Reference
- Epic-Credo ReferenceThe poetic materials (both Indo-European and Near Eastern) out of which the Iliad and the Odyssey evolved have all but vanished into the half light and the total darkness of Greece's early history. Nor is it much clearer how the matter and manner of generations of earlier oral poets eventually found their way into the two poems that became the basis for the classical tradition of epic. All we can be sure of is that somehow or other, somewhere, someone began to shape a structure and a technique to match it that permitted the selection from a dim, tangled batch of heroic figures a single individual, "the best of the Achaeans," whose life and death could be made to seem the quintessence of the heroic society that produced him and others like him. The singer who decided to focus this poem on the wrath of Achilles and to chart the course of that wrath with perfect clarity may be said to have invented the idea of classical epic for Western poetry...
- Chorus-Credo ReferenceStemming from the Greek khoros referring to a band of singers and dancers, the chorus of ancient Greek theatre lies at the heart of contemporary acting practice, in which dialogue and conflict drive the action. Initially in Aeschylus’ dramas, the chorus comprised fifty people engaged in complex dance movements and intricate songs. He then divided up the chorus into four groups of twelve: thereafter, twelve (in tragedy) and twenty-four (in comedy) became the norm, until Sophocles expanded the tragic chorus to fifteen. Originally, the chorus sang a dithyramb or choral song in praise of the god of theatre and wine, Dionysus. In the sixth century BCE, Thespis is acknowledged to be the first actor who stepped out of the chorus to create dialogue between himself and the others, and from that point on dramatic form expanded...
- Greek theatre, ancient: Credo Reference*Aristotle argued for an *origin for drama in three genres of Dionysiac song and *dance: he derived *tragedy from ‘those who led the *dithyramb’ and from ‘a *satyr-play like performance’; *comedy he derived from ‘leaders of the phallic songs’. So far as we know drama in Classical Athens was performed only at festivals of the god Dionysus, but this was not true elsewhere or in later periods. Outside Athens, even in the fifth century, theatres were built in the sanctuaries, and dramas performed at festivals, of other gods. In later centuries drama's link with Dionysus appears still more tenuous. One might then freely doubt that drama originated in exclusively Dionysiac *ritual, especially as *costumes, *masks, and mythological pageants are also attested for the cults of the goddesses Artemis and Demeter, and minor mystery gods, called the Cabeiri. But the evidence we possess shows that Aristotle's claim is in outline correct, if over-schematic. Drama's most immediate antecedent was ritual entertainments at festivals of Dionysus, and particularly those entertainments in which a *chorus interacted with a ‘leader’, singing refrains, to what, in origin, was probably improvised verse...
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Credo Reference is an easy-to-use tool for starting research. Gather background information on your topic from hundreds of full-text encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, quotations, and subject-specific titles, as well as 500,000+ images and audio files and over 1,000 videos.
Databases
- Fine Arts This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Fine Arts is a collection that provides resources to support research in areas such as drama, music, art history, and filmmaking. You will find millions of articles on topics including drama, music, art history, and filmmaking.
- Humanities Source Ultimate This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
This link opens in a new window
Humanities Source Ultimate offers access to key content covering literary, scholarly, and creative thought. It also includes hundreds of scholarly full-text journals cited in leading subject indexes to round out student research.
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
JSTOR includes journal content, primary sources, images, and more across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.
- MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
MLA International Bibliography is a detailed bibliography of journal articles, books, and dissertations from the Modern Language Association.
What Is Writing?
- Kanopy This link opens in a new window
It has been said that writing exists only in a civilization and a civilization cannot exist without writing, but is that accurate? Consider the validity of this statement and examine several of the critical functions that writing has served during the past 5,000 years. Also, get an introduction to pictography and its limitations.
Mythology Lives! Ancient Stories & Modern Literature
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowThis program reacquaints students with stories of the past, points out their recurring themes and characters, and gives them a look at the modern day counterpart. Includes the triumph of good over evil(Superman), tragic love(Orpheus and Eurydice; Romeo and Juliet), innocence in peril(Little Red Riding Hood), and fatal beauty(Helen of Troy, Barbara Allen).
Perspectives
Aristotle's Children
Europe was in the long slumber of the Middle Ages, the Roman Empire was in tatters, and the Greek language was all but forgotten, until a group of twelfth-century scholars rediscovered and translated the works of Aristotle. His ideas spread like wildfire across Europe, offering the scientific view that the natural world, including the soul of man, was a proper subject of study. The rediscovery of these ancient ideas sparked riots and heresy trials, caused major upheavals in the Catholic Church, and also set the stage for today's rift between reason and religion. In Aristotle's Children, Richard Rubenstein transports us back in history, rendering the controversies of the Middle Ages lively and accessible-and allowing us to understand the philosophical ideas that are fundamental to modern thought.
A Guide to the Ancient World, H.W. Wilson
This useful companion to classical history reveals the ancient world - from Scotland to India and from Spain to the Black Sea - through the numerous sites of its history and legends.
Confronting the Classics
One of the world's leading historians provides a revolutionary tour of the Ancient World, dusting off the classics for the twenty-first century. Mary Beard, drawing on thirty years of teaching and writing about Greek and Roman history, provides a panoramic portrait of the classical world, a book in which we encounter not only Cleopatra and Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Hannibal, but also the common people--the millions of inhabitants of the Roman Empire, the slaves, soldiers, and women. How did they live? Where did they go if their marriage was in trouble or if they were broke? Or, perhaps just as important, how did they clean their teeth? Effortlessly combining the epic with the quotidian, Beard forces us along the way to reexamine so many of the assumptions we held as gospel--not the least of them the perception that the Emperor Caligula was bonkers or Nero a monster. With capacious wit and verve, Beard demonstrates that, far from being carved in marble, the classical world is still very much alive.
Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome
Including information that is often hard to find and even harder to decipher, this volume presents comprehensive coverage of ancient Roman civilization in a way that is interesting to read and easy to understand. Organized thematically, nine chapters provide in-depth analysis of all aspects of Roman life. For this updated edition, the authors have reviewed, revised, and expanded the existing text as needed and added approximately 20 to 30 new illustrations. The bibliography has been significantly expanded and the maps redrawn. Clear, authoritative, and highly organized, Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, Updated Edition provides a unique look at a society whose art, literature, law, and engineering have profoundly influenced the development and shape of Western civilization throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and up to today. Coverage includes: The Republic and the Empire Military affairs and the geography of the Roman world Towns and countryside, travel and trade, economy and industry Literature and the arts Religion and everyday life.
In Search of the Cradle of Civilization
For decades, schoolbooks have taught that Sumer was the cradle of civilization. Conventional scholarship has also held that Aryan civilization came to India by way of invasions from the north. But in this ground-breaking book, three renowned scholars show that there was no "Aryan invasion," and that India, not Sumer, was the cradle of civilized humanity. Through exploring the rich symbols, metaphors, and myths of the Vedas, this book also examines the wealth of India's spirituality and its relevance for today's world.
Legacy of Ancient Civilizations: Troy and Pergamum
- Kanopy This link opens in a new windowThough it is today a region of Turkey, the coastal area of Anatolia, or Asia Minor, was a thriving center of Greek culture in ancient times. Two cities there especially stand out - one for its connection to a work of literature, one for its connection to a work of art. The fabled city of Troy and its legendary ten-year siege by forces from mainland Greece became the subject of one of the cornerstones of western literature, Homer's Iliad. The frieze of the Great Altar of the city of Pergamum, now in a museum in Berlin, is one of the finest surviving examples of Hellenistic sculpture. These cities flourished many centuries apart, but their combined legacies give us today a remarkable glimpse into ancient Anatolian civilization.