Travel literature: Did you mean...?

Chinese literature is among the most imaginative and interesting in the world. The precision of the language results in perfectly realized images whether in poetry or prose and, as with all great literature, the themes are timeless. The Chinese...

Lying at the crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean, the island of Cyprus has long been a meeting point for many of the world's great civilizations. Situated where Europe, Asia and Africa meet, its location shaped its history of bringing...

Persian literature is usually dated to the Behistun Inscription of Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE) at c. 522 BCE. It is generally understood that a significant body of work was created by Persian writers between that time and c. 330...

When looking at Ancient Greek literature, one can see the importance family plays in Greek culture. We see this displayed in the Greek works Medea by Euripides and Antigone by Sophocles. Throughout these literary works we see that family...

Aristophanes wrote in the 5th century BCE about coin hoards in Athens. He joked about the common saying, "No one knows but the birds where I hid my money," which led buffoons in his play to follow birds around with a shovel, hoping to excavate...

How we celebrate Christmas today is largely shaped by a small group of authors who recorded festive traditions in the 19th century. These authors include Washington Irving (1783-1859), Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863), and Charles Dickens...

Ancient peoples were as curious as ourselves about the wider world and even if the transport at their disposal meant travel could be long, arduous and dangerous, they still managed to get about and visit different cities, sacred sites and...

Herodotus (484 BCE – c. 425 BCE) has been called the Father of History since he was the first historian known to collect his materials in detail, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative...

Medieval literature developed in Europe from medieval folklore between c. 476 and c. 1500. The works ranged from poetry to drama, romance, prose, philosophical dialogues, and histories. Literary works were at first composed in Latin but...

Ancient Chinese literature developed following the evolution of script which evolved from divination practices of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BCE). The pictographs made on oracle bones by diviners became the script known as Jiaguwen (c...