Beginnings of World Lit

"Literature is an analysis of
experience and a synthesis of

the findings into a unity."
-Rebecca West
• “Literature is man’s
loves, grief, thoughts,
dreams, and
aspirations in
beautiful language .”
Bascara, 1986
“I see I am trying to define Literature by what it
does, not by what it is. By EXPERIENCE, not IDEA.”
(p.15)
Literature takes you to different
places at the same time,
lets you discover unbiased truths and the
but keeps your firm grasp of both,
takes you inside a person’s body to have you
examine its pain, its rage,
its love, and its idiosyncrasies.
And lets you see more about the world.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German poet
introduced the concept of Weltliteratur in 1827 to
describe the growing availability of texts from
other nations.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used the term in

their Communist Manifesto (1848) to describe the
"cosmopolitan character" of bourgeois literary
production.
Then on, the literatures of the world began to be a

field of academic study.
Scope of the study:
refers to literature
from all over the
world, including
African, American,
Latin American,
Asian literature,
European and
Australasian
literature.
Literature empowers the reader to overcome the
limitations of sex, race and culture. (Rosenblatt)
Literature enables the reader to experience even

vicariously the worthwhile experiences of others.
Literature expands our life because it shows us

how rich our world is, how filled of potential we
are, and how keen the drama of our life is.
(Rosenberg)
If so, let’s get
If so, started!
The Beginnings
SUMER …
("land of the civilized kings“)
WHEN LIFE ON EARTH WAS LIKE THIS…
Or when people wore clothes like this,
*They were called Acadian
During their time,
Warriors: the earliest version
of barbaric men on earth.
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN WRITING ALREADY.
Sumerian Literature-AkKadian Empire
GILGAMESH (2500 B.C.)
• Earliest evidence of written prose and was
considered to be the first epic of the world
• the greatest surviving work of early
Mesopotamian Literature
• Assumed to be written by Shin Equi Annini
• Written in Cuneiform Tablets
• Epithet of the King
• Gilgamesh was- The 5th King of Uruk, and was
a demigod
• has allusions to the bible’s
great flood
 It is generally accepted that Gilgamesh was a
historical figure, since inscriptions have been
found which confirm the historical existence of
other figures associated with him: such as the
kings Enmebaragesi and his son, Aga of Kish. The
allusion to the great flood in the bible was also
considered as a proof of his existence. However,
all decisions are still left in the discretions of the
reader.
What is an EPIC?
-said to be the earliest form of literature
-written narrative of a hero’s adventures,
hardships, sacrifices, and success/defeat for
the sake of his fellowmen
-proves the mantra- “With great power comes
great responsibility.”
-can be both written as prose and poetry
LOOKS FAMILIAR?
ILIAD AND ODYSSEY(800 B.C.)
-considered as the longest and greatest epic written
ever (journey)
-always related to Greek mythology
-presented a lot of divine interventions because of
favoritisms from the gods
-written by Homer
-was the version of the Greeks
-tells the travails of the Greek army led by Odysseus in
the Trojan War and their way back to Ithaka that was
hurdled by Poseidon.
Important characters to remember
• Odysseus/Ulysses-the wanderer, king of Ithaka
• Achilles-son of Zeus and a mortal, a demigod
• Hector-son of Priam, brother of Paris
• Paris-lover of Helen
• Helen-the woman who sailed a thousand ships to the sea
• Menelaus- husband of Helen, King of Sparta
• Agamemnon-king of Greece, brother of Menelaus, aly of
Oddysseus
• Priam-king of Troy
• Patroclus-Achilles’ cousin
• Penelope- wife of Oddyseus
• Telemachus- Odysseu’s Son
REMAINS OF TROY
PROOF OF EXISTENCE
THOUGHT HOMER WROTE ABOUT THE
TROJAN HORSE?
THINK AGAIN.
LITERARY EPIC
Aenid (19 BC)
-written by Virgil for
Augustus Caesar
-takes the point of view of
Aeneas- the last survivor
of the Trojans
-Discusses the origins of
Rome and the sack of
Troy
 Other writings say that:
 Achilles had a son. His name was Neoptolemus.
 Neoptolemus killed Astyanax (son of Hector) and King Priam.
(Father of Hector and Paris)
 Neoptolemus took Hector’s wife Andromache as a concubine
and had 2 sons from her. He became the king of Epirus and
the ancestor of the Greek tribe called Molossus. (believed to
be the tribe of Alexander the Great)
 Though he had sons with Andromache, he loved a woman
named Hermione who became Orestes’ wife. (Orestes, son of
Agamemmnon and Clymenestra)
 Orestes killed Neoptolemus when he tried to take Hermione
away.
LOOKS FAMILIAR?
IN ANCIENT ENGLAND,
BEOWULF IS THE HERO
ENGLISH LITERATURE (8th Century
C.e./A.d.)
-the greatest representation of an epic
hero, longest old English epic in
alliterative verse
-showcases a hero’s tragic flaws and
shortcomings
-assumed to be passed on since 7th
century by the Geats to the Angles
The poem essentially consists of three parts. There are three central conflicts: Grendel’s
domination of Heorot Hall; the vengeance of Grendel’s mother after Grendel is slain; and the
rage of the dragon after a thief steals a treasure that it has been guarding. The poem’s
overarching conflict is between close-knit warrior societies and the various menaces that
threaten their boundaries.
? ? ?
Persian Literature
SHAH-NAMA by Ferdowsi (10th Century A.D.)
-a.k.a book of kings
-a long epic poem written by the Persian poet
Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 A.D. or 10th
Century A.D. and is the national epic of the
Iran (Persia)
-Rustam and Suhrab
-father and son story
-60,000 line poems
-battle of Persian
and Turkman armies
At the time of CHIVALRY AND
KNIGHTHOOD,
FRENCH LITERATURE
Song of Roland (12th Century A.D.)
-meant to be sung, thus a song.
-reflects chivalric traditions of the French
community, and respect to the doctrines of
Christianity
-discusses Christian-Muslim war in France with
Roland and his sacrifice as the focus of the story.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERS TO REMEMBER:
Roland Charlemagne
Ganelon Marsilion
An example of a chansons de geste
The chansons de geste, or "songs of heroic deeds"

are epic poems that appear at the dawn of French
literature. The earliest known examples date from
the late 11th Century and early 12th centuries,
before the emergence of the lyric poetry and
romances.
They reached their apogee in the period 1150-1250.

THOUGHT SPAIN WAS ALWAYS CATHOLIC?
SPAIN WAS A MUSLIM
COUNTRY BEFORE. 711 AD until 1492 AD)
The Muslims ruled Spain for 781 years. (from
Spanish literature-
12th Century A.d.
Cantar del Mio Cid or El Cid
- based on a true story and tells of the Castilian
hero, El Cid, and takes place during the
Reconquista of Spain from the Moors during
medieval times.
- The only existing copy of El Cid, was signed by
Per Abbad - Abbot Peter in 1207 A.D. It is
believed he was not the author, and he only
copied the text just as other monks do during
those times.
-exhibits good battling tactics of an epic hero
- El Cid- The Lord
- "The lord-master of military arts."
Based on a true story
El Cid was actually a Castilian nobleman and
military leader in medieval Spain and was
attributed to Spain’s national hero- Rodrigo Díaz
de Vivar
He rose to become commander and the royal
standard-bearer of Castile in 1065. He went on to
lead the Castilian military campaigns against
Muslim colonizers.
THINK WERE DONE?
Think thrice
We’ve got the whole semester to do this
AND… There’s a lot more!
Literature is a power and a
person to be possessed, and not a body of an
object to be studied.
HAPPY READING!

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Beginnings of World Lit

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"Literature is an analysis of

experience and a synthesis of

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels used the term in

Then on, the literatures of the world began to be a

Literature enables the reader to experience even

Literature expands our life because it shows us

The chansons de geste, or "songs of heroic deeds"

They reached their apogee in the period 1150-1250.

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