It's all Greek to me

Abstract

This article provides an overview of Classical Greek literature as a parallel for the game development industry: we outline how the historical developments of Greek storytelling and literature inform the developmental history of video games. As the Greek storytelling medium evolved, the sense of the tragic hero and narrative complexity evolved. Similarly, as generations of video game players evolve, their demand for more complex characters and more fully developed storylines will also evolve. We attempt to provide a vantage point that future game designers may consider during the design of future game-based story elements. While we epitomize our case using Greek Literature, the same elements and structure are found throughout the evolution of story telling in many ancient civilizations. It is our assertion that good education in game design and development requires a good technical background and a solid foundation in narrative storytelling. As such, it is recommended that game-oriented curriculum include the study of the Classics.