Outline of Ancient and Classical Literature
Created by Roger Blackwell Bailey, Ph.D.
Many of the authors listed below have individual pages where can be found 1. their on-line works and 2. study aids ( when available ). Most of the works are available in the Penguin Classics series. Click Here for general resources, on-line and off. For .zip files of several classics, click HERE.
Literature of the Ancient Near East
Classical Hebrew Literature
The Hebrew Bible****
Specimens of Akkadian Literature
The Creation Epic (Enuma Elish) from Sacred Texts.
The Epic of Gilgamesh from Academy of Ancient Texts.
The Code of Hammurabi trans. L.W. King.
Specimens of Egyptian Literature
Middle Kingdom ( c. 2040-1650 )
" Tale of the Ship-Wrecked Sailor ".
[ The Hyksos period occupies the 100 years between Middle and New Kingdoms.]
New Kingdom ( c. 1550-1080 B.C. )
" The Tale of Two Brothers ". An analogue to the story of Joseph in Genesis.
The Book of the Dead from Tour Egypt. See also R.O. Faulkner, Translator, The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. Texas, 1993.
Ancient Greek Literature
The Age of Epic.
Homer ( ? 9th Cent. B.C. ).
Hesiod ( ? 8th Cent. ).
The Homeric Hymns ( ? 7th Cent. ).
Apollonius of Rhodes ( fl. 3d Cent. ), The Argonautica.
' Aesop ', ( 6th Cent. B.C. ), First prose collection of Aesopic fables.
The Age of Lyric Poetry
Sappho ( fl. 7th Cent. )
Pindar ( 518-438 ), the Ode.
The Golden Age of Athens.
Tragedians
Historians
Comic Dramatists
Philosophers
- Plato ( 427-347 ). Several works on-line
- Apology.
- Crito.
- Phaedo.
- Republic.****
- Aristotle ( 384-322 ), Several on-line works, including Ethics, Rhetoric, and Poetics.****
- Theophrastus ( c.370-c.287 ), Characters. Sketches of thirty types of weakness of character. Translated, with Notes and Introductory Essays by Warren Anderson. Kent State, 1970. The prototype of the 17th century English character writers.
- Epicurus ( 341-c. 270 ), Aphorisms.
Orators
- Demosthenes ( 383-322 ), Several on-line works, including The Crown and others .
- Other orators : Large number of Greek orations at Perseus Project at Tufts and at M.I.T. See also references on Classical rhetoric.
Ancient Greek ' Novels '
- Xenophon of Ephesus ( 2d Cent. A.D. ), An Ephesian Tale. Also wrote satirical dialogues.
- Longus ( 2d Cent. A.D. ), Daphnis and Chloe
- Lucian ( c. 115-200 ), A True Story.
- Heliodorus ( 3d. Cent. ), An Ethiopian Story.
Medical Writers
Late Greek Literature
Theocritus ( c, 300 B.C. ) The Idylls. Translated with an introduction and notes by Robert Wells. Penguin, 1989.
The Septuagint ( 275 B.C. ). Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.
Polybius ( 200-118 ), History.
Strabo ( c. 58 B.C.-c. A.D.24 ), Geography.
Diodorus Siculus ( c. 40 B.C. ), Historical Library. Important source of ancient legends.
Quintus Curtius Rufus ( 1st. Cent. A.D. ), Alexander.
Plutarch ( 46-120 ), Parallel Lives.
" Apollodorus' " Library. An extensive summary of Greek myth and legend drawn from literary sources.
Epictetus ( 55-135 ), Discourses.
Arrian ( 90- ), The Campaigns of Alexander.
Appian ( fl.A.D. 160 ), The Civil Wars.
' Longinus ' ( 1st-2nd Century A. D. ), On the Sublime.
Pausanias,
Description of Greece. A traveler's guide to Greece of the 2nd. Century.
The New Testament ( 1st and 2d Centuries ).
Josephus ( c. 37-c. 100 ): The Jewish Wars and Antiquities of the Jews.
Plotinus ( 203-262 ), The Enneads. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry
Eusebius ( c. 260-339 ), The Ecclesiastical History. The Father of Church History.
The Greek Anthology ( 6th c. ). Edited by Peter Jay. Various translators. Penguin, 1981.
Procopius ( c. 500-562+ ).
Latin Literature
Early Latin Literature: Comic Drama
The Golden Age of Latin Literature
Cicero ( 106 - 43 ).
Caesar ( 100 - 44 ), The Gallic War and The Civil War.
Cornelius Nepos ( c. 100-c. 25 ), Lives of Illustrious Men. Biographical sketches of foreign military men.
Lucretius ( c. 99-55 ), On the Nature of Things.
Sallust ( 86-34 ), The War with Jugurtha and The War with Cataline.
Catullus ( 84 - 54 ).
Virgil ( 70 - 19 )
Horace ( 65 - 8 ): Satires and Epistles, esp. " The Art of Poetry." Odes On Line from M. I. T.
Tibullus ( 60-19 ): Elegies.
Propertius ( c. 50-c. 16 ), Elegies.
Ovid ( 43 -18 )
Livy ( 59 - 17 ) History of Rome from M. I. T.
The Silver Age
Seneca ( 4 B.C. - A.D. 65 ).
Phaedrus ( d. A.D. 14 ), Aesopic fables in verse.
Persius ( 34-62 ), Satires.
Quintilian ( 35-95 ), The ' Institutes ' of Oratory.
Lucan ( 39-65 ), The Civil War ( Pharsalia) .
Petronius ( d. 60 ), Satyricon.
Statius ( 48-96 ), The Thebaid.
Pliny the Elder ( 23-79 ), The Natural History.
Tacitus ( 55- 117 ). Annals, Histories, and Germania.
Martial ( 40-104 ), Epigrams.
Juvenal ( 60- 135 ), Satires.
Pliny the Younger ( 61-113 ), Letters.
Suetonius ( 70- 160 ).
Marcus Aurelius ( 121-180 ), Meditations.
Aulus Gellius ( 123-170 ), Attic Nights.
Apuleius ( c. 125-? ), The Golden Ass.
Christian Latin Literature
St. Jerome ( c. 342-420 ), The Vulgate: Latin translation of the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
St. Augustine ( 354-430 ).
St. Patrick ( c. 373-464 ), Confession.
Boethius ( 480-524 ): The Consolation of Philosophy. Catholic Encyclopedia entry
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Last Updated 10/29/09