Timeline of Classical Literature

3rd Millennium BCE

Sumerian

Hymns, codes, instructions and laments

3rd Millennium BCE

Egyptian

Pyramid and coffin texts

20th Century BCE

Sumerian

Original version of “The Epic of Gilgamesh”

20th Century BCE

Egyptian

“The Story of Sinuhe”

18th Century BCE

Babylonian/Akkadian

“Enuma Elis”, “Atra-Hasis” and “Eridu Genesis”

16th Century BCE

Egypt

“Egyptian Book of the Dead”

16th - 11th Century BCE

Indian/Sanskrit

“Rigveda”

11th Century BCE

Egypt

“The Tale of Two Brothers” and “The Story of Wenamun”

11th - 9th Century BCE

Sanskrit/Indian

“Yajurveda”, “Samaveda” and “Atharvaveda”

11th - 6th Century BCE

Avestan/Persian

“Avesta” of Zoroastrianism

9th Century BCE

China

“I Ching” manual of divination

9th - 7th Century BCE

Sanskrit/Indian

“Brahmanas” and the early “Upanishads”

9th - 6th Century BCE

Hebrew

Older parts of the "Old Testament" of the “Bible”, including the “Torah”

8th Century BCE

Greek

Epic poems “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey” of Homer and other Trojan War epic poems

8th Century BCE

Greek

Didactic poetry of Hesiod, including “Theogony”

8th Century BCE

Sanskrit/Indian

“Mahabharata” of Vyasa

7th - 6th Century BCE

Greek

Lyric poems of Sappho

6th Century BCE

Greek

“Fables” of Aesop

6th - 5th Century BCE

Chinese

“Four Books” of Confucius

5th Century BCE

Greek

Lyric poems and odes of Pindar

5th Century BCE

Greek

Tragic plays of Aeschylus, including “The Oresteia” and “The Persians”

5th Century BCE

Greek

Tragic plays of Sophocles, including “Antigone” and “Oedipus the King”

5th Century BCE

Greek

Tragic plays of Euripides, including “Medea”, “The Trojan Women” and “The Bacchae”

5th - 4th Century BCE

Greek

Comic plays of Aristophanes including “The Wasps”, “Lysistrata” and “The Frogs”

4th Century BCE

Sanskrit/Indian

“Ramayana” of Valmiki

4th - 3rd Century BCE

Greek

Comic plays of Menander

3rd Century BCE

Greek

Epic poetry of Apollonius of Rhodes including The Argonautica

2nd Century BCE

Latin/Roman

Comic plays of Plautus and Terence

1st Century BCE

Latin/Roman

Lyric and elegiac poetry of Catullus

1st Century BCE

Latin/Roman

Epic and didactic poetry of Vergil, including “The Aeneid”

1st Century BCE

Latin/Roman

Lyric poetry and satires of Horace

1st Century BCE - 1st Century CE

Latin/Roman

Didactic, elegiac and epic poetry of Ovid, including “Metamorphoses”

1st Century CE

Latin/Roman

Tragic plays and satires of Seneca the Younger

1st Century CE

Latin/Roman

Epic poetry of Lucan

1st - 2nd Century CE

Latin/Roman

Satires of Juvenal

1st - 2nd Century CE

Latin/Roman

Letters of Pliny the Younger

1st - 2nd Century CE

Greek

New Testament of the Christian “Bible”

7th Century CE

Old English/Anglo-Saxon

“Caedmon's Hymn”

7th Century CE

Arabic

Traditional date for Islamic “Qur’an”

8th Century CE

Anglo-Saxon

Epic poem “Beowulf”

Timeline of Classical Literature

Sumerian

Egyptian

Sumerian

Egyptian

Babylonian/Akkadian

Egypt

Indian/Sanskrit

Egypt

Sanskrit/Indian

Avestan/Persian

China

Sanskrit/Indian

Hebrew

Greek

Greek

Sanskrit/Indian

Greek

Greek

Chinese

Greek

Greek

Greek

Greek

Greek

Sanskrit/Indian

Greek

Greek

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Latin/Roman

Greek

Old English/Anglo-Saxon

Arabic

Anglo-Saxon

Classical Literature:

Timeline of Classical Literature