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
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”
