UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO MORAZÁN

DEPARTAMENTO DE LA ENSEÑANZA DE LENGUAS

Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., Honduras, C.A.
LIN-2907 Universal Literature
Questionnaire
I-PAC 2024

1. What is Universal Literature?

R. It is how we encompass classical works from all periods with contemporary literature.

2. Why is it important to know about the literature that exists around the world?
R. Because literature transmits knowledge about other cultures, science, and technology.

3. Why do we call Greek Literature?

R. Because as it´s name says it refers to literary works written in Ancient Greek dialects.

4. How is Greek Literature age divided?

R. Greek Literature age is divided into 3 periods: Pre-Classical, Classical and Hellenistic.

5. Which are the most important or epic books from Pre-Classical Literature?
R. The Iliad and the Odyssey of Homer. They are considered the most important book of that
era because history places them as the first written work.

6. What is The Iliad about?

R. It is an epic poem about events during the Trojan War. It is arranged in twenty-four books,
although this division may have been made some time after its original composition. The
Iliad deals specifically with the wrath of the hero Achilles: caused by a dispute with
Agamemnon (the commander of the Greek force) this argument has fateful consequences
for the interests of the Greeks at Troy.

As a result of the quarrel, Achilles withdraws from the fight, and refuses to return even when
the Greeks promise him fabulous rewards. It is only when his friend Patroclus is killed in the
fighting that he re-enters the war, wearing splendid new armour crafted for him by the god
Hephaestus. The Iliad ends with the single combat between Achilles and Hector (a prince of
Troy and champion of the Trojan warriors) and Hector's death and funeral.

7. What is The Odyssey about?

R. The Odyssey follows the story of the king of Ithaca's journey home after the fall of Troy.
Odysseus left his land and wife to join the battle of Troy on the day his son, Telemachus,
was born. The battle of Troy lasted 10 years, and Odysseus has been struggling for ten
years to get home.
In the meantime, Telemachus has grown into a man about 20 years old. Odysseus's wife,
Penelope, has struggled to maintain the rule of the land. Suitors, a group of men looking to
usurp the throne by marrying Penelope, have overrun the place Odysseus called home. Led
by Antinous and Eurymachus, two arrogant and deceitful suitors, the horde of men has
pillaged Ithaca and pressured Penelope to remarry since they are all but certain that
Odysseus is dead. They plan to assassinate Telemachus as the young prince is next in line
to rule Ithaca.
 UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO MORAZÁN
DEPARTAMENTO DE LA ENSEÑANZA DE LENGUAS
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., Honduras, C.A.
LIN-2907 Universal Literature
Questionnaire
I-PAC 2024

8. Who were the most prominent writers and what were their writings about in the Pre
Classical period?
R. Homer and Hesiod. Their writings were about Myth. Like Homeric poetry, Hesiodic poetry
was basically oral poetry. I quote this succinct formulation: “Both Homeric poetry and
Hesiod’s seem to presuppose a tradition of fully oral poetic composition, performance,
reception, and transmission.”

9. Who was the most important girl in Pre Classical Greek Literature and how was she
considered?
R. Sappho of Lesbos was a lyric poet whose work was so popular in ancient Greece, that
she was honored in statuary, coinage, and pottery centuries after her death. Little remains of
her work, and these fragments suggest she was gay. Her name inspired the terms 'sapphic'
and 'lesbian', both referencing female same-sex relationships.
Sappho understood her poetry as her legacy as one of her most oft-quoted fragments
suggests: "Someone, I tell you, will remember us, even in another time" (Fragment 77, Plant,
24). She referred to her poetry as her "immortal daughters" and so they continue to be as
readers 2,000 years after their creation continue to respond to them with the same
enthusiasm they inspired when they were first written.

10. Who were the most prominent writers and what were their writings about in the
Classical period?
R. The Classical era (4th and 5th centuries BCE) centered on the tragedies of such writers
as Sophocles and his Oedipus Rex, Euripides's Hippolytus, and the comedies of
Aristophanes.
Greek drama evolved from the song and dance in the ceremonies honoring Dionysus at
Athens. In the 5th cent. b.c. tragedy was developed by three of the greatest dramatists in the
history of the theater, Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. Equally exalted was the
foremost exponent of Attic Old Comedy, Aristophanes. Other writers who developed this
genre included Cratinus and Eupolis, of whom little is known. The rowdy humor of these
early works gave way to the more sedate Middle Comedy and finally to New Comedy, which
set the form for this type of drama. The best-known writer of Greek New Comedy is
Menander.

11. Who was Sophocles?

R. Sophocles was a very prolific poet. The number of his plays is given as between 123 and
130, of which above 100 are known to us by their titles and by fragments. Only seven have
been preserved complete: The Trachinice (so named from the chorus, and its treating of the
death of Heracles), the Ajax, the Philoctetes, the Electra, the Oedipus Tyrannus, the
Oedipus at Colonus, and the Antigone. The last-mentioned play was produced in the spring
of 440 B.C.E.; the Philoctetes in 410 B.C.E.; the Oedipus at Colonus was not put on the
stage until 401 B.C.E., after his death, by his grandson Sophocles. Besides tragedies,
Sophocles composed paeans, elegies, epigrams, and a work in prose on the chorus.
 UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA NACIONAL FRANCISCO MORAZÁN
DEPARTAMENTO DE LA ENSEÑANZA DE LENGUAS
Tegucigalpa, M.D.C., Honduras, C.A.
LIN-2907 Universal Literature
Questionnaire
I-PAC 2024

12. Who was Aristophanes?

R. was the most famous writer of Old Comedy plays in ancient Greece and his surviving
works are the only examples of that style. His innovative and sometimes rough comedy
could also hide more sophisticated digs at the political elite and deal with social issues such
as cultural change and the role of women in society. Indeed, the plays of Aristophanes are
not only a record of Greek theatre but also provide an invaluable insight into many of the
political and social aspects of ancient Greece, from the practicalities of jury service to details
of religious rituals in major festivals.

13. Who were the most prominent writers and what were their writings about in the
Hellenistic period?
R. This period means the end of Greek Literature and the beginning of Roman Culture. In
the huge empire of Alexander the Great, Macedonians and Greeks composed the new
governing class; and Greek became the language of administration and culture, a new
composite dialect based to some extent on Attic and called the Koine, or common language.
Everywhere the traditional city-state was in decline, and individuals were becoming aware of
their isolation and were seeking consolidation and satisfaction outside corporate society.
Artistic creation now came under private patronage, and, except for Athenian comedy,
compositions were intended for a small, select audience that admired polish, erudition, and
subtlety.

14. What was the most important event in the Hellenistic Period?
R. An event of great importance for the development of new tendencies was the founding of
the Museum, the shrine of the Muses with its enormous library, at Alexandria. The chief
librarian was sometimes a poet as well as tutor of the heir apparent.

15. What happened when Romans began to expand?

R. Latin was the main language used for writing. Roman literature began around the 3rd
century BC and reached its "Golden Age" during the rule of Augustus and the early part of
the Roman Empire.

16. What were the most popular genres of Roman Literatures?

R. Roman literature was really influenced by Greek written works. But there is emphasis on
genres such as poetry and history, letters and formal speeches.

17. Who was Horace and which are his main works?
R. Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) was a Roman poet, satirist, and critic. Horace began
his career as a scribe, employment that gave him time to write. He befriended poets and
important figures of his day such as Virgil and the Emperor Augustus, and he eventually
achieved great renown. Horace is known for detailed self-portraits in genres such as epodes,
satires and epistles, and lyrics.