARACTERISTICS
 Provides entertainment
 Handed through oral tradition
 Historical, mythological, theological or philosophical
in nature
 Forms such as hymns, poetry and epic tales
 Themes are love, war, sacrifice, devotion
Socrates

“the wisest, and most


just, and best of all men
whom I have ever
known”
–Plato
Plato

Aristocles, his actual
name
Socrates’ prized student
Socrates is usually the
main character in many
of Plato's writings
Aristotle

Plato’s best student
served as the teacher of a
thirteen year old
Alexander
He was endlessly
fascinated with nature.

Ancient Greek Literature

Forms the basis of Liberal Arts
education, and has been taught since
organized education began. Includes
philosophical treatises, epic poetry, myths
and plays.
Zeus / Jupiter

King of the gods
God of air
Uses Thunderbolts as
his weapon
Womanizer – married
his own sister
Son of Cronos and Rhea
Most powerful Jupiter is so named
because it is so big – it
is the “King of Planets”
Poseidon / Neptune

God of the sea and
earthquakes
Zeus’ brother
Son of Cronos and Rhea
2nd most powerful
Neptune is so
named because
the blue looks
like water
Hades / Pluto

 God of the Underworld and
Wealth
 King of the dead but he is not
Death
 Zeus’ brother
 Son of Cronos and Rhea
 Has a helmet that makes the
wearer invisible
 3rd most powerful
Hera / Juno

Queen of the gods
Protector of marriage
Wife/sister of Zeus

No planet, but there is an


asteroid named after her plus
a city in Alaska
Hestia / Vesta

Daughter of Cronos
and Rhea
Zeus’ sister – Oldest
of the original gods
Asteroid Vesta
Demeter / Ceres

Daughter of Cronos and Rhea
Goddess of vegetation
Had powers of growth and
resurrection
Her daughter is Persephone

The asteroid Ceres was the first


asteroid ever discovered and is one
of the largest (about the size of
Texas). It almost became a
designated as a planet
Phoebus/ Apollo

God of truth, light,
archery, and healing
Son of Zeus and Leto
Wolves, dolphins, and
crows are sacred to him

Apollo asteroids are


near-earth asteroids
Artemis / Diana

Apollo’s Twin sister
Goddess of the hunt,
wild things, and
crossways
She is the moon
goddess sometimes
The Artemis
Virgin goddess navigation
As Diana, she is also a satellite
goddess of light
Aphrodite / Venus

 Goddess of

beauty and love
 Mother of
Eros/Cupid
 Wife of
Hephaestus/Vul
can but lover of
Venus is so named
Ares/Mars and because it is a beautiful
other guys planet and can be easily
seen with just the eye
•Born from the foam in the sea caused by
the attack of Cronos/ Saturn on
Ouranus/Uranus
Hephaestus / Vulcan

 God of fire and the forge
 Son of Zeus and Hera
 Lame because he was
thrown off Mt. Olympus for
interfering with a fight
between Hera and Zeus
 Husband to Aphrodite
Ares / Mars

God of War
Son of Zeus and Hera
Aphrodite’s lover
Mars and
its moons,
Phobos
and
Deimos
Eros / Cupid

God of love
Son of Ares and
Aphrodite
Often portrayed as a
child, but not always.
He has wings
Uses a bow and arrow –
arrows cause one to fall in
love
Momma’s boy
Eros is a near earth asteroid
Athena / Minerva

Goddess of wisdom and
defensive war
Daughter of Zeus and Metis
(titan)
She carries a shield with
Medusa’s head on it
Minerva was a tiny
robot designed by
the Japanese to
land on an asteroid,
but got lost in
space.
Hermes / Mercury

Messenger god and


the god of thieves
Very fast
Son of Zeus and Maia
Loves Aphrodite
Greeks believed he
guided souls to Hades
The Hermes Asteroid

Mercury revolves around the sun so fast, it was


named for the messenger god. One year is faster
than one day on Mercury
Dionysus / Bacchus

Son of Zeus and



Semele
God of wine and
happiness
In some areas of
Greece, his worship
was outlawed (too
dirty)
The Bacchus asteroid
Anglo-Saxon (Old English)
Literature

Primarily consists of poems already
circulating in oral form at the time they
were first written down. The bulk of the
prose literature is historical or religious
in nature.
Beowulf
Middle English Literature

 The transitional period between Anglo-Saxon and
Modern English Literature. This time period saw a
flowering of secular literature, including ballads and
allegorical poems.
 Petrarch Petrarchan sonnets
 Dante Alighieri The Divine Comedy
 Geoffrey Chaucer The Canterbury Tales
The Renaissance

The period is characterized by the
influence of the classics (in literature,
language, and philosophy), as well
as an optimistic forward-thinking
approach to the potential of
humans.
The Renaissance (cont’d)

 William Shakespeare Plays & sonnets
 Christopher Marlowe Pastoral poetry
 Ben Jonson: Satirical plays & lyric
poetry
 John Donne: Metaphysical poetry
Romanticism

Romantic artists wished to
move away from the formality
of the previous generation.
Strong emotion became a
source of aesthetic experience.
The Victorian Period

Victorian novels tend to be
idealized portraits of difficult lives
in which hard work, perseverance,
love and luck win out in the end;
virtue would be rewarded and
wrongdoers are suitably punished.
They often contain a central moral
lesson or theme.
Modernism

Modernism provided a radical
break with traditional modes of
literature. Its main characteristics
were stylistic innovations -
disruption of traditional syntax and
form – and an obsession with
primitive attitudes (violence, self-
centeredness).
Postmodernism

Because the postmodernism
movement continues to this
day, the period’s definition is
constantly changing.
World Literature
Ancient Literature
 English) Literature
Anglo-Saxon (Old
Middle English Literature
The Renaissance
Romanticism
The Victorian Period
Modernism
Postmodernism/ 21st Century
Literature
21st Century Literature

IM









Famous Graphic Novel










21 st Century Literature

Illustrated Novels
Digi-Fictions
Graphic Novels
Doodle Fiction
Text-Talk Novels

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