Ancient Literature

Ancient Literature was born a few thousand years ago. It's considered to be the earliest literature in Europe. The two eldest literary pieces are ancient "Iliad" and "Odyssey" epic poems.

The first literary Roman monuments belong to the 3rd century B.C., but the period of flourishing may be referred to the 1st century B.C. In fact, this period lasted for more than a millennium, that is for about 1200 years. Ancient literature is considered to be classical due to its nature and viewed as "the childhood of mankind".

The main genres are mythology, Homeric epos and Ancient dramaturgy. The main object of World Literature in Ancient times was a real human that aspired to attain physical and spiritual perfection. A human was surrounded by Gods and all his actions were predicted by them. He couldn't perform any of his operations without having coordinated it with Zeus (Jupiter) and others heavenly creatures.

"Iliad" and "Odyssey" tell us the history of Greek community during several decades. It is a collection of legends and myth that embody the worldview and universe idea in those past times.

The literature of later Ancient periods is more optimistic and multifarious. First and foremost, it is the literature of Ancient Rome. After having invaded Greece, the Rome adopted all the Greek culture having set up own one. The Roman literature achieved considerable heights and developed for about 800 years. It progressed much more intensively and reached its apogee in the first century B.C.

The greatest Ancient literary thinkers and creators were Homer, Hesiod, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, Titus Lucretius Carus, Vergilius, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca. The logical end of the Ancient period of the course of human events finished in the collapse of the Roman Empire in the 5th century A.D.