I-

Introduction to literature

Meaning :

Literature (from Latin litterae (plural); letter) is the art of written work and can, in some
circumstances, refer exclusively to published sources. The word literature literally means "things
made from letters" and the pars pro Toto term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature,"
as in the figures of speech "arts and letters" and "man of letters." The two major classifications of
literature are poetry and prose (which can be further sub-divided into fiction and non-fiction).

Literature may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), as well as
on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays
as well as belles-lettres. Literature can be classified according to historical periods, genres, and
political influences. The concept of genre, which earlier was limited, has broadened over the
centuries. A genre consists of artistic works which fall within a certain central theme, and
examples of genre include romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, erotica, and adventure, among
others. Important historical periods in English literature include Old English, Middle English,
the Renaissance, the 17th Century Shakespearean and Elizabethan times, the 18th
Century Restoration, 19th Century Victorian, and 20th Century Modernism. Important political
movements that have influenced literature include feminism, postcolonialism,psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, post-modernism, romanticism and Marxism.

Importance :

It is a curious and prevalent opinion that literature, like all art, is a mere play of imagination, pleasing
enough, like a new novel, but without any serious or practical importance. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. Literature preserves the ideals of a people; and ideals--love, faith, duty, friendship,
freedom, reverence--are the part of human life most worthy of preservation. The Greeks were a
marvelous people; yet of all their mighty works we cherish only a few ideals,--ideals of beauty in
perishable stone, and ideals of truth in imperishable prose and poetry. It was simply the ideals of the
Greeks and Hebrews and Romans, preserved in their literature, which made them what they were, and
which determined their value to future generations. Our democracy, the boast of all English-speaking
nations, is a dream; not the doubtful and sometimes disheartening spectacle presented in our
legislative halls, but the lovely and immortal ideal of a free and equal manhood, preserved as a most
precious heritage in every great literature from the Greeks to the Anglo-Saxons. All our arts, our
sciences, even our inventions are founded squarely upon ideals; for under every invention is still the
dream of Beowulf, that man may overcome the forces of nature; and the foundation of all our sciences
and discoveries is the immortal dream that men "shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
In a word, our whole civilization, our freedom, our progress, our homes, our religion, rest solidly upon
ideals for their foundation. Nothing but an ideal ever endures upon earth. It is therefore impossible to
overestimate the practical importance of literature, which preserves these ideals from fathers to sons,

while men, cities, governments, civilizations, vanish from the face of the earth. It is only when we
remember this that we appreciate the action of the devout Mussulman, who picks up and carefully
preserves every scrap of paper on which words are written, because the scrap may perchance contain
the name of Allah, and the ideal is too enormously important to be neglected or lost.

Iii forms & elements of literature

A writer appeals to our feelings, emotions through various elements of literature, such as
plot, character, theme, etc. Read more to know about the elements of literature.

3.1 Basic Types of Literature:

Drama The use of "drama" in the narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the 19th
century. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedyfor
example, Zola's Thrse Raquin (1873) or Chekhov's Ivanov (1887). It is this narrow sense that
the film and television industry and film studies adopted to describe "drama" as a genre within their
respective media. "Radio drama" has been used in both sensesoriginally transmitted in a live
performance, it has also been used to describe the more high-brow and serious end of the dramatic
output of radio.
Drama is often combined with music and dance: the drama in opera is generally sung
throughout; musicals generally include both spoken dialogue and songs; and some forms of drama
have incidental music or musical accompaniment underscoring the dialogue (melodrama and
Japanese N, for example). In certain periods of history (the ancient Roman and modern Romantic)
some dramas have been written to be read rather than performed. In improvisation, the drama does not
pre-exist the moment of performance; performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an
audience.

Poetry Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke
emotive responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes
used to achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and
other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations.
Similarly, metaphor, simile and metonymy create a resonance between otherwise disparate imagesa
layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may
exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.
Some poetry types are specific to particular cultures and genres and respond to characteristics of the
language in which the poet writes. Readers accustomed to identifying poetry with
Dante, Goethe, Mickiewicz and Rumi may think of it as written in lines based on rhyme and regular meter;
however, there are traditions, such as Biblical poetry, that use other means to create rhythm
and euphony. Much modern poetry reflects a critique of poetic tradition, playing with and testing, among
other things, the principle of euphony itself, sometimes altogether forgoing rhyme or set rhythm. In today's
increasingly globalized world, poets often adapt forms, styles and techniques from diverse cultures and
languages.

Short Story is a work of fiction, usually written in narrative prose. Often depicting few characters and
concentrating a 'single effect' or mood,[2] it differs from the anecdote in its use of plot, and the variety
of literary techniques it shares with the more extensive novel.
Although the short story is expressly defined by its length, the precise length of stories that can be
considered 'short' varies between critics and writers, especially when taking account of the diversity of the
form across genres. As such, the short story is defined relative to other prose forms in various traditions
and styles, with the precise length of each story determined by each author's artistic intent or the
requirements of the plot or depiction. Like the novel, the short story tradition has been defined and
shaped through the markets available for publication, and thus, the form can be practically traced through
the submission guidelines of publishing houses, print and online media that have solicited them. [3]
The short story has been considered both an apprenticeship form preceding more lengthy works, and a
crafted form in its own right, collected together in books of similar length, price and distribution as novels.
Thus, short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and personal expression of the form.
They may also attempt to resist categorization by genre and fixed form, finding such approaches limiting
and counter-intuitive to artistic form and reasoning.

Novel is a long prose narrative that usually describes fictional characters and events in the form of a
sequential story. The genre has historical roots in the fields of medieval and early modern romance and in
the tradition of the novella. The latter, an Italian word used to describe short stories, supplied the present
generic English term in the 18th century.
Further definition of the genre is historically difficult. The construction of the narrative, the plot, the relation
to reality, the characterization, and the use of language are usually discussed to show a novel's artistic
merits. Most of these requirements were introduced to literary prose in the 16th and 17th centuries, in
order to give fiction a justification outside the field of factual history.

Myths can refer either to the study of myths (e.g., comparative mythology), or to a body or collection of
myths (a mythos, e.g., Inca mythology). In folkloristic, a myth is a sacred narrative usually explaining
how the world or humankind came to be in its present form, although, in a very broad sense, the word can
refer to any traditional story. Lincoln defines myth as "ideology in narrative form". Myths typically
involve supernatural characters and are endorsed by rulers or priests. They may arise as over elaborated
accounts of historical events, as allegory for or personification of natural phenomena, or as
an explanation of ritual. They are transmitted to convey religious or idealized experience, to establish
behavioral models, and to teach.
Early rival classifications of Greek mythos by Euhemerus, Plato's Phaedrus, and Sallustius were
developed by the Neo-Platonist and revived by Renaissance mythographers as in theTheologia
mythological (1532). Nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as evolution
toward science (E. B. Tylor), "disease of language" (Max Mller), or misinterpretation

of magical ritual (James Frazer). Later interpretations rejected opposition between myth and science,
such as Jungian archetypes, Joseph Campbell's "metaphor of spiritual potentiality", orLvi-Strauss's fixed
mental architecture. Tension between Campbell's comparative search for monomyth or Ur-myth and
anthropological mythologists' skepticism of universal origin has marked the 20th century. Further,
modern mythopoeia such as fantasy novels, manga, and urban legend, with many competing artificial
mythoi acknowledged as fiction, supports the idea of myth as ongoing social practice.

Typical characteristics
The main characters in myths are usually gods, supernatural heroes and humans. As sacred stories,
myths are often endorsed by rulers and priests and closely linked to religion or spirituality. In the society in
which it is told, a myth is usually regarded as a true account of the remote past. In fact, many societies
have two categories of traditional narrative, "true stories" or myths, and "false stories" or fables. Creation
myths generally take place in a primordial age, when the world had not yet achieved its current form, and
explain how the world gained its current form and how customs, institutions and taboos were established.

Legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place
within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude. Legend, for its active
and passive participants includes no happenings that are outside the realm of "possibility", defined by a
highly flexible set of parameters, which may include miracles that are perceived as actually having
happened, within the specific tradition of indoctrination where the legend arises, and within which it may
be transformed over time, in order to keep it fresh and vital, and realistic. A majority of legends operate
within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being
resolutely doubted.
The Brothers Grimm defined legend as folktale historically grounded. A modern folklorist's professional
definition of legend was proposed by Timothy R. Tangherlini in 1990:
Legend, typically, is a short (mono-) episodic, traditional, highly ecotypified historicized narrative
performed in a conversational mode, reflecting on a psychological level a symbolic representation of folk
belief and collective experiences and serving as a reaffirmation of commonly held values of the group to
whose tradition it belongs."
3.1.1. Fictions Elements of Fictions:
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or
events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary and theoreticalthat is, invented by the author. Although
fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical, cinematic or musical work.
Fiction contrasts with non-fiction, which deals exclusively with factual (or, at least, assumed factual)
events, descriptions, observations, etc. (e.g., biographies, histories).

Themes Theme, a conceptual distillation of the story, is often listed as one of the fundamental
elements of fiction. It is the central idea or insight serving as a unifying element, creating

cohesion and is an answer to the question, 'What did you learn from the piece of fiction?' In some
cases a story's theme is a prominent element and somewhat unmistakable.

Settings Setting, the location and time of a story, is often listed as one of the fundamental
elements of fiction. Sometimes setting is referred to as milieu, to include a context (such as
society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. In some cases, setting becomes a
character itself and can set the tone of a story.

Characters Characterization is often listed as one of the fundamental elements of fiction.

A character is a participant in the story, and is usually a person, but may be any personal identity,
or entity whose existence originates from a fictional work or performance.

Characters may be of several types:

Protagonist: The driver of the action of the story and therefore responsible for achieving the
story's Objective Story Goal (the surface journey). In western storytelling tradition the Protagonist is
usually the main character.

Antagonist: A person, or a group of people(antagonists) who oppose the main character, or main
characters. The Antagonist rarely succeeds the end of the book/series.

Static character: A character who does not significantly change during the course of a story.

Dynamic character: A character who undergoes character development during the course of a
story.

Foil: The character that contrasts to the protagonist in a way that illuminates their personality or
characteristic.

Supporting character: A character that plays a part in the plot, but is not major

Minor character: A character in a bit/cameo part.

Plots Plot is what the character(s) did, said, and thought. It is the Action Proper given unity by
the Enveloping Action, the Universal Action, the Archetypal Action. As Aristotle said, What gives a
story unity is not as the masses believe that it is about one person but that it is about one action.
Plot, or storyline, is often listed as one of the fundamental elements of fiction. It is the rendering
and ordering of the events and actions of a story. On a micro level, plot consists of action and
reaction, also referred to as stimulus and response. On a macro level, plot has a beginning, a
middle, and an ending. Plot is often depicted as an arc with a zigzags line to represent the rise
and fall of action. Plot also has a mid-level structure: scene and summary. A scene is a unit of
dramawhere the action occurs. Then, after a transition of some sort, comes the summaryan
emotional reaction and regrouping, an aftermath. For a delightful tongue-in-cheek comment on
plot, see Katherine Anne Porter's "No Plot, My Dear, No Story" in The Occasional Writings and
Collected Essays of Katherine Anne Porter, Seymour Lawrence, 1970.

Points of View Point of view character: The character from whose perspective (theme) the
audience experiences the story. This is the character that represents the point of view the
audience empathizes, or at the very least, sympathies with. Therefore this is the "Main"
Character.

3.2.1. Non Fiction:

Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose
assertions and descriptions are understood to be factual. This presentation may be accurate or notthat
is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in questionhowever, it is generally assumed
that authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition or, at least, pose
them to their audience as historically or empirically true. Note that reporting the beliefs of others in a nonfiction format is not necessarily an endorsement of the ultimate veracity of those beliefs; it is simply saying
it is true that people believe them (for such topics as mythology, religion). Non-fiction can also be written
about fiction, giving information about these other works.
Non-fiction is one of the two main divisions in writing, particularly used in libraries, the other form being
fiction. However, non-fiction need not be written text necessarily, since pictures and film can also purport
to present a factual account of a subject.

Elements of Non-Fiction:
Essays, non-fiction is in journals, diaries, documentaries, histories, scientific
papers, photographs, biographies, textbooks, travel books, blueprints, technical documentation, user
manuals, diagrams and some journalism are all common examples of non-fiction works, and including
information that the author knows to be untrue within any of these works is usually regarded as dishonest.
Other works can legitimately be either fiction or non-fiction, such as journals of selfexpression, letters, magazine articles, and other expressions of imagination. Although they are mostly
either one or the other it is possible for there to be a blend of both. Some fiction may include non-fictional
elements. Some non-fiction may include elements of unverified supposition, deduction, or imagination for
the purpose of smoothing out a narrative, but the inclusion of open falsehoods would discredit it as a work
of non-fiction.

Authors Purpose: To inform, explain, give directions, illustrate, or present information.

a. To inform
b. To persuade
c.

To entertain

Major Ideas:
Explain that there are three main reasons: PIE can help us remember them (persuade, inform,

and entertain). Describe what each of these terms mean and share an example of a book/ part of
a book that would fall under each.

Supporting Details: Supporting details are statements which support your topic or theme. You
support your main idea by explaining it, describing it, defining it, or otherwise giving
information about it. You will usually need to actually look up or research this information!
When you are writing an essay or report, each paragraph after the introduction should discuss
one supporting detail. Depending on how many paragraphs you want to include, you can have
any number of supporting details.
These details are then repeated or rephrased in your concluding paragraph, to restate the fact
that they support your main idea.
Give more information about the topic and or details or information that backs up a sentence.

Vocabulary: is the set of words within a language that are familiar to that person. A vocabulary
usually develops with age, and serves as a useful and fundamental tool
for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the
largest challenges in learning a second language.

Text Structures: Being able to identify the structure of a text can greatly increase students'
comprehension of the material being read. There are six basic structures that are commonly
found in textbooks. Once the teacher has modeled the text structure, students can follow the
organizing pattern to identify important events, concepts and ideas. Students should also be
taught the signal words that alert them to text structure. Students who are taught to identify the
structure of expository and narrative text have been found to have better comprehension than
students who have not received such instruction.
Common Text Structures

Compare-Contrast Structure
This type of text examines the similarities and differences between two or more people, events,
concepts, ideas, etc.

Cause-Effect Structure
This structure presents the causal relationship between an specific event, idea, or concept and
the events, ideas, or concept that follow.

Sequence Structure
This text structure gives readers a chronological of events or a list of steps in a procedure.

Problem-Solution Structure
This type of structure sets up a problem or problems, explains the solution, and then discusses
the effects of the solution.

Descriptive Structure
This type of text structure features a detailed description of something to give the reader a mental
picture.

Question-Answer Structure
this text starts by posing a question then goes on to answer that question.

Cyclical Structure
This structure starts with an event then progresses through a series until it is back to the
beginning event.

Readers Aids: A modular article in an electronic environment may have many complicated features. The
reader therefore has to be able to customise the presentation, which implies that the most important goal
of the readers' aids is flexibility.

Locating, retrieving and printing

Readers require a search engine that allows for complex searches of entire articles, complex modules
and elementary modules. It must be possible to search by:

module labels;

phrases from the full text in any particular module;

link labels;

or combinations thereof. For instance, the reader must be able to locate a microscopic Results module,
dealing with the differential cross section of collisions between sodium and iodine atoms, that is
connected to module Experimental methods, about a molecular beam set-up, by means of a problemsolving dependency link. Another example is the search for a microscopic Experimental methods module
on surface ionization, that is the target of at least ten links carrying proximity-based labels indicating that
the source is not part of the same article and resolutions-labels indicating that the target provides details.
Once the reader has located the modules of interest, he should be able to print individual modules
(automatically including the images and other non-textual but printable parts) as well as any selected
collection of modules.
Modules
Just as for the traditional scientific article, the modular article, as well as each individual module, is a selfcontained representation of scientific information. Therefore, we must keep in mind that many of the same
presentation issues that have to be taken into account when writing a traditional article remain valid in the
modular case. The internal structure of modules has to be made visible by means of typography,
paragraphs and sections. If the reader prefers to print the module on paper, the presentation of the
printed version may be adapted to the paper medium.
In addition to the traditional presentation requirements, the modular structure leads to requirements
concerning the composition of modules and links. Complex modules, which consist of linked constituent

modules and a `module summary' summarizing them, should be implemented in a `recognizable' way.
For example, the module summary may be presented in a different font or color than the elementary
modules. The exact presentation should not be hardwired into the module, but rather stored in SGML type
tags. The presentation then can be managed through the style sheet.
The reader's main requirement concerning the implementation is that the presentation should be flexible.
In particular, the reader must be able to unfold or hide:

mathematical digressions and other details;

parts of modules that overlap with other modules that the reader may already have consulted;

the characterization of the module and the navigation menu;

full figures (which can be replaced by thumbnail figures);

Unprintable representations of information (e.g. java applets).

Links
The distributed presentation obscures the coherence of the information: if the reader does not understand
the target and the nature of the links connecting the modules, he cannot make a well-considered choice
as to whether to follow the links or not. Therefore, the type of the link must be made explicit as well as its
target. Rather than identifying the target with an uninformative identification code, the author name and
publication date of the cited module may be made explicit. In addition to the type and the target of the link,
a short phrase can provide further clarification. This characterization should be hidden from view, and only
be made visible on demand. For example, the link may be represented in the text by a small icon
(different icons may be used to indicate the main function of the link) and the characterization may be
shown in a `pop-up' box when the reader moves his mouse onto the icon.
If a particular point in a module serves as a starting point for more than one link, the various links may be
routed via a menu. For example, at a particular feature in the graphical of the results a link may be
provided for zooming in on that feature, another for comparison of that feature to a similar feature in
another Results module, and a third to its interpretation.
Many explicit links could also make a modular article unreadable. The reader must therefore be able to
choose how the links are presented: as elaborate informative icons, as unobtrusive icons, as words, or
completely hidden from view. The different types of links should in principle be distinguishable at first
glance. Links that have been created to express an organizational relation may be presented using a
different color, font or icon than links created for the different kinds of scientific discourse relations.
Furthermore, the reader requires tools that enable him to:

customize the organization of his screen. For example, if he activates a link, he can view the
target:
o

in the same window that the source of the link occupied previously;

in a separate window overlapping the window presenting the source;

in the other half of a `split-window' that allows for simultaneous viewing.

The organization of the windows may depend on the type of the link. An external link may, for
instance, be considered a detour and lead to a separate window, whereas a link expressing a
similarity relation calls for direct comparison and thereby for two neighboring windows; a
sequential link would stay within the same window, and the Map of contents may be permanently
kept in a corner of the screen.

Define a personal sequential path. In the modular model, we have defined sequential relations
that allow the reader to consult the complete article (via the complete sequential path) and to
consult the modular article as if it were a traditional, linear article (via the essay-type sequential
path). The reader must also be able to define a personal route through the article, which he then
can follow by way of `next' buttons. Navigation links for those paths should be provided at the
bottom of a module, allowing the reader to simply `turn the page' after reading the module, but
also at the top to avoid forcing the reader to scroll through the entire module.

Overview
At all times, the reader of a modular article should have at his disposal the navigation menu of the module
at hand, as well as the Map of contents and the Abstract of the article.
In an electronic environment, the map of contents must be interactive: the representations of the modules
in the map must be linked to the modules themselves by hyperlinks. The map should also indicate (on
demand) which `content module' the reader is currently consulting and which modules he has accessed
before (if any). The map of contents must be flexible, because it is too complex to be presented in full
detail to the reader. The reader must be able to:

choose which types of relations are visible and to what degree of detail he wants to view the map;

Zoom in on the details of modules and links. The default presentation includes each module in
the article without links, except the complete sequential path. The reader may also hide all
constituent modules and concentrate on the main modules, or add more details such as (all or
some specified types of) links between (all or some specified) modules, the microscopic modules
linked to the modules of the article, or the full physics characterization of modules.

Generate a Map of contents representing the structure of a larger network of modular publications
based on the information stored in the `journal database' about the modules and the links
connecting the various modules.

3.1.3 Poetry
- Poetry has a long history, dating back to the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Early poems evolved from
folk songs such as the Chinese Shijing, or from a need to retell oral epics, as with the
Sanskrit Vedas, Zoroastrian Gathas, and the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ancient attempts
to define poetry, such as Aristotle's Poetics, focused on the uses of speech in
rhetoric, drama, song and comedy. Later attempts concentrated on features such as repetition, verse

form and rhyme, and emphasized the aesthetics which distinguish poetry from more objectivelyinformative, prosaic forms of writing. From the mid-20th century, poetry has sometimes been more
generally regarded as a fundamental creative act employing language.
Poetry uses forms and conventions to suggest differential interpretation to words, or to evoke emotive
responses. Devices such as assonance, alliteration, onomatopoeia and rhythm are sometimes used to
achieve musical or incantatory effects. The use of ambiguity, symbolism, irony and
other stylistic elements of poetic diction often leaves a poem open to multiple interpretations.
Similarly, metaphor, simile and metonymy create a resonance between otherwise disparate imagesa
layering of meanings, forming connections previously not perceived. Kindred forms of resonance may
exist, between individual verses, in their patterns of rhyme or rhythm.
Some poetry types are specific to particular cultures and genres and respond to characteristics of the
language in which the poet writes. Readers accustomed to identifying poetry with
Dante, Goethe, Mickiewicz and Rumi may think of it as written in lines based on rhyme and regular meter;
however, there are traditions, such as Biblical poetry, that use other means to create rhythm
and euphony. Much modern poetry reflects a critique of poetic tradition, playing with and testing, among
other things, the principle of euphony itself, sometimes altogether forgoing rhyme or set rhythm. [3][4] In
today's increasingly globalized world, poets often adapt forms, styles and techniques from diverse
cultures and languages.

Elements of Poetry :

When you read a poem, pay attention to some basic ideas:

Voice (Who is speaking? How are they speaking?)
Stanzas (how lines are grouped)
Sound (includes rhyme, but also many other patterns)
Rhythm (what kind of "beat" or meter does the poem have?)
Figures of speech (many poems are full of metaphors and other figurative language)
Form (there are standard types of poem)

Voice
Voice is a word people use to talk about the way poems "talk" to the reader.
Lyric poems and narrative poems are the ones you will see most. Lyric poems express the feelings of the
writer. A narrative poem tells a story.

Some other types of voice are mask, apostrophe, and conversation. A mask puts on the identity of
someone or something else, and speaks for it. Apostrophe talks to something that can't answer (a bee,
the moon, a tree) and is good for wondering, asking, or offering advice. Conversation is a dialogue
between two voices and often asks us to guess who the voices are.
Stanza
A stanza is a group within a poem which may have two or many lines. They are like paragraphs.
Some poems are made of REALLY short stanzas, called couplets--two lines that rhyme, one after the
other, usually equal in length.
Sound
One of the most important things poems do is play with sound. That doesn't just mean rhyme. It means
many other things. The earliest poems were memorized and recited, not written down, so sound is very
important in poetry.
Rhyme - Rhyme means sounds agree. "Rhyme" usually means end rhymes (words at the end of a line).
They give balance and please the ear. Sometimes rhymes are exact. Other times they are just similar.
Both are okay.
Repetition - Repetition occurs when a word or phrase used more than once. Repetition can create a
pattern
Refrain - Lines repeated in the same way, that repeat regularly in the poem.
Alliteration - Alliteration is the repetition of the same sound in different words.
Onomatopoeia - Onomatopoeia means words or phrases that sound like the things they are describing.
(hiss, zoom, bow-wow, etc.)
Consonance - Consonance happens when consonants agree in words, though they may not rhyme. (fast,
lost)
Assonance - Assonance happens when vowels agree in words, though they may not rhyme. (Peach, tree)
Rhythm
Meter (or metrics) - When you speak, you don't say everything in a steady tone like a hum--you'd sound
funny. Instead, you stress parts of words. You say different parts of words with different volume, and your
voice rises and falls as if you were singing a song. Mostly, we don't notice we're doing it. Poetry in English
is often made up of poetic units or feet. The most common feet are the iamb, the trochee, the anapest,
and the dactyl. Each foot has one stress or beat.
Depending on what kind of poem you're writing, each line can have anywhere from one to many stressed
beats, otherwise known as feet. Most common are:
Trimester (three beats)
Tetrameter (four beats)

Pentameter (five beats)

You also sometimes see diameter (two beats) and hexameter (six beats) but lines longer than that can't
be said in one breath, so poets tend to avoid them.
Figures of speech
Figures of speech are also called figurative language. The most well-known figures of speech are simile,
metaphor, and personification. They are used to help with the task of "telling, not showing."
Simile - a comparison of one thing to another, using the words "like," "as," or "as though."
Metaphor - comparing one thing to another by saying that one thing is another thing. Metaphors are
stronger than similes, but they are more difficult to see.
Personification - speaking as if something were human when it's not.
Poetic forms
There are a number of common poetic forms. .
Ballad - story told in verse. A ballad stanza is usually four lines, and there is often a repetitive refrain. As
you might guess, this form started out as a song. An example of a traditional Scottish ballad is Lord
Randal at http://www.bartleby.com/243/66.html
Haiku - a short poem with seventeen syllables, usually written in three lines with five syllables in the first
line, seven in the second, and five in the third. The present tense is used, the subject is one thing
happening now, and words are not repeated. It does not rhyme. The origin of the haiku is Japanese.
Chinquapin - a five-line poem with two syllables in the first line, four in the second, six in the third, eight in
the fourth, and two in the fifth. It expresses one image or thought, in one or possibly two sentences.
Villanelle - a 19-line poem with five tersest and one quatrain at the end. Two of the lines are repeated
alternately at the ends of the tersest, and finish off the poem: the first line and the third line of the first
terse. Although it sounds very complicated, it's like a song or a dance and easy to see once you've looked
at a villanelle.
Limerick - A five-line poem, usually meant to be funny. The rhythm is anapests. Lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyme
with one another, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme with one another. Lines 1, 2, and 5 have three feet, lines 3 and
4 have two feet. An iamb can be substituted for an anapest in the first foot of any line. The last foot can
add another unstressed beat for the rhyming effect.
Sonnet - There are different types of sonnet. The most familiar to us is made of three quatrains and ends
with a couplet. They tend to be complicated and elegant. William Shakespeare wrote the most well-known
sonnets.
Free verse (or open form) - Much modern poetry does not obviously rhyme and doesn't have a set meter.
However, sound and rhythm are often still important, and it is still often written in short lines.

Concrete poetry (pattern or shape poetry) is a picture poem, in which the visual shape of the poem
contributes to its meaning.

Language/Figures of Speech:

Alliteration
The repetition of an initial consonant sound.

Anaphora
The repetition of the same word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or verses.
(Contrast with epiphora and epistrophe.)

Assonance
Identity or similarity in sound between internal vowels in neighboring words.

Chiasmus
a verbal pattern in which the second half of an expression is balanced against the first but with
the parts reversed.

Euphemism
The substitution of an inoffensive term for one considered offensively explicit.

Hyperbole
an extravagant statement; the use of exaggerated terms for the purpose of emphasis or
heightened effect.

Irony
The use of words to convey the opposite of their literal meaning. A statement or situation where
the meaning is contradicted by the appearance or presentation of the idea.

Litotes
A figure of speech consisting of an understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by
negating its opposite.

Metaphor
An implied comparison between two unlike things that actually have something important in
common.

Metonymy
A figure of speech in which one word or phrase is substituted for another with which it is closely
associated; also, the rhetorical strategy of describing something indirectly by referring to things

around it.

Onomatopoeia
the use of words that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to.

Oxymoron
A figure of speech in which incongruous or contradictory terms appear side by side.

Paradox
A statement that appears to contradict itself.

Personification
A figure of speech in which an inanimate object or abstraction is endowed with human qualities or
abilities.

Pun
a play on words, sometimes on different senses of the same word and sometimes on the similar
sense or sound of different words.

Simile
A stated comparison (usually formed with "like" or "as") between two fundamentally dissimilar
things that have certain qualities in common.

Synecdoche
A figure of speech in which a part is used to represent the whole (for example, ABCs for alphabet)
or the whole for a part ("England won the World Cup in 1966").

Understatement
a figure of speech in which a writer or a speaker deliberately makes a situation seem less
important or serious than it is.

Mood and Meaning:

Mood:

The mood is the feeling or atmosphere of a piece. The mood can be many different things. Some
examples included:

A feeling of love.

A feeling of doom.

A feeling of fear.

A feeling of pride.

An atmosphere of chaos.

An atmosphere of peace.

Meaning:
what is the author trying to communicate?
How to Achieve Mood and Meaning
you should be able to establish mood or purpose in poetry by:

choice of words,

summary terms,

symbolic language,

structure of the sentences,

the length of each poetic line,

And the punctuation marks chosen.

So to do this, you must first have background knowledge on the subject, or research it.

Dialect:
a regional way of speaking that is different from the norm. For example, a southerner might say Ya'll while
a New Yorker might say You Guys. The entire piece can be altered by dialect. If you want to convey a
sense of innocence, you might choose the casual dialect of a someone who has not had much schooling.
Invented words:
Poets can invent words. Just look at any Dr. Sues book. His words always convey some meaning and
often come with the mood of levity. These words are never just thrown in to fit a place; they add color and
clarity to a work.
Sensory and figurative language:
Sensory language is language that appeals to the senses (e.g. seeing, hearing, feeling, touching, and
smelling). Figurative Language are words used for descriptive effect that express some truth behind their
literal meaning (e.g. similes, metaphors, personification).
Sentence structure:
You could choose long compound sentences to, perhaps, create an air of formality and seriousness. Or
maybe you want a livelier piece in which you can choose longer and shorter sentences. Perhaps, instead,
you want to create a feeling of confusion, you might choose to use fragments.
Line length:
The length of sentences and stanzas in poems. Again, you can convey mood and meaning by varying
your line length, just as you can by varying your sentence structure.

Punctuation:
The use of standard marks and signs in writing and printing to separate words into sentences, clauses,
and phrases in order to clarify meaning. You can create confusion or perhaps insecurity by including no
punctuation.
Rhythm:
The arrangement of stressed and unstressed sounds in writing and speech. Rhythm may be regular or it
may be varied.

3.1.4 Drama:

Elements:
Essential elements of drama are present in any play that you see. Aristotle was the first to write about
these essential elements, more than two thousand years ago. While ideas have changed slightly over the
years, we still discuss Aristotle's list when talking about what makes the best drama.
Aristotle's Six Elements of Drama
Aristotle considered these six things to be essential to good drama.

Plot: This is what happens in the play. Plot refers to the action; the basic storyline of the play.

Theme: While plot refers to the action of the play, theme refers to the meaning of the play. Theme is
the main idea or lesson to be learned from the play. In some cases, the theme of a play is obvious; other
times it is quite subtle.

Characters: Characters are the people (sometimes animals or ideas) portrayed by the actors in the
play. It is the characters who move the action, or plot, of the play forward.

Dialogue: This refers to the words written by the playwright and spoken by the characters in the play.
The dialogue helps move the action of the play along.

Music/Rhythm: While music is often featured in drama, in this case Aristotle was referring to the
rhythm of the actors' voices as they speak.

Spectacle: This refers to the visual elements of a play: sets, costumes, special effects, etc. Spectacle
is everything that the audience sees as they watch the play.
In modern theater, this list has changed slightly, although you will notice that many of the elements remain
the same.
The lists of essential elements in modern theater are:

Character
Plot
Theme
Dialogue

Convention
Genre
Audience
The first four, character, plot, theme and dialogue remain the same, but the following additions are now
also considered essential elements of drama.

Convention: These are the techniques and methods used by the playwright and director to
create the desired stylistic effect.

Genre: Genre refers to the type of play. Some examples of different genres include, comedy,
tragedy, mystery and historical play.

Audience: This is the group of people who watch the play. Many playwrights and actors consider
the audience to be the most important element of drama, as all of the effort put in to writing and producing
a play is for the enjoyment of the audience.

Stage Direction:

Directors and actors work together to create a stage production. When and where the actors
move can add to tension, provoke a laugh or cause the audience to shift their attention to a new
part of the stage. This movement is called blocking, or stage direction. Through the years,
instructions have become standardized when referring to stage directions. Actors should write the
appropriate directions in their scripts during rehearsals.

Basic Stage Breakdown

Upstage is farthest away from the audience. Downstage is closest to the audience. Stage right is
on your right when you are facing the audience. Stage left is your left when you are facing the audience.
These directions form the basis of dividing the stage into a grid of nine equal parts.
Center Stage

Abbreviated as CS, this is the exact center of the stage. This is often where the best acoustics
are found.
Downstage

Down right (DR) refers to the corner of the stage closest to the audience and on your right as you
face the audience. Down left (DL) refers to the corresponding corner on the left side of the stage as you
face the audience. Down center (DC) refers to the center of the stage, close to the audience.
Upstage

Up right (UR) refers to the corner of the stage farthest from the audience and on your right as you
face the audience. Up left (UL) refers to the corresponding corner on the left side of the stage. Up center
(UC) refers to the center of the stage, farthest away from the audience.

Right and Left Center

Right center (RC) is on your right as you face the audience, and about halfway from the audience
to the back of the stage. Left center (LC) is on your left as you face the audience, and about halfway from
the audience to the back of the stage.
Additional Notations

Cross (X) means to move. Therefore, the notation XRC means to move right center. OS stands
for offstage. A director might tell an actor to cross left and exit upstage. The actor would then write the
notation: XUL OS.

VI Greek Literature

Early Greek Literature & Greek Alphabet:

Greek literature refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence, throughout the whole period in
which the Greek-speaking people have existed.
Ancient Greek literature refers to literature written in Ancient Greek from the oldest surviving written works
in the Greek language until approximately the fifth century AD and the rise of the Byzantine Empire. The
Greek language arose from the proto-Indo-European language, though roughly one-third of its words
cannot be derived from various reconstructions of the tongue. A number of alphabets and syllabifies had
been used to render Greek, but surviving Greek literature was written in a Phoenician-derived alphabet
that arose primarily in Greek Ionia and was fully adopted by Athens by the fifth century BC.

Pre-classical
At the beginning of Greek literature stand the two monumental works of Homer, the Iliad and
the Odyssey. Though dates of composition vary, these works were fixed around 800 BC or after. The
other great poet of the preclassical period was Hesiod. His two surviving works are Works and
Days and Theogony. Some ancients thought Homer and Hesiod roughly contemporaneous, even rivals in
contests, but modern scholarship raises doubts on these issues.

Classical
In the classical period many of the genres of western literature became more prominent. Lyrical
poetry, odes, pastorals, elegies, epigrams;dramatic presentations
of comedy and tragedy; histories, rhetorical treatises, philosophical dialectics, and philosophical treatises

all arose in this period. As the genres evolved, various expectations arose, such that a particular poetic
genre came to require the Doric or Lesbos dialect.
The two major lyrical poets were Sappho and Pindar. The Classical era also saw the dawn of drama. Of
the hundreds of tragedies written and performed during the classical age, only a limited number of plays
by three authors have survived: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
Like tragedy, the comedy arose from a ritual in honor of Dionysus, but in this case the plays were full of
frank obscenity, abuse, and insult. The surviving plays by Aristophanes are a treasure trove of comic
presentation. Menander is considered the best of the writers of the New Comedy.
Two of the most influential historians who had yet lived flourished during Greece's classical
age: Herodotus and Thucydides. A third historian, Xenophon, began his "Hellenic a" where Thucydides
ended his work about 411 BC and carried his history to 362 BC.
The greatest prose achievement of the 4th century was in philosophy. Among the tide of Greek
philosophy, three names tower above the rest: Socrates even though he did not write anything
himself, Plato, and Aristotle.

Hellenistic
By 338 BC many of the key Greek cities had been conquered by Philip II of Macedon. Philip II's
son Alexander extended his father's conquests greatly. The Greek colony of Alexandria in
northern Egypt became, from the 3rd century BC, the outstanding center of Greek culture.
Later Greek poetry flourished primarily in the 3rd century BC. The chief poets
were Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes. Theocritus, who lived from about 310 to 250
BC, was the creator of pastoral poetry, a type that the Roman Virgil mastered in his Eclogues.
One of the most valuable contributions of the Hellenistic period was the translation of the Old
Testament into Greek. The work was done at Alexandria and completed by the end of the 2nd century BC.
The name Septuagint is from Latin Septuagint "seventy," from the tradition that there were 72 scholars
who did the work.

Roman Age
The significant historians in the period after Alexander were Timaeus, Polybius, Diodorus
Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Appian of Alexandria, Arrian, and Plutarch. The period of time they
cover extended from late in the 4th century BC to the 2nd century AD.

Eratosthenes of Alexandria, who died about 194 BC, wrote on astronomy and geography, but his work is
known mainly from later summaries. The physician Galen, in the history of ancient science, is the most
significant person in medicine after Hippocrates, who laid the foundation of medicine in the 5th century
BC.
The New Testament, written by various authors in varying qualities of Koine Greek hails from this period
(1st to early 2nd century AD), the most important works being the Gospel sand the Epistles of Saint Paul.
Patristic literature was written in the Hellenistic Greek of this period. Syria and Alexandria, especially,
flourished.

Greek Alphabet:

The Greek alphabet is the script that has been used to write the Greek language since the 8th
century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was in turn the ancestor of
numerous other European and Middle Eastern scripts, including Cyrillic and Latin. Apart from its
use in writing the Greek language, both in its ancient and its modern forms, the Greek alphabet
today also serves as a source of technical symbols and labels in many domains of mathematics,
science and other fields.

In its classical and modern form, the alphabet has 24 letters, ordered from alpha to omega. Like
Latin and Cyrillic, Greek originally had only a single form of each letter; it developed
the distinction between upper case and lower case in parallel with Latin during the modern era.
(The letter sigma has two different lowercase forms, and , with being used in wordfinal position and elsewhere.)

Sound values and conventional transcriptions for some of the letters differ between Ancient
Greek and Modern Greek usage, owing to phonological changes in the language.

In traditional ("polytonic") Greek orthography, vowel letters can be combined with

several diacritics, including accent marks, so-called "breathing" marks, and the iota subscript. In
common present-day usage for Modern Greek since the 1980s, this system has been simplified
to a so-called "monotonic" convention.

Greek Myths:

Greek mythology are myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning
their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and
ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece and are part of religion in

modern Greece and around the world as Hellenisms. Modern scholars refer to, and study, the myths in an
attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to
gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself.
Greek mythology is embodied, explicitly, in a large collection of narratives, and implicitly in Greek
representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins
of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines,
and mythological creatures. These accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today
the Greek myths are known primarily from Greek literature.
The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homer's epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events
surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, theTheogony and
the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the
succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths also
are preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the
works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and
in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.
Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes
featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth
century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the
succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes
appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an extensive influence on
the culture, arts, and literature of civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language. Poets
and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have
discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes.

World Folktales:

Folktales (or folk tales) are stories passed down through generations, mainly by telling. Different kinds of
folktales include fairy tales (or fairytales), tall tales, trickster tales, myths, and legends.
A tale or legend originating and traditional among a people orfolk, especially one forming part of the oral tr
adition of the common people.
Any belief or story passed on traditionally, especially oneconsidered to be false or based on superstition.

Major Character in Greek Myths:

Zeus
Poseidon

Hades
Hera
Apollo
Artemis
Hephaestus
Dionysus
Aphrodite
Ares
Athena
Hermes

V- Greek Myths:

Greek mythology are myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning
their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and
ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece and are part of religion in
modern Greece and around the world as Hellenisms. Modern scholars refer to, and study, the myths in
an attempt to throw light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece, its civilization, and to
gain understanding of the nature of myth-making itself. [1]
Greek mythology is embodied, explicitly, in a large collection of narratives, and implicitly in Greek
representational arts, such as vase-paintings and votive gifts. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins
of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a wide variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines,
and mythological creatures. These accounts initially were disseminated in an oral-poetic tradition; today
the Greek myths are known primarily from Greek literature.
The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homer's epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on events
surrounding the Trojan War. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, theTheogony and
the Works and Days, contain accounts of the genesis of the world, the succession of divine rulers, the
succession of human ages, the origin of human woes, and the origin of sacrificial practices. Myths also
are preserved in the Homeric Hymns, in fragments of epic poems of the Epic Cycle, in lyric poems, in the
works of the tragedians of the fifth century BC, in writings of scholars and poets of the Hellenistic Age and
in texts from the time of the Roman Empire by writers such as Plutarch and Pausanias.
Archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes
featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth
century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles. In the
succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes
appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence.[2] Greek mythology has had an extensive influence
on the culture, arts, and literature of civilization and remains part of Western heritage and language.

Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and
have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes.

Meaning of Myths:

The term "mythology" can refer either to the study of myths (e.g., comparative mythology), or to a body or
collection of myths (a mythos, e.g., Inca mythology).[1] In folkloristic, a myth is sacred narrative usually
explaining how the world or humankind came to be in its present form, although, in a very broad sense,
the word can refer to any traditional story. Lincoln defines myth as "ideology in narrative form". [4] Myths
typically involve supernatural characters and are endorsed by rulers or priests. They may arise as over
elaborated accounts of historical events, as allegory for or personification of natural phenomena, or as
an explanation of ritual. They are transmitted to convey religious or idealized experience, to establish
behavioral models, and to teach.
Early rival classifications of Greek mythos by Euhemerus, Plato's Phaedrus, and Sallustius were
developed by the neoplatonists and revived by Renaissance mythographers as in theTheologia
mythologica (1532). Nineteenth-century comparative mythology reinterpreted myth as evolution
toward science (E. B. Tylor), "disease of language" (Max Mller), or misinterpretation
of magical ritual (James Frazer). Later interpretations rejected opposition between myth and science,
such as Jungian archetypes, Joseph Campbell's "metaphor of spiritual potentiality", orLvi-Strauss's fixed
mental architecture. Tension between Campbell's comparative search for monomyth or Ur-myth and
anthropological mythologists' skepticism of universal origin has marked the 20th century. Further,
modern mythopoeia such as fantasy novels, manga, and urban legend, with many competing artificial
mythoi acknowledged as fiction, supports the idea of myth as ongoing social practice.

Metamorphosis:

Metamorphosis is a biological process by which an animal physically develops after birth or hatching,
involving a conspicuous and relatively abrupt change in the animal's bodystructure through
cell growth and differentiation.
Some insects, amphibians, molluscs, crustaceans, Cnidarians, echinoderms and tunicates undergo
metamorphosis, which is usually accompanied by a change of habitat or behavior.
Scientific usage of the term is exclusive, and is not applied to general aspects of cell growth, including
rapid growth spurts. References to "metamorphosis" in mammals are imprecise and only colloquial, but
historically idealist ideas of transformation and monad logy, as in Goethe's Metamorphosis of Plants,
influenced the development of ideas of evolution.

Literary Focus: Conflict

The conflict in a story is its driving tension. This tension is used to further the plot, and its resolution leads
to climactic and cathartic moments. Depending on the length of the literature, there might be a single
conflict or many conflicts, as well as major conflicts and minor conflicts. Conventionally, these conflicts are
divided into three categories: character versus character, character versus nature and character versus
self. Sometimes, a fourth category, character versus society, is included.
Every storyline involves some kind of conflict. It is a struggle between two forces, but these forces can
be either internal (feelings) or external (physical).
External conflict can exist between to characters, like the conflict that exists between a controlling
father and youthful, mischievous son or the tension that occurs between a virtuous woman and a
rogue of a man (and we know what can happen there).
External conflict can also be the conflict that occurs when a human encounters a physical challenge,
like when a family is lost in a snowstorm.
Internal conflict exists when a character struggles with an ethical or emotional challenge. You can
identify an internal conflict when you sense that a character is constantly asking himself or herself
"Am I doing the right thing?" or "Should I speak out against this behavior?"
One story that contains a lot of internal conflict isThe Red Badge of Courage. Henry evaluates his own
self-worth constantly, as he observes, contemplates, and experiences fear, courage, bravery, and
shame on the battlefield.
The internal conflict that a character experiences will usually represent a question about moral
behavior within societies and among humankind. In The Red Badge of Courage, Henry experiences
emotional turmoil because he is afraid of death (who isn't?) and he doesn't really want to kill others
(who would?). As we read about Henry's experience, we can't help questioning the morality of war.
Selected Article:

Selected articles
edit

Selected article 1
Portal: Hellenismos/Selected article/1 Hellenism may refer to:

Hellenic studies

Hellenistic civilization

Hellenistic period, in Greek antiquity

Hellenistic Greece

Hellenization, the spread of Greek culture over foreign peoples

Hellenistic philosophy in the Hellenistic period and late antiquity

Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism

Hellenistic art

Hellenism (neoclassicism), an esthetic movement in 18th and 19th century England and Germany

Hellenism (Academia), the academic study of ancient Greece (a scholar in this discipline may be
called a Hellenist)

Greek people and their culture in general

In the context of the ancient grammarians, the proper use of the Greek language

A combination of all, or some, of the above in synthesis, as a personal philosophy or world-view.

Midas:

Midas is the name of at least three members of the royal house of Phrygia.
The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ability to turn
everything he touched into gold. This came to be called the Golden touch, or the Midas touch.[1] The
Phrygian city Midaeum was presumably named after this Midas, and this is probably also the Midas that
according to Pausanias founded Ancyra. According to Aristotle, legend held that Midas died of hunger as
a result of his "vain prayer" for the gold touch. The legends told about this Midas and his father Gordias,
credited with founding the Phrygian capital city Gordium and tying the Gordian Knot, indicate that they
were believed to have lived sometime in the 2nd millennium BC well before the Trojan War. However,
Homer does not mention Midas or Gordias, while instead mentioning two other famed Phrygian
kings, Mygdon and Otreus.
Another King Midas ruled Phrygia in the late 8th century BC, up until the sacking of Gordium by
the Cimmerians, when he is said to have committed suicide. Most historians believe this Midas is the

same person as the Mita, called king of the Mushki in Assyrian texts, who warred with Assyria and
its Anatolian provinces during the same period.
A third Midas is said by Herodotus to have been a member of the royal house of Phrygia and the
grandfather of an Adrastus who fled Phrygia after accidentally killing his brother and took asylum
in Lydia during the reign of Croesus. Phrygia was by that time a Lydian subject. Herodotus says that
Croesus regarded the Phrygian royal house as "friends" but does not mention whether the Phrygian royal
house still ruled as (vassal) kings of Phrygia.
Pyramus:

Pyramus and Thisb are two characters of Roman mythology, whose love story of ill-fated lovers is also a
sentimental romance. The tale is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses.
PLOT:

In the Ovidian version, Pyramus and Thisbe is the story of two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy
connected houses/walls, forbidden by their parents to be wed, because of their parents' rivalry. Through a
crack in one of the walls, they whisper their love for each other. They arrange to meet near at Ninus' tomb
under a mulberry tree and state their feelings for each other. Thisbe arrives first, but upon seeing a
lioness with a mouth bloody from a recent kill, she flees, leaving behind her veil. The lioness drinks from a
nearby fountain, then by chance mutilates the veil Thisbe had left behind. When Pyramus arrives, he is
horrified at the sight of Thisbe's veil, assuming that a fierce beast had killed her. Pyramus kills himself,
falling on his sword in proper Roman fashion, and in turn splashing blood on the white mulberry leaves.
Pyramus' blood stains the white mulberry fruits, turning them dark. Thisbe returns, eager to tell Pyramus
what had happened to her, but she finds Pyramus' dead body under the shade of the mulberry tree.
Thisbe, after a brief period of mourning, stabs herself with the same sword. In the end, the gods listen to
Thisbe's lament, and forever change the colour of the mulberry fruits into the stained colour to honour the
forbidden love.
Adoptations:
The story of Pyramus and Thisbe appears in Giovanni Boccaccio's On Famous Women as biography
number twelve (sometimes thirteen)[1] and in his Decameron, in the fifth story on the seventh day, where a
desperate housewife falls in love with her neighbor, and communicates with him through a crack in the
wall, attracting his attention by dropping pieces of stone and straw through the crack.
Geoffrey Chaucer was among the first to tell the story in English with his The Legend of Good
Women. John Gower also uses the story, with some alteration, as a cautionary tale in his Confessio
Amantis, while Amoryus and Cleopes is a 15th century version.

Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet

The "Pyramus and Thisbe" plot appears twice in Shakespeare's works. Most famously, the plot of Romeo
and Juliet, in which the titular characters, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, fall in love at a party the
Capulet family hosts, but they cannot be together because the two families hold "an ancient grudge"
(which the young lovers' deaths eventually quash), and because Juliet has been engaged by her parents
to a man named Paris. Romeo and Juliet may draw either from Ovid's Latin retelling in
the Metamorphoses, or from Arthur Golding's 1567 translation of that work. Most modern tales of
"forbidden love" are seen as having been based on Shakespeare's play, rather than "Pyramus and
Thisbe."

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A comic recapitulation of "Pyramus and Thisbe" appears in the play A Midsummer Night's Dream (Act V,
sc 1), enacted by a group of "mechanicals". Their production is crude and, for the most part, badly done
until the final monologue of Nick Bottom as Pyramus and the final monologue of Francis Flute as Thisbe.
The theme of forbidden love is also present in A Midsummer Night's Dream (albeit a less tragic and dark
representation) in that a girl, Hermia, is not able to marry the man she loves, Lysander, because her
father Egeus despises him and wishes for her to marry Demetrius, and meanwhile Hermia and Lysander's
confidant, Helena, is in love with Demetrius.

Other adaptations
Spanish poet Luis de Gngora wrote a Fbula de Pramo y Tisbe in 1618. French poet Thophile de
Viau wrote Les amours tragiques de Pyrame et Thisbe, a tragedy in five acts (1621).
Franois Francoeur et Franois Rebel composed Pirame et Thisbe, a liric tragedy in 5 acts and a
prologue, with libretto by Jean-Louis-Ignace de la Serre; it was played at the Acadmie royale de
musique, on October 17, 1726. The story was adapted by John Frederick Lampe as a "Mock Opera" in
1745, containing a singing "Wall" which was described as "the most musical partition that was ever
heard." In 1768 in Vienna, Johann Adolph Hasse composed a serious opera on the tale, titled Piramo e
Tisbe.
Edmond Rostand adapted the tale from Romeo and Juliet, making the fathers of the lovers conspire to
bring their children together by pretending to forbid their love, in Les Romanesques. Rostand's play,
translated into Englishas The Romancers was the basis for the musical The Fantasticks. The
musical West Side Story, based on Romeo and Juliet, and The Fantasticks, thus has the same ultimate
source. Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, also wrote a children's version in her short story "A
Hole in the Wall".
[edit]Allusions
There is a chapter entitled "Pyramus and Thisbe" in Alexandre Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo,
alluding to the secret romance between Maximillian Morrel and Valentine de Villefort.

In Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, during his "nose monologue", Cyrano mocks his "traitorous
nose" in "parody of weeping Pyramus."
In Edith Wharton's short story "The House of the Dead Hand", the romance between Sybilla and Count
Ottoviano is seen as "a new Pyramus and Thisbe."
In Willa Cather's O Pioneers!, two of the story's lovers are killed under a Mulberry Tree.
In Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, when Cardenio is relating the story of he and Luscinda, he refers to
"that famous Thisbe."
In The Simpsons (23X13/2012) episode "The Daughter Also Rises", Grandpa Simpson talks to Lisa about
Pyramus & Thisbe.
In La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas (1499) Calisto talks briefly about the unfortunate Pyramus and
Thisbe.