Summary of European Literary History: An Introduction Part one: Antiquity

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Part I Antiquity
Chapter I Introduction
The ancient literary period has undergone countless changes in politically changing and emerging powers and
geopolitical/geographically changing landscapes. This makes the antiquity not just European literary history but
part of African and Asian literary history as well. The period ranging over more than a millennium covers
everything from Spain to Persia, to Britain to Egypt.
As seen in antiquity, in a bigger perspective the entire literary history, texts build upon each other. There are
references and responses to already existing works of literature. This is known as intertextuality.
Prose
Poetry
Histographies including auto- and biographies,
Lyric poetry, including satire and epistles
Rhetoric (in both philosophic and political terms)
Epics, such as the Aeneid, also didactic
Ancient novel (fictive prose, popular in RI period)
Drama, comedy and tragedy
Originally written text and literacy are two key
Often written in metres, (long, short) and used in oral
concepts
transmission of texts.
The Aeneid, Virgil
The Aeneid, Virgil’s epic as a continuation of the Iliad written by Homer, is not just European and should not be
considered as such, due to the contemporary views on geographical belonging.1 Considering propaganda as
well, the Aeneid gives a biased view of Roman history in favour of Augustus and the Roman Empire, thus
disregarding the enemies of Rome and their respective cultures for the most part.
The Aeneid is on both mythological and historical level a foundation: Aeneas and Rome.
Rome had established itself as a new cultural centre during 19-ish BCE when the Aeneid was written.
War (Trojan, Turnus vs. Aeneas etc.) play a huge role in the story.
Men are rewarded for their violence whilst women play a damsel in distress.
Some European names, including the name Europa itself, are aetiologically Middle Eastern rather than
European, which illustrates the inexistence of borders such as ‘Europe’ or ‘Africa’ as we consider them today.
Several factors influenced ancient literature:
The changing of/the flexibility of territorial borders.
Shifting cultural centres (Athens, Alexandria, Rome etc.)
Wars between different cultures and groups of people.
Literary output of earlier generations (Earlier Egyptians, Athenians etc.)
The process of poetry (singing) to written prose can be divided into four separate periods:
Archaic Greek (800 - 500 BCE)
Four distinct trends in development:
Classical Greek (500 - 300 BCE)
1. Emerge of prose next to poetry.
Hellenistic (300 - 30 BCE)
2. The slow transition of orality to
Roman Imperial (30 BCE – 450 CE)
literacy.
o Preliterate (750 BCE – 250 BCE)
3. An increase of genres.
o Republican (250 – 30 BCE, Golden period)
4. Establishment of Roman
o Imperial (30 BCE – 450 CE, Silver period)
literature next to Greek.

1 This is seen with Athenians and Spartans as well, they do not consider themselves Greek at that moment, just
like the Romans did not consider themselves European or even Italian. European literary history: an introduction
Antiquity
Yvonne Marinus (7075464) – Literary History Year 1 The archaic Greek period (800 – 500 BCE)
Some of the first known literary works are the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey (8th century BCE).
These stem from oral tradition. Orality is the foundation of ancient literature and comes in three types: oral
delivery, oral transmission and oral composition.
Didactic epics, written in the hexameter, such as Hesiod’s Theogony and the works and Days are written to
instruct the reader with short tales rather than to tell a consecutive story such as narrative epics like those
written by Homer.
Lyric poetry (7th century BCE) is way shorter than epics and describes the experience of one, usually written
from a first-person narrative and paradigmatic. These are originally sung, its name being derived from the lyra,
an instrument used to accompany poems.
At the end of the period, sceptics toward the mythical world of poetry emerged, instead they considered the
natural elements as a cause for the possible origins of their world instead of the mythos. Rather than poetry,
these natural philosophers used prose to reach those equally minded instead of public delivery. (at first, verse
was used, in later instances there was direct literacy rather than orality  literacy)
The classical Greek period (500 – 300 BCE)
This period is marked by the victorious wars against the Persians, making Athens a powerful city with money
and alliances. Drama emerged from this, due to temples and rituals – such as Dionysus’ – built from war profit.
Famous Greek tragedies and comedies were produced. These sometimes contributed to democracy in the fifth
century, due to public involvement. (Could plays/drama have been used as campaigns, thus propaganda or to get
Athenians involved in the voting process?)
Rhetoric also rose due to democracy. Wealth and fame of Athens attracted sophists, who would debate and use
rhetoric in the democratic voting process. This was done in prose dialogue. Besides this philosophical prose,
such as Aristotle and Plato, scientific prose as produced by Hippocrates is still used to this day.
Both the discussed prose and poetry are considered ancient literature due to the importance of stylization.
Histography started as a report of the past, the name was given in Athens, fifth century BCE. It was a literary
genre giving a moral and political version of prose. These eventually became original literate works rather than
oral works.
Hellenistic & Roman republican period (300-30 BCE)
338 BCE  King Philip of Marcedon united mainland Greece, Alexander the Great would eventually expand
with Asian and Egyptian territory.  led to changes in literature after his death and the political conflicts and
changes of borders that followed. Hellas’ culture influenced the Mediterranean basin and the Near East (Egypt
was a blooming nation until circa. 30 BCE), spreading due to Greek migrants bringing their culture and stories.
(Hellenization)
The expansion of Greek culture enabled the literary development, even though drama and rhetoric would
continue in Greece itself. Literacy spread, although the elite were the predominant readers throughout the
antiquity. Canonisation of older writers also took place with imitatio and aemulatio.
The Hellenistic period brought short and defined poetry that should be read, such as the literary epigram.
Theocritus wrote the bucolic literary work, the Idylls, Virgil emulated this with his Eclogues.

Prose genres would continue to develop as well, science grew further apart from philosophy and a great number
of subjects – such as linguistics and mathematics – would be discussed in prose. The period before this is known
as the preliterate period.
The end of the third and the beginning of the second century BCE brings the conquering of large parts of
Southern Italy and Greece, further intensifying the contact between Rome and Greece  adaptation of Greek
genres, prose would be of great importance in law-making for the Romans. (Greco-Roman)

European literary history: an introduction
Antiquity
Yvonne Marinus (7075464) – Literary History Year 1 The Roman Imperial period (30 BCE – 450 CE)
Rome expanded in the first century BCE under Julius Caesar to Gaul, which caused horrendous civil wars.
These were ended by the Pax Augusta by Augustus.
In this period, the Greek and Roman literary movements developed simultaneously. Greek and Latin were the
languages of the elite.
Epic poetry was picked up again, such as Virgil and Ovid. Lyric poetry became of importance again as well. In
the Gospels of Dionysus – a paganised version of the Gospel of John – the Greco-Roman transition to Christian
literature, following the latter becoming the state religion in 312 CE, can be seen. All previously mentioned prose genres were practiced in this period:
Histography by writers such as Livy and Tacitus.
o This would now include auto- and biographical works, such as the ones from Caesar. These
eventually were intertextual for historical plays like Shakespeare’s.
Philosophy, such as Seneca’s Stoic philosophy.
Theological treatises, Christian and written by the likes of Augustine in 400 CE.
Scientific prose, such as Galen’s.
Rhetoric.
New literary genres were:
Satire poetry, such as Horace.
Prose used for fiction rather than science, an ancient novel, often like an epic with a main theme of
love. These were written off verse, but in prose.
Fables, teaching a moral lesson with animals or objects acting like human beings, such as Hesiod and
Demetrius.
Letters, used to imitate famous historical individuals, to communicate Christian teachings (Greek), to
address the public such as Cicero and Seneca. (Roman) The latter were poetic epistles.

Chapter II: Travelling in Greek and Roman literature
Travel is a theme of great importance in ancient literature, the Odyssey from Homer was the first piece of travel
literature. The Odyssey is an epic poem written around the seventh to eighth century BCE and focuses around
the aftermath of the Trojan War. The reader follows the journey of Odysseus back to his homeland Ithaca,
where he struggles to regain control, the control taken from him in is twenty-four-year period of absence. His
wit is of uttermost importance in his travel, it is how he is still alive. As seen in L.285-330 (I.II p.27-28) The adventures cover large parts of the Odyssey, most of these including mythological beings trying to stop
Odysseus from reaching his destination. He does tell the mundane story of being a Cretan man, instead of his
true journey when arriving in Ithaca at first, which gives an interesting contrast. These two descriptions give a
peek into the flexible travelling in the ancient Mediterranean area, although describes its dangers as well. The
mobility of the ancient is reflected in literature like this. Journeys, no matter their motive (religious, recreational,
commercial, pressures of war), became a symbol in literary enterprise. The journey of Odysseus does lead to references to it in other travel narratives, it becoming an allusion to the
ancient text. Even the name, an odyssey, is a long voyage. Both the Aeneid and the Argonautica hold
references to Homer’s epic. Yet the differences give contrasts in the stories, whilst Jason of the Argonautica is
careful and does his best to keep his crew together, Odysseus loses all his original crew in his return (nostos in
Greek). And whilst Aeneas is living through a period similar to Odysseus, the events of the Odyssey have
already happened. The Odyssean theme of return is not a part of the story by Virgil, as Aeneas is forced to find a
new country rather than return to his own, destroyed country, Troy.
The influence does however spread further than epic poetry, Sappho, a lyric poet for example, uses Odyssean
allusion to pray for her brother’s safe return from sea.
A tragedy written by Euripides called Helen, offers another way of viewing Helen’s fate, her being the innocent
victim rather than the cause of the Trojan war, by using the reuniting of Penelope and Odysseus to show the
reuniting of Helen and Menelaus in Egypt.
Ovid would describe in the Trista, the double epic journey from Rome to the Black Sea and back.

European literary history: an introduction
Antiquity
Yvonne Marinus (7075464) – Literary History Year 1