Ancient literary periods
Ancient literary periods refer to the distinct eras of literary production in various classical civilizations, characterized by evolving styles and themes. These periods often align with significant historical events, such as the rise and fall of dynasties, and advancements in cultural and philosophical thought. The Western literary tradition includes the ancient literary cultures of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, while the Eastern tradition encompasses the rich histories of China and India. In the Western context, key periods are defined: the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Hebrew, and Egypt from 3000 BCE to 500 BCE; Ancient Greece, flourishing from 800 BCE to 200 BCE; and Ancient Rome, which dominated until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE.
Chinese literature boasts a continuous tradition stretching over three thousand years, with its earliest works emerging around 1600 BCE. Meanwhile, India's literary history features a blend of religious and secular texts, with significant developments occurring from the Vedic period through to the colonial influences of the eighteenth century. Each of these literary periods reflects the unique cultural, political, and social contexts of their time, providing insight into the values and narratives of ancient civilizations.
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Ancient literary periods
The literary traditions of ancient and classical civilizations can be divided into distinct periods that are broadly defined by evolving styles and literary production. Periodic divisions of ancient literary history sometimes coincide with the rise and fall of monarchic dynasties and changes in political rulership, while in other cases, they are defined by advancements in cultural theory and philosophy.
Modern understanding of ancient literary periods is, by definition, restricted to traditions that produced written literature rather than relying solely on oral transmission. Such traditions developed in multiple major classical civilizations in both the Western and Eastern worlds. The Western tradition broadly includes the literary cultures of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, while the most complete Eastern cultural histories developed in China and India.
Background
Scholars typically divide the development of classical Western civilization into three broad periods. The first includes the Mesopotamian, Hebrew, and Egyptian civilizations that spanned a period from about 3000 BCE to 500 BCE. The second was Ancient Greece, which developed about 800 BCE before becoming the dominant Western culture until about 200 BCE. Ancient Rome, traditionally said to have been founded in 753 BCE, emerged as the most powerful state in the Western world by the first century BCE.
Historians have traditionally used the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE as the cutoff point for marking the end of the ancient or classical period of Western civilization. Following the Roman Empire’s decline and collapse, Europe entered a historical phase spanning approximately five centuries traditionally known as the Dark Ages, but more recently restyled as the Early Middle Ages (476–1000 CE). Some historical treatments of ancient Western literature extend through the Early Middle Ages, as the Latin language of the Roman Empire remained the medium of literary exchange until the High Middle Ages (ca. 1000–ca. 1300 CE).
Experts widely recognize China as hosting the world’s oldest continuous civilization. The Chinese literary tradition is more than three thousand years old, with the earliest surviving Chinese-language writings dating to the final centuries of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 BCE–1046 BCE). Yet, the concept of “ancient China” is significantly more elusive than the corresponding designation in the Western world, as the traditional political, social, and cultural structures of dynastic China extended into the twentieth century. Complete treatments of ancient Chinese literature can consider works produced across the entirety of the country’s dynastic period.
India, which also ranks among the world’s most enduring civilizations, also has a complex literary history. Broad, sweeping divisions can separate the Indian literary tradition into pre-modern and modern periods, with the colonization of India by Great Britain in the eighteenth century marking the transition point.
Overview
Historical treatments of ancient Egyptian literature cover the general divisions of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2649 BCE–ca. 2130 BCE), Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040 BCE–1782 BCE), and New Kingdom (ca. 1550 BCE–1077 BCE) periods. Definitive literary works of the Old Kingdom include the Pyramid Texts, creation myths and histories of the lives and deeds of Egyptian monarchs, and a corpus of proverb-like compositions collectively known as the Instructions in Wisdom. Ancient Egyptian literature matured during the Middle Kingdom, which historians commonly consider to mark the civilization’s golden age. Middle Kingdom literature displays a level of depth absent from Old Kingdom works, with a body of work referred to by scholars as Pessimistic Literature revealing elevated prose-form treatments of complex issues. Elegant poetic compositions also emerged during the Middle Kingdom, with The Songs of the Harper representing a particularly well-known example. Egypt’s New Kingdom yielded the famous Book of Coming Forth By Day, commonly called the Book of the Dead. Scholars also note that the secular works of the New Kingdom display a novel level of engagement with non-Egyptian cultures, which emerged as a result of Egypt’s imperial development.
Key periods of Ancient Greek literature include the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods. Oral tradition dominated the Archaic Period (ca. 800 BCE–479 BCE), with a number of important works earning preservation in written forms, including the Homeric epics of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Classical Period (ca. 510 BCE–ca. 323 BCE) was marked by a shift in focus from lyrical poetry to comedic and tragic drama, with many of the great ancient Greek playwrights thriving during this era. In the Hellenistic Period (ca. 323 BCE–ca. 31 BCE), Greek literature further evolved to include elaborate written histories in addition to continuing the civilization’s poetic, prose, and dramatic traditions.
Heavily influenced by the classical civilization of ancient Greece, Roman literature flourished as the Empire became dominant during the first century BCE. Experts use multiple models to divide the literary periods of ancient Rome, with the simplest acknowledging the Classical (ca. 200 BCE–ca. 455 CE) and Patristic periods (ca. 70 CE–ca. 455 CE). Rome’s most enduring literary figures, including Horace, Ovid, and Virgil, worked during a phase of the Classical Period known as the Roman Imperial age, during which Rome achieved the height of its influence. The Patristic Period is marked by a shift to Christianity as the official state religion. Latin-language compositions of the Early Middle Ages were dominated by religious themes, but also included lyric poetry, ballads, epics, and chivalrous romances.
Broad overviews of the massive body of literature produced in the Chinese tradition begin before the founding of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE and extend to the medieval era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, which ended in 589 CE. Leading canonical works from this era include the Shi jing and Chuci poetry compilations and the Han shu and Shi ji histories. Rhyming, metered poetry emerged during the Tang Dynasty (618–906), with a more complex amalgam of verse and prosaic forms known as ci lyrical poetry evolving during the Song Dynasty (960–1297). Drama and prose-form fiction emerged and matured during the Yuan (1279–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1912) dynasty periods.
The Indian literary tradition began about the middle of the second millennium BCE, when Vedic peoples supplanted the Indus Valley civilization and began writing in the Sanskrit language. Classical literature of the Vedic period is dominated by religious themes, with the oldest surviving Hindu scriptures dating to this era. A distinct Tamil-language literary tradition emerged about the first century CE, while Islamic influences became apparent after the eighth century. From the twelfth century through the beginnings of British colonization in the eighteenth century, India also developed both secular and religious literature in the Assamese, Bengali, Punjabi, and Urdu languages.
Bibliography
“Ancient Indian Literature.” Ministry of Culture, Government of India,2023, ccrtindia.gov.in/resources/literary-arts/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Chandran, Mini and V.S. Sreenath. An Introduction to Indian Aesthetics: History, Theory, and Theroeticians.Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.
Chang, Taiping. “Three Millennia of Writings A Brief History of Chinese Literature.” Oxford University Press,8 Dec. 2017, blog.oup.com/2017/12/chinese-literature-history-writings/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
“English Literature: Literary Periods & Genres.” Leland Speed Library,19 July 2023, mc.libguides.com/eng/literaryperiods. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Mark, Joshua J. “Ancient Egyptian Literature.” World History Encyclopedia,14 Nov. 2016, www.worldhistory.org/Egyptian‗Literature/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Wasson, Donald L. “Ancient Greek Literature.” World History Encyclopedia,11 Oct. 2017, www.worldhistory.org/Greek‗Literature/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Wasson, Donald L. “Roman Literature.” World History Encyclopedia,27 Sept. 2017, www.worldhistory.org/Roman‗Literature/. Accessed 16 Nov. 2023.
Will, Frederic. A Guide to Ancient Greek Literature, Language, Script, Imagination, and Philosophy.Cambridge Scholars, 2021.