ancient literature
Homer and Virgil's domain
Ancient literature comprises written works from early civilizations—Greek epics, Roman poetry, Sanskrit hymns, Chinese classics, Hebrew scriptures.
The term typically covers texts from antiquity through roughly the fall of Rome, though boundaries vary by culture.
Homer's Odyssey is a cornerstone of ancient literature.
These works often survive only in fragments or later copies.
- MesopotamianOf the two-rivers land
- EgyptianRelating to the pharaohs' land
- heroismExceptional courage under duress
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- epic poetryExtended narrative in verse
heroic journey · lyric poetry · divine intervention · oral tradition · oral storytelling · creation myths · founding myths · tragedy · Chinese · classical education · Mayan · dead languages · lost civilizations · historiography · Persian · Vedas · clay tablets · cultural preservation
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- Literary Historymedieval period, Elizabethan era, Victorian era, Harlem Renaissance, Beat Generation
- ancient languagesLatin, Greek, Sanskrit, Aramaic, Sumerian
- literary periodsRenaissance, medieval, Victorian, modern, contemporary
ancient literaturemodern literature
Recent centuries' written works
contemporary literature · modern fiction · contemporary fiction · postmodern literature · Victorian literature
ancient literaturecontemporary writing
Recently produced text
modern novels · blog posts · fan fiction · experimental fiction · genre fiction
ancient literatureexperimental writing
Unconventional literary form
underground literature · self-published works · unpublished manuscripts · pulp fiction · popular fiction
ancient, anciently, ancientness, literature, literary, literate, literacy, illiterate, illiteracy