classical canon
Foundational Western literature
The classical canon is the body of works considered essential or exemplary within a tradition—particularly in literature, music, and art.
These are the texts, compositions, and pieces that scholars, educators, and institutions have deemed most worthy of study and preservation: Shakespeare dominates the Western literary canon, She studied the classical canon of Greek philosophy.
The canon shapes curricula and cultural literacy, though debates about what belongs in it—and whose voices have been excluded—remain ongoing.
- literatureBody of written works
- masterpieceSupreme artistic achievement
- literary meritWorthiness as serious writing
- traditionCustom passed through generations
- WesternOf Euro-American civilization
required reading · core curriculum · curriculum · Shakespeare · Homer · Dante · Milton · Virgil · old masters · timeless · time tested · foundational · anthology · standard · authority · Greek · Latin · humanities
- collectionscollection, collections, anthology, anthologies, compilation
- classicsHomer, Iliad, the Iliad, Odyssey, the Odyssey
- Roman literatureVirgil, Vergil, Ovid, Cicero, Horace
classical canonunderground literature
Secretly distributed banned works
outsider art · counterculture · minority voices · minor works · samizdat
classical canongenre fiction
Conventional, plot-driven popular books
pulp fiction · fan fiction · popular fiction · popular entertainment · folk art
classical, classic, classics, classically, classicism, classicist, class, canon, canons