Ancient Greek Storytelling

Many people are familiar with stories from Ancient Greece. Famous stories like that of Oedipus, Medusa, and the Gods. In fact, people like Rick Riordan, the author of Percy Jackson, have adapted such stories into a series for children. That specific series helped spark my own interest in Ancient Greek history and storytelling. Ancient Greek stories have incredibly important symbolism, virtues, and morals. These stories also gave way to more complex, flawed characters. Greeks are also responsible for tragedy, comedy, and other genres. Many people praise the Greeks on how aware they were, painfully aware of the ugly parts of life. Some of the most famous Greek authors were Homer, Hesiod, and Sophocles. Famous stories from Greece were already popular before writing made its way to that region. People would tell these stories orally and they would travel from person to person. Today we will be talking about the hand Ancient Greek storytelling has had in modern storytelling. 

In order to properly understand this type of storytelling you will need to learn some history about it. In the 12th century BCE, the two most famous and well known storytellers were Homer and Aesop. Perhaps one of the most famous stories of this period was that of The Tortoise and the Hare, which I’m sure most people are familiar with. Stories like this were the main type of entertainment during this time, and would often be accompanied by music or actors to make them even more interesting and easily understandable. Stories would be in the forms of fables, legends or myths, each with their own meaning. A fable would be a short story with a moral, a legend was a story that happened in the past, and a myth is a mythical story about gods and goddesses. From these stories, an entire culture branched out. They helped to create a common language for the Greeks, it began the contemplation of philosophy, and it traveled. Plays began to come out of these stories, which evolved into the modern day tv show. Different forms of storytelling, oral, written, performed, all began to blossom. 

In modern day we have an extensive list of ways to entertain ourselves. Many of which branched out from Greek storytelling. The reason we have more complex stories and characters that help us to understand our lives is because of the Greeks and other ancient civilizations. Greeks are known as possibly the most sophisticated ancient civilization, and are credited for the complexity of writing and art. Many children today are still told the story of The Tortoise and the Hare because of the important meaning behind it: the slow and steady win the race. This helps teach the value of quality over quantity, and teaches how important effort can be over talent. Many of these stories are told today, either in the same or different forms, to communicate important values and morals for children and adults. The plays that became of these stories eventually became the shows that we watch now after centuries of evolution and technology. Greeks had a direct hand in the creation of modern entertainment. 

In conclusion, many people will overlook this ancient history because it is no longer relevant, but these stories are being retold and told again today. The Greeks showed to everyone how powerful a story can be by having their stories travel miles and years for people to enjoy everywhere. 

Citations

Wasson, D. L. (2022, October 30). Ancient greek literature. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.worldhistory.org/Greek_Literature/