genre hecuba 
Euripides ( or ; ) ( c . 480  c . 406 BC ) was a tragedian of classical Athens . He is one of the few whose plays have survived , with the others being Aeschylus , Sophocles , and potentially Euphorion . Some ancient scholars attributed 95 plays to him but according to the " Suda " it was 92 at most . Of these , 18 or 19 have survived more or less complete ( there has been ___MASK42___ about his authorship of " Rhesus ", largely on stylistic grounds ) and there are also fragments , some substantial , of most of the other plays . More of his plays have survived intact than those of Aeschylus and Sophocles together , partly due to mere chance and partly because his popularity grew as theirs declinedhe became , in the Hellenistic Age , a cornerstone of ancient literary education , along with Homer , Demosthenes and Menander . Catharsis ( from Greek meaning " purification " or " cleansing ") is the purification and purgation of emotions  especially pity and fear  through ___MASK5___ or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration . It is a metaphor originally used by Aristotle in the " Poetics ," comparing the effects of ___MASK63___ on the mind of a spectator to the effect of a cathartic on the body . Classical antiquity ( also the classical era , ___MASK30___ or classical age ) is a term for a long period of ___MASK9___ centered on the Mediterranean Sea , comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome , collectively known as the Greco - Roman world . It is the period in which Greek and Roman society flourished and wielded great influence throughout Europe , North Africa and Southwestern Asia . Hecuba ( Ancient Greek :  , Hekab ) is a ___MASK63___ by Euripides written c . 424 BC . It takes place after the Trojan ___MASK84___ , but before the Greeks have departed Troy ( roughly the same time as The Trojan Women , another play by Euripides ) . The central figure is Hecuba , wife of King Priam , formerly Queen of the now - fallen city . It depicts Hecuba ' s grief over the death of her daughter Polyxena , and the revenge she takes for the murder of her youngest son Polydorus . Aeschylus ( or ; " Aiskhulos " c . 525 / 524  c . 456 / 455 BC ) was an ancient Greek tragedian . He is often described as the father of ___MASK63___ . Academics ' knowledge of the ___MASK97___ begins with his work , and understanding of earlier tragedies is largely based on inferences from his surviving plays . According to Aristotle , he expanded the number of characters in theater allowing conflict among them ; characters previously had interacted only with the chorus . In ___MASK14___ , Polyxena ( Greek : ) was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen , Hecuba . A herma ( pl . " hermai "), commonly in English herm , is a sculpture with a head , and perhaps a torso , above a plain , usually squared lower section , on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height . The form originated in Ancient Greece , and was adopted by the Romans , and revived at the ___MASK62___ in the form of term figures and Atlantes . ___MASK14___ is the body of myths and teachings that belong 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 . It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece . Modern scholars refer to and ___MASK28___ the myths in an attempt to shed light on the religious and political institutions of Ancient Greece and its civilization , and to gain understanding of the nature of myth - making itself . Troy (" Troia " and , " Ilion ", or , " Ilios "; and ; Hittite : " Wilusha " or " Truwisha ") was a city situated in the far northwest of the region known in late Classical antiquity as Asia Minor , now known as Anatolia in modern Turkey , near ( just south of ) the southwest mouth of the Dardanelles strait and northwest of Mount Ida . The present - day location is known as Hisarlik . It was the setting of the Trojan ___MASK84___ described in the Greek ___MASK44___ Cycle , in particular in the " Iliad ", one of the two ___MASK44___ poems attributed to Homer . Metrical evidence from the " Iliad " and the " Odyssey " suggests that the name (" Ilion ") formerly began with a digamma : (" Wilion "); this is also supported by the Hittite name for what is thought to be the same city , Wilusa . The ___MASK44___ Cycle (" Epikos Kyklos ") was a collection of Ancient Greek ___MASK44___ poems that related the story of the Trojan War that includes the " Cypria ", the " Aethiopis ", the so - called " Little Iliad ", the " Iliupersis ", the " Nostoi ", and the " Telegony ". Scholars sometimes include the two Homeric epics , the " Iliad " and the " Odyssey ", among the poems of the ___MASK44___ Cycle , but the term is more often used to specify the non - Homeric poems as distinct from the Homeric ones . Greek ___MASK19___ refers to writings composed in areas of Greek influence throughout the period in which the Greek - speaking people have existed . In ___MASK14___ , Hector (" Hektr ") was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War . As the first - born son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba , who was a descendant of Dardanus and Tros , the founder of Troy , he was a prince of the royal house and the heir apparent to his father ' s throne . He was married to Andromache , with whom he had an infant son , Scamandrius ( whom the people of Troy called Astyanax ). He acted as leader of the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy , " killing 31 , 000 Greek fighters ", offers Hyginus . During the European Middle Ages , Hector figures as one of the Nine Worthies noted by Jacques de Longuyon , known not only for his courage but also for his noble and courtly nature . Indeed , Homer places Hector as peace - loving , thoughtful as well as bold , a good son , husband and father , and without darker motives . James Redfield writes of Hector as a " martyr to loyalties , a witness to the things of this world , a hero ready to die for the precious imperfections of ordinary life ." Sparta ( Doric Greek : ; Attic Greek : ) was a prominent city - state in ancient Greece . In antiquity the city - state was known as Lacedaemon , while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia , in south - eastern Peloponnese . Around 650 BC , it rose to become the dominant ___MASK40___ land - power in ancient Greece . Odysseus , also known by the Latin name Ulysses , was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer ' s ___MASK44___ ___MASK94___ the " Odyssey ". Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer ' s " Iliad " and other works in that same ___MASK44___ cycle . Raymond Henry Williams ( 31 August 1921  26 January 1988 ) was a ___MASK83___ academic , novelist and critic . He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider ___MASK37___ . His writings on politics , ___MASK37___ , the ___MASK7___ media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of ___MASK37___ and the arts . Some 750 , 000 copies of his books have sold in UK editions alone and there are many translations available . His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the cultural materialist approach . A siege is a ___MASK40___ blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault . This derives from " sedere ", Latin for " to sit ". Siege warfare is a form of constant , low - intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong , static defensive position . Consequently , an opportunity for negotiation between combatants is not uncommon , as proximity and fluctuating advantage can encourage diplomacy . Digamma , waw , or wau ( uppercase :  , lowercase :  , numeral :  ) is an archaic ___MASK34___ of the Greek alphabet . It originally stood for the sound but it has principally remained in use as a Greek numeral for 6 . Whereas it was originally called " waw " or " wau ", its most common appellation in classical Greek is " digamma "; as a numeral , it was called " epismon " during the Byzantine era and is now known as " stigma " after the Byzantine ligature combining  -  as  . Hecuba ( also " Hecabe ", " Hécube "; " Hekáb ") was a queen in ___MASK14___ , the wife of King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War , with whom she had 19 children . These children included several major characters of Homer ' s " Iliad " such as the warriors Hector and Paris and the prophetess Cassandra . The Iliad ("", in Classical Attic ; sometimes referred to as the " ___MASK16___ of Ilion " or " ___MASK16___ of Ilium ") is an ancient Greek epic poem in dactylic hexameter , traditionally attributed to Homer . Set during the Trojan War , the ten - year siege of the city of Troy ( Ilium ) by a coalition of Greek states , it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles . Publius Vergilius Maro ( traditional dates October 15 , 70 BC  September 21 , 19 BC ), usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman ___MASK91___ of the Augustan period . He is known for three acclaimed works of Latin literature , the " Eclogues " ( or " Bucolics "), the " Georgics ", and the ___MASK44___ " Aeneid ". A number of minor poems , collected in the " Appendix Vergiliana ", are sometimes attributed to him . Publius Ovidius Naso ( 20 ___MASK71___ 43 BC  AD 17 / 18 ), known as Ovid in the English - speaking world , was a Roman ___MASK91___ who lived during the reign of Augustus . He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace , with whom he is often ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature . The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin ___MASK64___ elegists . He enjoyed enormous popularity , but , in one of the mysteries of literary ___MASK87___ , was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea , where he remained until his death . Ovid himself attributes his exile to " carmen et error ", " a poem and a mistake ", but his discretion in discussing the causes has resulted in much speculation among scholars . The Peloponnesian ___MASK84___ ( 431  404 BC ) was an ancient Greek ___MASK84___ fought by Athens and its empire against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta . Historians have traditionally divided the ___MASK84___ into three phases . In the first phase , the Archidamian ___MASK84___ , Sparta launched repeated invasions of Attica , while Athens took advantage of its naval supremacy to raid the coast of the Peloponnese and attempt to suppress signs of unrest in its empire . This period of the ___MASK84___ was concluded in 421 BC , with the signing of the Peace of Nicias . That treaty , however , was soon undermined by renewed fighting in the Peloponnese . In 415 BC , Athens dispatched a massive expeditionary force to attack Syracuse in Sicily ; the attack failed disastrously , with the destruction of the entire force , in 413 BC . This ushered in the final phase of the ___MASK84___ , generally referred to either as the Decelean ___MASK84___ , or the Ionian ___MASK84___ . In this phase , Sparta , now receiving support from Persia , supported rebellions in Athens ' subject states in the Aegean Sea and Ionia , undermining Athens ' empire , and , eventually , depriving the city of naval supremacy . The destruction of Athens ' fleet at Aegospotami effectively ended the ___MASK84___ , and Athens surrendered in the following year . Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved , but Sparta refused . Demosthenes (" Dmosthéns " 384  12 October 322 BC ) was a Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens . His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the ___MASK65___ and ___MASK37___ of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC . Demosthenes learned rhetoric by studying the speeches of previous great orators . He delivered his first judicial speeches at the age of 20 , in which he argued effectively to gain from his guardians what was left of his inheritance . For a time , Demosthenes made his living as a professional speech - writer ( logographer ) and a lawyer , writing speeches for use in private legal suits . Homer (, " Hómros ") is the name ascribed by the Ancient Greeks to the semi - legendary author of the two ___MASK44___ poems , the " Iliad " and the " Odyssey ", the central works of Greek literature . Many accounts of Homer ' s life circulated in classical antiquity , the most widespread being that he was a blind bard from Ionia , a region of central coastal Anatolia in present - day Turkey . The modern scholarly consensus is that these traditions do not have any historical value . A ___MASK93___ is a statement that , despite apparently sound reasoning from true premises , leads to a self - contradictory or a logically unacceptable conclusion . A ___MASK93___ involves contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time . ___MASK89___ is the specific mode of ___MASK68___ represented in performance . The term comes from a Greek word meaning " action " ( Classical Greek : , " drama "), which is derived from " to do " ( Classical Greek : , " drao "). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy . They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses , Thalia , and Melpomene . Thalia was the Muse of comedy ( the laughing face ), while Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy ( the weeping face ). Considered as a genre of poetry in general , the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle ' s " Poetics " ( c . 335 BCE ) the earliest work of dramatic theory . King Priam is an ___MASK1___ by Michael Tippett , to his own ___MASK76___ . The story is based on Homer ' s " Iliad ", except the birth and childhood of Paris , which are taken from the " Fabulae " of Hyginus . The Trojan Women (" Triades "), also known as Troades , is a ___MASK63___ by the Greek playwright Euripides . Produced in 415 BC during the Peloponnesian ___MASK84___ , it is often considered a commentary on the capture of the Aegean island of Melos and the subsequent slaughter and subjugation of its populace by the Athenians earlier that year "( see ___MASK87___ of Milos )". 415 BC was also the year of the scandalous desecration of the " hermai " and the Athenians ' second expedition to Sicily , events which may also have influenced the author . In ___MASK14___ , Menelaus (" Menelaos ", from <  · vigor , rage , power +  · people , "" wrath of the people "") was a king of Mycenaean ( pre - Dorian ) Sparta , the husband of Helen of Troy , and a central figure in the Trojan War . He was the son of Atreus and Aerope , brother of Agamemnon , king of Mycenae and , according to the " Iliad ", leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the War . Prominent in both the " Iliad " and " Odyssey ", Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and ___MASK82___ , the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus . Turkey , officially the Republic of Turkey ( Turkish : ), is a transcontinental ___MASK13___ in Eurasia , mainly in Anatolia in ___MASK55___ Asia , with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe . Turkey is a democratic , secular , unitary , parliamentary republic with a diverse cultural heritage . Turkey is bordered by eight countries : Greece to the west ; Bulgaria to the northwest ; Georgia to the northeast ; Armenia , the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan and Iran to the east ; and Iraq and Syria to the south . The Aegean Sea is to the west , the Black Sea to the north , and the Mediterranean Sea to the south . The Bosphorus , the Sea of Marmara , and the Dardanelles , which together form the Turkish Straits , divide Thrace and Anatolia ; they also separate Europe and Asia . Turkey ' s location has given it geopolitical and strategic importance throughout ___MASK87___ . Menander (" Menandros "; c . 342 / 41  c . 290 BC ) was a Greek dramatist and the best - known representative of Athenian New ___MASK81___ . He wrote 108 comedies and took the prize at the Lenaia festival eight times . His record at the City Dionysia is unknown but may well have been similarly spectacular . ___MASK82___ is a form of theatre from Ancient Greece and Asia Minor . It reached its most significant form in Athens in the 5th century BC , the works of which are sometimes called Attic tragedy . ___MASK82___ is an extension of the ancient rites carried out in honor of Dionysus , and it heavily influenced the theatre of Ancient Rome and the Renaissance . Tragic plots were most often based upon myths from the oral traditions of archaic epics . In tragic theatre , however , these narratives were presented by actors . The most acclaimed Greek tragedians are Aeschylus , Sophocles and Euripides . In ___MASK14___ , Laomedon was a Trojan king , son of Ilus , nephew of Ganymede and Assaracus , and father of Priam , Astyoche , Lampus , Hicetaon , Clytius , Cilla , Proclia , Aethilla , Medesicaste , Clytodora , and Hesione . Tithonus is also described by most sources as Laomedon ' s eldest legitimate son ; and most sources omit Ganymedes from the list of Laomedon ' s children , but indicate him as his uncle instead . Laomedon ' s possible wives are Placia , Strymo ( or Rhoeo ) and Leucippe ; by the former he begot Tithonus and by the latter King Priam ( see John Tzetzes ' " Scholia in Lycophronem " 18 (: " Priamus was the son of Leucippe , whereas Tithonus was the son of Rhoeo or Strymo , the daughter of Scamander ")). He also had a son named Bucolion by the nymph Calybe , as recounted by Homer in the " Iliad " ( 6 . 22 ). Dictys Cretensis ( 4 . 22 ) added Thymoetes to the list of Laomedon ' s children . Cultural identity is the identity or feeling of belonging to a group . It is part of a person ' s self - conception and self - perception and is related to nationality , ethnicity , ___MASK38___ , social class , generation , locality or any kind of social group that has its own distinct ___MASK37___ . In this way , cultural identity is both characteristic of the individual but also of the culturally identical group of members sharing the same cultural identity . Anatolia ( from Greek , '  " east " or "( sun ) rise "; in modern ), in ___MASK60___ known as Asia Minor ( from '  " small Asia "; in modern ), Asian Turkey , Anatolian peninsula , or Anatolian plateau , is the westernmost protrusion of Asia , which makes up the majority of modern - day Turkey . The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north , the Mediterranean Sea to the south , and the Aegean Sea to the west . The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland . The city of Athens during the ___MASK30___ of Ancient Greece ( 508  322 BC ) was the major urban center of the notable polis ( city - state ) of the same name , located in Attica , Greece , leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian ___MASK84___ against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League . Athenian ___MASK12___ was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras . This system remained remarkably stable , and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years , until 322 BC ( aftermath of Lamian ___MASK84___ ). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC , known as the Age of Pericles . The Suda or Souda is a large 10th - century Byzantine ___MASK3___ of the ancient Mediterranean world , formerly attributed to an author called Suidas . It is an encyclopedic lexicon , written in Greek , with 30 , 000 entries , many drawing from ancient sources that have since been lost , and often derived from medieval ___MASK47___ compilers . The derivation is probably from the Byzantine Greek word " souda ", meaning " fortress " or " stronghold ," with the alternate name , " Suidas ", stemming from an error made by Eustathius , who mistook the title for the author ' s name . In ___MASK14___ , Priam (" Príamos ") was the king of Troy during the Trojan War and youngest son of Laomedon . Sophocles (" Sophokls ", ; 497 / 6  winter 406 / 5 BC ) is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived . His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus , and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides . Sophocles wrote 120 plays during the course of his life , but only seven have survived in a complete form : " Ajax ", " Antigone ", " The Women of Trachis ", " Oedipus the King ", " Electra ", " Philoctetes " and " Oedipus at Colonus ". For almost 50 years , Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the ___MASK21___ competitions of the city - state of Athens that took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia . He competed in 30 competitions , won 18 , and was never judged lower than second place . Aeschylus won 14 competitions , and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles , while Euripides won 5 competitions . Wilusa ( Hittite : " Wi - lu - ša ") < English pronunciation : wi - lu - sha > was a city of the late Bronze Age Assuwa confederation of ___MASK55___ Anatolia . The Odyssey (" Odýsseia ", in Classical Attic ) is one of two major ancient Greek ___MASK44___ poems attributed to Homer . It is , in part , a sequel to the " Iliad ", the other work ascribed to Homer . The " Odyssey " is fundamental to the modern ___MASK55___ canon , and is the second - oldest extant work of ___MASK55___ literature ; the " Iliad " is the oldest . Scholars believe the " Odyssey " was composed near the end of the 8th century BC , somewhere in Ionia , the Greek coastal region of Anatolia . ___MASK37___ can be defined in numerous ways . In the words of anthropologist E . B . Tylor , it is " that complex whole which includes knowledge , belief , art , morals , ___MASK24___ , custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of ___MASK25___ ." Alternatively , in a contemporary variant , " ___MASK37___ is defined as a social domain that emphasizes the practices , discourses and material expressions , which , over time , express the continuities and discontinuities of social meaning of a life held in common ." A ___MASK47___ ( or ) is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity , an Abrahamic , monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ . " ___MASK47___ " derives from the Koine Greek word " Christós " (  ), a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term " mashiach ". In ___MASK14___ , the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks ) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus , king of Sparta . The war is one of the most important events in ___MASK14___ and has been narrated through many works of Greek literature , most notably through Homer ' s " Iliad ". The " Iliad " relates four days in the tenth year of the decade - long siege of Troy ; the " Odyssey " describes the journey home of Odysseus , one of the war ' s heroes . Other parts of the war are described in a cycle of epic poems , which have survived through fragments . Episodes from the war provided material for ___MASK82___ and other works of Greek literature , and for Roman poets including Virgil and Ovid . ___MASK63___ ( from the , " tragidia ") is a form of ___MASK89___ based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences . While many cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response , the term " tragedy " often refers to a specific tradition of ___MASK89___ that has played a unique and important role historically in the self - definition of Western civilisation . That tradition has been multiple and discontinuous , yet the term has often been used to invoke a powerful effect of cultural identity and historical continuity " the Greeks and the Elizabethans , in one cultural form ; Hellenes and Christians , in a common activity ," as Raymond Williams puts it .