ANCIENT GREEK LITERATURE - IS IT REALLY GREEK?

FOR THOSE WHO DENY THE GREEKNESS OF GREEK THOUGHT

There are those among us, even Greeks, who deny that any of what we call Ancient Greek Thought is actually a real product of the intellect of the ancients.

Indeed some think that there is no actual proof of the existence of the works of the Ancients as there has been nothing saved from the classical era.
Is this true? well, there is the wealth of ancient inscriptions on tombstones and pottery but this is not really evidence of the ancient spirit; right? We haven't anything more substantial surviving  like Homer's works do we?
ACTUALLY... WE DO! WE HAVE  THE "EGYPTIAN PAPYRI".
These papyri were found in the sands of Egypt dating from the Hellenised Ptolemaic times of the Egyptian Kingdoms.

According to the British Library, proof of ancient Greek writings come comes mainly from two sources:

A. Papyri from Egypt

Papyri from Egypt come mostly from the towns of the southern Nile valley.
Here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> we can see a papyrus from the 2nd century AD found in Oxyrhynchos (see map above).
Many others were found in the lower Nile area of Egypt.
Below, the Aristotelian Constitution of the Athenians preserved almost intact on four papyrus scrolls, copied around 100 AD (Papyrus 131).

 

 

 

 B. Byzantine manuscripts

 

One such proof of, shall we say, authenticity is SOUDA , an encyclopaedia which was written around the 10th century AD.

It is one of the most important and valuable works for Greek literature history and Grammar and is attributed to a scholar called Soudas although the name could possibly have been derived from the word Souda for fortress.
A copy of it is seen here. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The encyclopaedia uses sources from ancient times such as the orator and author Arpokration from Alexandria who lived in 2nd century BC.
It gives partial documentation and examination of works of many Classics.

DON'T BELIEVE.  EXAMINE AND PROVE.

ΝΟΜΙΖΩ?