S
ystems of writing were
first used as a means of
recording administrative
and commercial transactions.
Gradually, these systems became
more advanced, preserving ancient
wisdom, historical records, and
religious ceremonies, all of which
had previously been memorized
and were passed down orally.
Throughout the world's early
civilizations, in Mesopotamia,
China, India, and Greece, the
written canon of literature first
emerged as history and mythology.
The form that this earliest
literature took was a long narrative
poem, known as an epic, which
focuses on the legends surrounding
a great warrior or leader, and his
battles to protect his people from
their enemies and the forces of
evil. The combination of historicalevents and mythical adventures,
told in a metrical verse form,
explained the people's cultural
inheritance in an exciting and
memorable way.Tales of gods and men
The first known epics, which
include the various versions of The
Epic of Gilgamesh, and the great
Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and
Ramayana, often tell of the origin of
a civilization, or a defining moment
in its early history. Seen through
the exploits of a heroic individual
or a ruling family, these epics also
explained the involvement of the
gods, often contrasting their
powers with the frailties of human
heroes. This was a theme that also
appeared in the later epics ascribed
to Homer. His heroes Achilles and
Odysseus are depicted not onlyas noble warriors in the Trojan War
that established ancient Greece
as a great power, but also as very
human characters confronting both
fate and their own weaknesses.
Later, as Greek influence declined,
Roman poets developed their own
Latin version of the form, even
borrowing the story of the Trojan
War, as Virgil did in the Aeneid,
to produce an epic of the beginning
of Rome. The scale and depth of
Homer’s epics, and their poetic
structure, provided the foundation
on which Western literature is built.Greek drama
Another product of the tradition
of storytelling in ancient Greece
was drama, which developed from
recounting a narrative to acting out
the part of a character and thereby
bringing the tale to life. Gradually,18 INTRODUCTION
King Wen of Zhou
writes a commentary
on an ancient method
of divination, which is
later expanded into the
Book of Changes (the
Yijing or I Ching).The ancient Greek epic
poems Iliad and Odyssey,
ascribed to Homer,
are written.The adoption
of a democratic
constitution by
the Greek city-state
of Athens ushers in
the classical era.The earliest known texts,
in the Sumerian language,
are written on tablets in
Abu Salabikh, southern
Mesopotamia.The great
Sanskrit epic poems
Mahabharata and
Ramayana are
composed in
ancient India.The Chinese
philosopher Kong
Fuzi (Confucius) is
active teaching and
compiling the
Five Classics.The tragedians
Aeschylus,
Euripides, and
Sophocles compete
for the title of greatest
dramatist of Athens.The Epic of Gilgamesh is
one of the world’s earliest
examples of written
literature.C.2600 BCE 12 TH–11TH CENTURY BCE C.8TH CENTURY BCE 508 BCE
FROM 2100 BCE 9 TH–4TH CENTURIES BCE 551–479 BCE 5 TH CENTURY BCE
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