EUROPEAN

LITERATURE
DIVISIONS,
AUTHORS AND
INFLUENTIAL WORKS
21st Century Literature from the Philippines in the World
MR. ALLAN C. CABALTERA, LPT
Teacher
 Objectives:
● Identify different forms of European Literature
● Show appreciation to the European authors
and their works through analyzing literary
work/s
● Produce a creative representation of a
literary text by applying multimedia skills
European literature
refers to the literature of
Europe. It includes literature in
many languages;

among the most important modern written works are those

in English, Spanish, French, Dutch, Polish, German,
Italian, Modern Greek, Czech and Russian and works by
the Scandinavians and Irish. Important classical and
medieval traditions are those in Ancient Greek, Latin, Old
Norse , Medieval French and the Italian Tuscan dialect of
the renaissance.
 The Divisions of European Literature

Ancient Literature
Common forms of literature:
Holy Scriptures songs, poems, fables, anecdotes
parables

Materials: clay tablets, papyrus paper scrolls

Influential Works:
The Epic of Gilgamesh –
the world’s oldest epic
It was written 1500 years before
Homer wrote the Illiad. “The Epic of
Gilgamesh” tells of the Sumerian
Gilgamesh, the hero king of Uruk,
and his adventures. This epic story
was discovered in the ruins of the
library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh by
Hormuzd Rassam in 1853. Written in
cuneiform on 12 clay tablets, this
Akkadian version dates from around
1300 to 1000 B.C.
 The Code of Hammurabi –
the world’s first codified law

The Code of Hammurabi refers to a set of rules or

laws enacted by the Babylonian King Hammurabi (reign
1792-1750 B.C.). The code governed the people living
in his fast-growing empire.
 The Holy Bible
the sacred scriptures of Jews

The Bible is the holy scripture of the Christian religion,

purporting to tell the history of the Earth from its earliest
creation to the spread of Christianity in the first century A.D.
Both the Old Testament and the New Testament have
undergone changes over the centuries, including the the
publication of the King James Bible in 1611 and the addition
of several books that were discovered later.
Iliad and Odyssey – the epics of
Greece by Homer
Iliad tells about the war between the
Achaeans (Greece) and the Trojans
(Turkey).

Odyssey focuses on the Odysseus, an

Achaean warrior, and his journey back to
his home after the war.

These two stories of Homer revolves

around fictional Greek heroes and
mythological characters.
Metamorphoses – the compilation of
Roman mythology and culture
Metamorphoses, poem in 15 books, written in Latin about 8 CE by Ovid.
It is written in hexameter verse. The work is a collection of mythological
and legendary stories, many taken from Greek sources, in which
transformation (metamorphosis) plays a role, however minor.
The stories, which are unrelated,
are told in chronological order
from the creation of the world (the
first metamorphosis, of chaos into
order) to the death and deification
of Julius Caesar (the culminating
metamorphosis).
Aeneid – the Epic of Rome, by Virgil
Aeneid is a latin epic poem that tells about the journey
of Aeneas from Troy to Italy. Virgil portrayed in it the
qualities of persistence, self-denial, and obedience
that build the city of Rome.
This epic is the most
significant works in
Roman Literature. It
started from where the
story of Iliad ended.
Medieval Literature
| Dark Ages

Materials: vellum (goat skin paper),

parchment (sheep skin paper), wooden tablets
covered in green or black wax
Influential Works:
King Arthur – by Geoffrey of Monmouth

King Arthur is a medieval, mythological

figure who was the head of the kingdom
Camelot and the Knights of the Round
Table. It is not known if there was a real
Arthur, though it is believed he may have
been a Roman-affiliated military leader
who successfully staved off a Saxon
invasion during the 5th to 6th centuries.
Geoffrey of Monmouth
was a British cleric and one of the
major figures in the development of
British historiography and the
popularity of tales of King Arthur.
Canterbury Tales – by Geoffrey Chaucer
It is a collection of over twenty stories
that have been provided by the different
characters traveling together from Southwark to
the Shrine of St. Thomas Becket in Canterbury.
It is composed of mostly rhyming couplets in
iambic pentameter with an introduction by each
tale-teller and host, explaining the context with
which each tale is narrated.
The 30 pilgrims who undertake the
journey gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark,
across the Thames from London. They agree to
engage in a storytelling contest as they travel,
and Harry Bailly, host of the Tabard, serves as
master of ceremonies for the contest.
The following tales make up the collection of
stories in The Canterbury Tales.
1. The Knight’s Tale 13. The Physician’s Tale
2. The Miller’s Tale 14. The Pardoner’s Tale
3. The Reeve’s Tale 15. The Shipman’s Tale
4. The Cook’s Tale 16. The Prioress’ Tale
5. The Man of Law’s Tale 17. Sir Thopas’ Tale
6. The Wife of Bath’s Tale 18. The Melibee’s Tale
7. The Friar’s Tale 19. The Monk’s Tale
8. The Summoner’s Tale 20. The Nun’s/Priest’s Tale
9. The Clerk’s Tale 21. The Second Nun’s Tale
10. The Merchant’s Tale 22. The Canon’s Yeoman’s Tale
11. The Squire’s Tale 23. The Manciple’s Tale
12. The Franklin’s Tale 24. The Parson’s Tale
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)
He was born in London, England, later on
became a knight of the shrine for Kent. He
acclaimed as the first great name poet and
father of English Literature. The Canterbury
Tales written around the last fifteen years of
his life gives a peek of Medieval English
society through different characters
portrayed in the story. He used the Tales
and the description of its characters to
portray the type of society that flourished in
England at that time. At the same time, it
was said that the greatest contribution of
the story is the popularization of the
vernacular English as a medium in English
Literature.
History of the English People – Venerable Bede
Historia ecclesiastica gentis
Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the
English People), which was completed in
731 when Bede was around 59 years old.
This work was modelled on the
Ecclesiastical History by the Greek
historian Eusebius of Caesarea (d.
339/340), and it tells the story of the
establishment and spread of Christianity in
England and the emergence of the Anglo-
Saxon kingdoms. It survives in some 150
manuscripts. Different versions suggest
that the work was circulated while Bede
was still alive, such was its popularity.
 Venerable Bede

Born around 673 in the north of England, he entered the monastery of

Wearmouth-Jarrow at the age of seven. Bede was one of the greatest
scholars of the Anglo-Saxon period. He produced a large number of
works on subjects as varied as science, music, poetry and biblical
commentary, but he is most famous for his Ecclesiastical History of the
English People, one of our best-written sources for early English
history. For this reason, Bede is sometimes regarded as the father of
English history.
Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), born in
Florence, Italy was regarded as the
The Devine
Masterpiece/Comedy was acclaimed as the great
epic of Italy and of medieval Christianity, is set in
terza rima (three-line verses) divided into three
parts: The Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise.
The recurring theme of the three is a
symbol of the Trinity and the signifies the
Christian themes found in the text. The language
is a vernacular language from the Florentine
dialect that later on became the basis of modern
Italian language. In a way, Dante was able to
unite the whole Italy through the evolution of
Italian language from this masterpiece.
 Beowulf – Anglo-Saxon tradition

Beowulf is an Old English epic

poem in the tradition of Germanic
heroic legend consisting of 3,182
alliterative lines. It is one of the
most important and most often
translated works of Old English
literature.
 Norse Mythology – Norse Tradition
Norse mythology refers to the Scandinavian
mythological framework that was upheld during
and around the time of the Viking Age (c. 790- c.
1100 CE). Complete with a creation myth that has
the first gods slaying a giant and turning his body
parts into the world, various realms spread out
beneath the World Tree Yggdrasil, and the
eventual destruction of the known world in the
Ragnarök, the Nordic mythological world is both
complex and comprehensive. Its polytheistic
pantheon, headed by the one-eyed Odin, contains The Sacred Ash Tree

a great number of different gods and goddesses

who were venerated in customs integrated into
the ancient Scandinavians' daily lives.
 Seven of the Most Important gods and godesses in
the Norse Mythology

Odin - King of the Æsir clan and known as 'the father of all
gods'
Frigg - As the wife of Odin, Frigg was regarded as the Queen
of the Æsir gods and therefore possibly the most important of
all the Norse goddesses.
Thor is one of the most famous and recognisable Norse gods
in today’s world. He was the god of thunder and lightning who
wielded the Mjölnir, a devastatingly powerful hammer that
could slay giants and smash mountains.
 Seven of the Most Important gods and godesses in
the Norse Mythology

Odin - King of the Æsir clan and known as 'the father of all
gods'
Frigg - As the wife of Odin, Frigg was regarded as the Queen
of the Æsir gods and therefore possibly the most important of
all the Norse goddesses.
Thor is one of the most famous and recognisable Norse gods
in today’s world. He was the god of thunder and lightning who
wielded the Mjölnir, a devastatingly powerful hammer that
could slay giants and smash mountains.
ODIN FRIGG THOR
 Loki was known as the trickster god, equipped with the
ability to shapeshift into a multitude of different forms.
Freya was the goddess of fate, love, beauty, gold, war and
fertility.
Balder was the god of light and purity, another son of Odin
and half-brother to Thor, He was described as a fair, kind and
handsome god, whose beauty was unparalleled.
Hel, the daughter of Loki, presided over the Norse
underworld, a place where all those Vikings who didn’t die in
battle went.
 Loki was known as the trickster god, equipped with the
ability to shapeshift into a multitude of different forms.
Freya was the goddess of fate, love, beauty, gold, war and
fertility.
Balder was the god of light and purity, another son of Odin
and half-brother to Thor, He was described as a fair, kind and
handsome god, whose beauty was unparalleled.
Hel, the daughter of Loki, presided over the Norse
underworld, a place where all those Vikings who didn’t die in
battle went.
LOKI FREYA HEL BALDE
City of God – St. Augustine of Hippo
Augustine’s City of God is arguably the first magnum opus of
Christian philosophy. The work covers, among other topics,
theodicy, civil and natural theology, the history of creation,
philosophy of history, eschatology, and martyrdom.
Completed by the year 426 (CE), City of God took Augustine
at least a decade to write.

City of God is, in at least some broad sense, a response to

the trauma of the Visigoth attack on Rome in 410. Up to that
point, the Roman Empire had dominated Mediterranean
civilization for nearly a thousand years.
Renaissance Literature
| Rebirth or Revival
Common forms of literature:
short stories, novella, tales
Influential People:
Johannes Gutenberg –
invented the movable type printing
press

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden

zum Gutenberg was a German
inventor, printer, publisher, and
goldsmith who introduced printing
to Europe with his mechanical
movable-type printing press.
Christopher Marlowe – wrote Doctor Faustus
Christopher Marlowe, (baptized Feb. 26, 1564,
Canterbury, Kent, Eng.—died May 30, 1593,
Deptford, near London), Elizabethan poet and
Shakespeare’s most important predecessor in
English drama, who is noted especially for his
establishment of dramatic blank verse.

Doctor Faustus, in full The Tragicall History of D. Faustus,

tragedy in five acts by Christopher Marlowe, published in
1604 but first performed a decade or so earlier. Marlowe’s
play followed by only a few years the first translation into
English of the medieval legend on which the play is based. In
Doctor Faustus Marlowe retells the story of Faust, the doctor-
turned-necromancer, who makes a pact with the devil in order
to obtain knowledge and power.
 21st Century Literature
Influential Works: (English Literature)
Initial release: October 2, 2006
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Screenplay: Alan Bennett
Story by: Alan Bennett
The History Boys
• (filmed 2006) premiered in 2004
Eight northern history students are pursuing an
undergraduate place at Oxbridge in the 1980s. Their
headmaster is determined to see them break records
and enlists a new teacher to coach the boys into
intellectual shape. Seduced though they are by his
promises, the boys are concerned that there is more
to the pursuit of learning than exams and grades.
 Cloud Atlas (2004) — David Mitchell
Cloud Atlas is the third novel by British author David Mitchell.
It was published in 2004. It won the British Book Awards
Literary Fiction award and the Richard & Judy "Book of the
Year" award.

A work combining metafiction, historical fiction, contemporary

fiction and science fiction. Its text is interconnected nested
stories that take the reader from the remote South Pacific in
the 19th century to the island of Hawai'i in a distant post-
apocalyptic future. The title was inspired by the piece of music
of the same name by Japanese composer Toshi Ichiyanagi.
The Crimson Petal and the White [2002] - Michel Faber
The Crimson Petal and the White is a 2002 novel by Michel
Faber set in Victorian England. The title is from an 1847 poem
by Alfred, Lord Tennyson entitled "Now Sleeps the Crimson
Petal", the opening line of which is "Now sleeps the crimson
petal, now the white."

Atonement (2001) – McEwan

This sweeping English drama, based on the book by Ian
McEwan, follows the lives of young lovers Cecilia Tallis (Keira
Knightley) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy). When the
couple are torn apart by a lie constructed by Cecilia's jealous
younger sister, Briony (Saoirse Ronan), all three of them must
deal with the consequences. Robbie is the hardest hit, since
Briony's deception results in his imprisonment, but hope for
Cecilia and her beau increases when their paths cross during
World War II.
 Ian Russell McEwan
Born: June 21, 1948 (age 73 years),
Aldershot, United Kingdom

Awards: Booker Prize, MORE

Ian Russell McEwan, CBE, FRSA, FRSL is an English novelist and

screenwriter. In 2008, The Times featured him on its list of "The 50
greatest British writers since 1945" and The Daily Telegraph ranked
him number 19 in its list of the "100 most powerful people in British
culture".
THANK YOU!