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Ancient Literature (3000 BCE - 500
CE)
e Ancient Mesopotamian Literature
(3000 BCE — 2000 BCE): This period
includes the earliest known writings,
such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, a
Sumerian epic poem that explores
themes of friendship, mortality, and the
search for immortality.
e Ancient Greek Literature (800 BCE —
200 BCE): This era produced works by
legendary writers such as Homer,
known for the Iliad and the Odyssey,
and playwrights like Sophocles,
Aeschylus, and Euripides, who wrote
tragic plays exploring human nature
and the conflicts between gods and
mortals. e Ancient Roman Literature (200 BCE -
500 CE): Roman literature included
works by poets like Virgil (known for
the Aeneid) and historians like Livy and
Tacitus, who chronicled the rise and fall
of the Roman Empire.
Medieval Literature (500 CE — 1500
CE)
e Early Medieval Literature (500 CE -
1000 CE): During this period, literature
was mainly religious and included
works such as Beowulf, an Old English
epic poem, and The Divine Comedy by
Dante Alighieri, an Italian epic poem
that describes the journey through Hell,
Purgatory, and Heaven. e High Medieval Literature (1000 CE -
1300 CE): This era saw the emergence
of troubadour poetry in Provence,
France, which celebrated courtly love,
as well as the works of Geoffrey
Chaucer, such as The Canterbury Tales,
which combined diverse stories and
social commentary.
e Late Medieval Literature (1300 CE —
1500 CE): Notable works from this
period include Dante’s Divine Comedy,
Petrarch’s sonnets, and the works of
Christine de Pizan, an early feminist
writer.
Renaissance Literature (14th —
17th centuries)
e Italian Renaissance Literature (14th — 16th centuries): This period witnessed
the flourishing of humanism and
produced works by authors such as
Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni
Boccaccio, who emphasized the
individual, the secular, and the revival
of classical themes and styles.
e English Renaissance Literature (16th —
17th centuries): This era saw the works
of William Shakespeare, including his
plays such as Hamlet and Macbeth,
which explored complex human
emotions and the human condition.
Other notable writers include
Christopher Marlowe and Edmund
Spenser.
Enlightenment Literature (17th —
18th centuries) e This period marked a shift towards
reason, rationality, and the questioning
of established beliefs and systems.
Influential writers during this time
included René Descartes, John Locke,
Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and
Denis Diderot.
Romanticism (late 18th — mid-19th
centuries)
e Romantic literature emphasized
individual emotion, imagination, and
nature. Key figures include William
Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and
John Keats.
