ABSTRACT
As well as philosophy and history, the ancient Greeks also wrote other works in prose. The best known author of fables was Aesop. Aesop was a slave from northern Greece who was sent to work on the island of Samos. The Greeks had enjoyed exciting adventure stories since the Iliad and the Odyssey became popular in the eighth century B.C.E. Many Greeks studied oratory, or the art of making speeches, as part of their education. Demosthenes' most important speeches concerned his fear over the growing importance of Macedon and his belief that Macedon would attempt to take over the rest of Greece. Demosthenes wrote four speeches, known as the Philippics, which strongly attacked the foreign policy of Philip II, the king of Macedon. Literature and philosophy were a very important aspect of Greek culture and even people who could not read well could gain knowledge by listening to plays being performed or poetry being recited in public.
