Ancient Literature

ANCIENT LITERATURE

literature in english i

deisy morales

Ancient literature

1. Importance

7. The Odyssey

2. Timeline

8. Themes

3. The Epic of Gilgamesh

9. The Odyssey and the Epic of Gilgamesh

4. Map

5. Background

10. Map

6. Language

IMPORTANCE

Civilizations and cultures defined themselves through literature.

Drew on foundational histories and myths for their identities.

Epics, story collections, and novels take a keen interest in heroic travelers.

These texts affected the history of their own eras, but also they have continued to find new prominence and significance in ours

7th-6th centuries BCE:

Timeline

Aesop's Fables

5th-4th centuries BCE:

Oedipus Rex The Analects Mahabharata and the Ramayana

Pre-9th century BCE:

Epic of Gilgamesh Book of the Dead

3rd-1st centuries BCE:

Aeneid

9th-6th centuries BCE:

Upanishads.

1st-5th centuries CE:

8th century BCE:

The City of God

The Iliad and the Odyssey by Homer.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Considered the first masterpiece of World Literature

It is incomplete

c. 2000 BCEGreat Flood that destroys mankind

The oldest known copy of a Sumerian Gilgamesh poem dates from 2100. BCE

MAP

Uruk, is just northwest of today’s Iraqi city of Basra, on the Euphrates River, near the Persian Gulf and the border with today’s Iran.

Background

The stories were collected and organized by both Babylonian and Assyrian scribes or poets.

Comes from ancient Sumeria, a region where the first civilizations arose, the site of modern-day Iraq.

Although invaders burned the Nineveh library, the tablets crashed down into the ruined foundations, to be buried as they were built over by later generations.

The epic refers to a real Sumerian king, who ruled Uruk, around 2800–2750 BCE.

British archaeologists uncovered the ruins and the tablets, and gradually scholars deciphered the script and the language

LANGUAGE

Sumerian texts were written on wax or clay tablets

Sumerian (cuneiform)

the odyssey

• First told as a series of stories in the “Dark Age” of Greece (1100s-700s)
• The stories of the Trojan War featured many heroes; Odysseus
• His fame came through mental cunning
• His story was told person-to-person
• Late 700s-early 600s Accomplished oral poet(s) first commit the epics of Troy and Odysseus to writing

lANGUAGE

Odysseus’ home island of Ithaca is described as rocky, seagirt, and clear skied. Ships can be hollow, swift, black, well benched, well oared, scooped out, fast moving, or black prowed. Odysseus himself is much-enduring, brilliant, and a man of many schemes.

themes

The proper role of women in society

The search for friendship, love, and immortality

What differentiates human from magical kingdoms

The meaning of being human

life after death

Similarities with Biblical stories

Social classes on earth and in the underworld

FORUM 1. How do The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey help us understand world history and Ancient Literature? 2. What do The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey teach you today? 3. Why is The Epic of Gilgamesh or The Odyssey considered as World Literature?

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