EUROPEAN

LITERATURE
European Literature,
--- also called Western
Literature, refers to literature in
the Indo-European languages
including Latin, Greek, the
Romance languages, and
Russian.
It is considered as the largest
body of literature in the world.
 Latin
Literature
 Marcus Tullius Cicero (106
BCE–43 BCE) was the greatest
Roman orator. The first part of
the Golden Age of Latin
Literature (70 BC–AD 18) is
named after him, the
Ciceronian period (70–43 BC).
* Using Latin as a
literary medium, he
was able to express
abstract and
complicated thoughts
clearly in his speeches.
* One of his well-
known speeches
is Pro Cluentio.
Virgil (70
BCE–19 BCE),
the greatest
Roman poet,
was known
for Aeneid,
an epic
poem.
THE
AENEID
Aeneas
defeat
of
Turnus
He wrote it during the
Augustan Age (43 BC–AD
18), the second part of
the Golden Age.
Greek Literature
Homer is
known for
the Iliad and
the Odyssey.
The Iliad
and The
Odyssey
* These epics are about
the heroic achievements
of Achilles and
Odysseus, respectively.
Sophocles (496
BC–406 BC) was
a tragic
playwright. He
was known
for Oedipus the
King, which
marks the
highest level of
achievement of
Greek drama.
Italian Literature
Francesco
Petrarca,
or Petrarch (13
04–1374)
perfected the
Italian sonnet,
a major
influence on
European
poetry.
Written in the
vernacular, his
sonnets were
published in
the Canzoniere.
Giovanni
Boccaccio (1313–
1375) is known
for Decameron, a
classic Italian
masterpiece. The
stories were
written in the
vernacular.
Spanish Literature
Two well-known Spanish
writers of Siglo De Oro (1500–
1681) are Miguel de Cervantes
(1547–1616) and Lope de Vega
(1562–1635).
Miguel de Cervantes was
known for his novel Don
Quixote, one of the most
widely read works of `
Western Literature. Its titular
character’s name is the
origin of the word “quixotic.”
Lope de Vega, an outstanding
dramatist, wrote as many as
1800 plays during his lifetime,
including cloak and sword
drama, which are plays of
upper middle class manners
and intrigue.
 French
Literature
Gustave Flaubert (1821–
1880), a novelist, was a major
influence on the realist school.
His masterpiece, Madame
Bovary (1857), marked the
beginning of a new age of
realism.
Guy de Maupassant (1850–
1893) is considered as the
greatest French short story
writer. A Naturalist, he wrote
objective stories, which
present a real “slice of life.”
Russian
Literature
Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) is known for
his novels War and Peace (1865–1869)
andAnna Karenina (1875–1877).
A master of realistic fiction, he
is considered as one of the
world’s greatest novelists.
Anton Chekhov (1860–
1904) is a master of the
modern short story. His
works reveal his clinical
approach to ordinary life.
Summary
European Literature refers to
literatures in the Indo-
European languages. It is
considered as the largest body
of literature in the world.
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