From 334 to 323 BC, Alexander the Great of Macedonia invaded Persia, India and other places eastward after ruling all Greece. Since then, the whole Eastern Mediterranean and many places in West Asia and Central Asia have been influenced by Greek culture, and Greek has become the Mandarin in this vast area. Therefore, this period is also called Hellenistic period. Ptolemy, the Greek general of Alexandria, Egypt, became the local master after Alexander's death; Many books and scholars gathered here, making Alexandria the main Greek cultural center after Athens. From BC 1 century, the influence of West Rome extended to the East, but Alexandria remained the cultural center of Greece. It was not until the 4th century A.D. that the Roman Empire took Christianity as the state religion and the Eastern Rome seized Constantinople (the Byzantine cultural center) that Alexandria lost its important position.
In the 3rd century BC, the most important poets in Alexandria were Toth, Kalimarcos, Apollonius and Aratus. Te Aucry Toth was originally an ancient Syracuse in Sicily, and later went to Alexandria to become one of the most important poets. He wrote many pastoral poems, describing the scenes of daily life and the love of young shepherds. His pastoral poems were imitated by poets such as Mosco and Pion at that time, which had a great influence on Virgil in Rome and later European schools. Kali Marcos, a profound scholar and poet, compiled a complete catalogue of books in Alexandria. The main work is the long elegy narrative poem Origin, which describes the origin of various customs and etiquette, and has been lost in 4 volumes. He only has six hymns, some inscriptions and a thousand lines of narrative poem "Hekale", which is written according to myths. It is said that there were 800 volumes of his poems and academic works at that time. Apollonius is his opponent, and he is also a scholar and poet. There is a four-volume epic "Argo Ship Hero", which has a great influence on later Roman epics. Aratus is also a profound Alexandria scholar. He wrote a long poem about astronomical phenomena, which was translated into Latin many times. Famous poets in the 3rd century BC, including Asclepiades of Bithynia and Leoni Das, all wrote short love poems. At that time, there was a famous poet, Hull rodas, who wrote eight pantomimes depicting secular life scenes and created vivid images.
Around 80 BC, the poet Moller Agros compiled short lyric poems and inscriptions of ancient Greece into a collection called poem Garden, which included the works of about 50 Greek lyric poets, from Alkirocos in the 7th century BC to himself. Since then there have been other anthologies, all of which have been lost. In the 10 century, an eastern Roman scholar compiled a relatively complete anthology, which included more than 3,000 inscriptions, divided into 15 volumes, and later added 16 volumes, which is a collection of short poems of ancient Greek inscriptions that can be seen today.
In historical biographical literature, Politios was the most important historian in this period. He wrote 40 volumes of history, leaving only 5 volumes today. A historian later than him is De Onisi Aus, who was born in Asia Minor. He is also a rhetorician and literary critic. His History of Ancient Rome has 20 volumes, half of which have been preserved to this day. Appiah wrote 24 volumes of Roman history. In addition, Ali Anders provided important historical materials about Alexandria.
During this period, the greatest influence of Greek historians on future European writers was Plutarch in 1 century. Most of his comparative biographies of Greek and Roman celebrities have been preserved and contain many precious historical materials. His purpose in writing this book is to educate modern people with idealized ancients, so it is not very reliable. He also wrote many expositions on ethics and morality, which are collectively called "On Morality". Historians at this time also included Diodoros in Sicily, who wrote a 40-volume historical library, which contained complicated contents, but also preserved many precious historical materials.
1 century later, there was a revival movement of prose creation. Born in Asia Minor, Dion is known as an "eloquent speaker" and a writer who pays attention to the style of classical prose. The most important prose writer in this period was Lucian (translated from Lucian), who was born in Syria. Most of his works are satirical essays, mocking the gods of the past and the superstitious fashion of that time. Both Marx and Engels spoke highly of his works, calling them "Voltaire in ancient times".
In the 3rd century AD, Philo stratos, an Athenian, wrote some biographies about wise men and scholars, and also wrote A Biography of Apollonius, a story about a famous alchemist at that time. The content is absurd and can be read as a legendary novel. And Artemis, who was born in Egypt. He wrote The Wise Man at the Banquet (volume *** 15), which covers ethics, aesthetics, science, literature and art. It is an important material for studying social customs and literature in ancient Greece.
In terms of literary criticism, Demetrious wrote "Literary Style" around 1 century. It is said that the author of On the Sublime is Ron Gilnas. This work analyzes the factors that constitute great literary works, and holds that a great writer must have lofty ideological realm and passion. The author of this work showed a high aesthetic ability and had a great influence on later European literary theory.
As early as the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the fable writer Aesop's name was already known. In the 3rd century BC, I edited Aesop's Fables, which was lost. Between AD 1 and the 2nd century, Ba Bliss wrote Aesop's Fables in iambic verse. The existing manuscripts also include some prose fables added later. In terms of novels and legends, scholars in Alexandria have created many legendary novels about Alexandria, and Aristotle wrote the legend of Miletus in 1 century BC, which have been lost. Legendary novels handed down from generation to generation include the works of Kariton and Achilles Tatios in the 2nd century A.D. and the works of Rangos and Heliodorus in the 3rd century A.D.. Their theme is the story of a couple who finally came together after many difficulties and obstacles. Langos's novel Daphne and Gloria is one of the most outstanding lyrical novels. In addition, there are stories about the Trojan War written by Dicteus of Crete and Darius of Phrygia. Greek has been lost, but its Latin translation is still circulating in medieval Europe.
In the 2nd century A.D., Bausanias, a famous historian and geographer born in Asia Minor, wrote 10, which collected many ancient legends and information about cultural relics and historic sites. There was also a Eratosthenes in Alexandria, who wrote many books on astronomy and geography. He is also a poet, but his poems have been lost. Part of the Christian New Testament was written in Greek and Putonghua at that time, which had a great influence on later literature. Philosophically, the last important writer in this period was Plotinus, who pushed the mysticism of Plato and Pythagoras to a new height and was once called the last important essayist in ancient Greece.