Literature: The Artistic Expression of the Human Experience

Q: When did people start writing literature?

People began writing literature in circa 2600 BCE in Mesopotamia.

Q: What is the oldest work of literature in the world?

The Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia is the oldest work of literature in the world, dated to circa 2100 BCE.

Q: When did Homer write Iliad and Odyssey?

Homer wrote Iliad and Odyssey in the 8th century BCE.

Joshua J. Mark

Definition

Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning "letters" and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy, or the study of such written work which may appear in poetry or in prose. Literature is the artistic expression of the human experience and the works labeled as such, although they bear the stamp of the culture that produced them, are remarkably similar in the tales they tell.

More about: Literature

Timeline

c. 2600 BCE
Beginning of literature in Sumerian.
c. 2300 BCE
Life of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, and world's first author known by name.
c. 2100 BCE - c. 1400 BCE
The tales of Gilgamesh written which inform the Epic of Gilgamesh.
c. 1900 BCE - c. 1600 BCE
Composition of The Descent of Inanna.
c. 1640 BCE - c. 1700 BCE
Written form of the Atrahasis myth of the Great Flood.
1345 BCE
The world's first manual on training horses is written by the Mitanni horse trainer Kikkuli (found in Hattusa).
c. 1120 BCE
Extant copy of the Sumerian Enuma Elish (creation story) is made from much older text.
c. 800 BCE - c. 700 BCE
Homer of Greece writes his Iliad and Odyssey.
c. 700 BCE
Greek poet Hesiod writes his Theogony and Works and Days.
c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCE
Extensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh.
c. 500 BCE
The Indian epic the Ramayana is composed by the sage Valmiki.
c. 400 BCE - c. 200 CE
The Bhagavad Gita, part of the Mahabharata, is written at some point between 400 BCE and 200 CE.
213 BCE
The Burning of the Books and the Burying of Philosophers Period in China.
c. 205 BCE - 184 BCE
Plautus writes his Roman comedy plays.
c. 200 BCE
Plautus' comedy play Stichus is first performed.
c. 191 BCE
Plautus' comedy play Pseudolus is first performed.
c. 100 BCE
Buddhist sutras began to be written down in Pali.
59 BCE - 17 CE
Life of Livy.
43 BCE - 17 CE
Life of the Roman writer Ovid, author of Metamorphoses.
c. 30 BCE - c. 19 BCE
Roman poet Virgil writes his Aeneid.
23 CE - Aug 79 CE
Life of Pliny the Elder.
c. 69 CE - c. 130 CE
Life of Roman biographer Suetonius who wrote 'The Twelve Caesars'.
148 CE
An Shigao is the first Buddhist translator mentioned in Chinese sources who established a translation centre in the Chinese imperial capital, Luoyang.