The Sources
Literary Texts
Literary texts refers to sources such as —books, poetries, plays, etc. They can be written by two types; either a contemporary writer or a later writer. Contemporary writers express what they see whereas later writers have to rely on sources, many of which have been lost.
Initially, these texts would have been written onto papyrus, which is incredibly fragile, and most of the papyrus scrolls that have been found have been kept preserved in the deserts of Egypt due to the climate conditions there.
Initially, these texts would have been written onto papyrus, which is incredibly fragile, and most of the papyrus scrolls that have been found have been kept preserved in the deserts of Egypt due to the climate conditions there.
...the dry climate in Egypt and the tradition of placing papyri in tombs helped to
preserve them. Tombs especially have protected the documents by acting as a kind
of ‘buffer’ against the fluctuations of temperature and the relative humidity
outside...
Bridget Leach, Conservator, British Museum
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/y1T3knf-T66RwWyEt_cZBw
Fortunately, the manuscript tradition has ensured the survival of many ancient works; papyrus scripts were often copied by monks in Christian monasteries which have kept many sources available for modern interpretation. However, there were a number of issues with this. Firstly, not all scripts were copied as manuscripts - rather it was the ones deemed important that were copied so many sources have been lost to us. For example, Aristotle's work did not survive through the manuscript tradition but rather through a papyrus discovered in c. 1890 in Egypt. Secondly, a number of lacunas are made when creating the manuscripts - these are gaps or mistakes in the copies. However, modern scholars compare numerous manuscripts in order to create a 'clean' manuscript.
Narrative Histories
One type of literary text is narrative history; these were written by the likes of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon and built-up chronologically. When studying narrative histories, it must be remembered that the authors intentions and focus at this point were narrow - they wrote about politics and war and little else so it is incredibly difficult to learn about daily life for many of the Athenian citizens from these and there is little detail about the events of the middle of the fifth-century BC. On top of this, they used only limited sources for their work as they deemed only certain sources of value. They saw their role in making moral lessons; people read their histories to become better people. For example, in Xerxes re. the defeat of Xerxes as divine retribution for Persian arrogance. ‘hubris’ (insulting behaviour/thoughts) & ‘nemesis’ (divine vengeance). It must also be remembered that —their style of writing and conclusions they come to are determined by their own perspectives, a reflection of the culture they grew-up in.
Tragedies
Some famous Athenian tragecists include —Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Twice a year, festivals were held in honour of Dionysus at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens - they were normally set in a mythological world and are useful in telling us what interested the Athenians. One example of a tragedy not set in a mythological world is Aeschylus' 'Persians', which dramatizes the Persian reaction to the Battle of Salamis.
Comedies
Comedies included direct political satire and huge amounts of explicit content as their aim was to make the audience laugh as much as possible. It takes genuine examinations and extends and distorts them. This shines an indirect light onto Athenian culture as it helps us to understand what things Athenians would have found funny - for example Aristophanes' 'Women' is about what would happen if Athenian women were in power. This is useful as it shows us two things - firstly that they thought it would be ridiculous to their eyes and secondly, that the idea of women in power could actually be engaged thus showing the relationship between men and women in Athenian culture.
Speeches
Speeches can tell us about Athenian laws and how the Athenians thought. However, it must also be remembered that these would have been intended to be persuasive and putting just one side of the argument across so we must be careful when we are interpreting them. Some famous examples of recorded speeches include Lysias, Demosthenes and Aischines.
Narrative Histories
One type of literary text is narrative history; these were written by the likes of Herodotus, Thucydides and Xenophon and built-up chronologically. When studying narrative histories, it must be remembered that the authors intentions and focus at this point were narrow - they wrote about politics and war and little else so it is incredibly difficult to learn about daily life for many of the Athenian citizens from these and there is little detail about the events of the middle of the fifth-century BC. On top of this, they used only limited sources for their work as they deemed only certain sources of value. They saw their role in making moral lessons; people read their histories to become better people. For example, in Xerxes re. the defeat of Xerxes as divine retribution for Persian arrogance. ‘hubris’ (insulting behaviour/thoughts) & ‘nemesis’ (divine vengeance). It must also be remembered that —their style of writing and conclusions they come to are determined by their own perspectives, a reflection of the culture they grew-up in.
Tragedies
Some famous Athenian tragecists include —Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Twice a year, festivals were held in honour of Dionysus at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens - they were normally set in a mythological world and are useful in telling us what interested the Athenians. One example of a tragedy not set in a mythological world is Aeschylus' 'Persians', which dramatizes the Persian reaction to the Battle of Salamis.
Comedies
Comedies included direct political satire and huge amounts of explicit content as their aim was to make the audience laugh as much as possible. It takes genuine examinations and extends and distorts them. This shines an indirect light onto Athenian culture as it helps us to understand what things Athenians would have found funny - for example Aristophanes' 'Women' is about what would happen if Athenian women were in power. This is useful as it shows us two things - firstly that they thought it would be ridiculous to their eyes and secondly, that the idea of women in power could actually be engaged thus showing the relationship between men and women in Athenian culture.
Speeches
Speeches can tell us about Athenian laws and how the Athenians thought. However, it must also be remembered that these would have been intended to be persuasive and putting just one side of the argument across so we must be careful when we are interpreting them. Some famous examples of recorded speeches include Lysias, Demosthenes and Aischines.
Epigraphy (Inscriptions)
Epigraphy is the study of inscriptions. These are important as they can reveal how information was displayed and presented, as well as providing us with information. However, many inscriptions are damaged and/or broken which means that we often only have parts of an inscription. It is then up to the historian to work out what the missing pieces were likely to be through use of historical knowledge and patterns of epigraphic style.