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we speak of Greek or Roman writers and their public, an obvious distinction must be made. Some of the most important classical literary genres say epic poetry, drama, oratory, and lyric poetry (at least in some of its varieties) were written for a given situation and had an intrinsically ceremonial character. Epic poetry originally had the function of evoking a significant past and entertaining guests in royal and aristocratic gatherings, as Homer himself explains. Tragedy and comedy were ceremonial productions in the most formal way and never lost their original connection with religious festivals. Oratory was defined by its setting either tribunals or (what at least for the Greeks was almost the same) assemblies. More rarely, orators performed as ambassadors before kings. Lyric poetry often presupposed addresses to gods, heroes, sovereigns, or winners of games. Even when poetry is related to personal (political or erotic) circumstances, there is no doubt in the poeťs mind as to whom he is addressing. A convivial setting is often presupposed by lyric poetry, as it was by epic poetry. A further common feature of these ceremonial performances was that very often they took the form of competition between performers. In poetry, the victor was given a prize; in oratory, victory was normally indicated by the assembly's acceptance of the speakers thesis or plea. Other literary genres were not so ceremonial and tied to specific occasions. But they were clearly defined by their didactic purposes. It was perhaps Hesiod who introduced the Greeks to didactic poetry; he was certainly the man who made the Greeks at home with it. He had in mind some individuals, like his brother Perses, or some groups to whom he wanted to pass on what the Muses had told him. When the earliest philosophers came into being in the sixth century b.c. they continued the work of Hesiod in the sense that they had something definite to teach to people who were evidently ignorant of their specific subjects. Some
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