LITERARY ARTS AND POETRY

HISTORY
CLASSICAL PERIOD (1200 BCE - 455 CE)
- known as period of literary arts of ancient Greece and Rome
- includes philosophical treatises, epic poetry, and myths
- 4 sub periods

1) HOMERIC OR HEROIC PERIOD (1200-800 BCE)

 Greek legends are passed along orally including The Iliad and The Odyssey, which are
known as the oldest surviving works of Greek literature both written by Homer.
 The Iliad- an epic poem about the final year of the Trojan War fought between the
city of Troy and the Greeks
 The Odyssey- an epic poem about Odysseus’s ten-year voyage home to Ithaca after
the Trojan War

2) CLASSICAL GREEK PERIOD (800-200 BCE)

 Significant Greek writers
 Great Greek Philosophers: Socrates, Plato & Aristotle
 Aesop- a fabulist credited with a collection of stories known as Aesop's Fables;
considered by many as the Father of Fables

3) CLASSICAL ROMAN PERIOD (200 BCE-455 CE)

 The Three Canonical Poets of Latin Literature
 Ovid
 Horace
 Virgil – wrote Aeneid, an epic poem about Aeneas's journey in search of the land
where he is destined to build the city that will one day become the great Roman
Empire

4) PATRISTIC PERIOD (c. 70 CE-455 CE)

 Early Christian writings appear. This is the period in which Saint Jerome first compiles
the Bible and when Christianity spread across Europe.
THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD (455 CE-1485 CE)

- also known as Anglo-Saxon Period

- Primarily consists of poems already circulating in oral form at the time they were first
written down. The bulk of the prose literature is historical or religious in nature
- French chivalric romances and French fables spread in popularity
- Significant Literary Works :
 Beowulf - an Old English epic poem by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. It tells a
story of a strong and brave warrior (Beowulf) who defeats monsters and goes on to
become King.
 The Canterbury Tales - written by Geoffrey Chaucer that tells the story of
pilgrims walking from Southwark to Canterbury on a pilgrimage
 The Divine Comedy – written by Dante Aligheri, which is divided into three
cantiche: (1) Inferno/ Hell), (2) Purgatorio/Purgatory, and (3) Paradiso/Paradise

THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD (1485-1660 CE)

- characterized by the influence of the classics (in literature, language, and philosophy), as
well as an optimistic forward-thinking approach to the potential of humans
- Printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg
- Romeo and Juliet – written by William Shakespeare, the greatest writer in the English
language

THE NEOCLASSICAL PERIOD (1660-1785)

- "Neoclassical" refers to the increased influence of Classical literature even more than
the Renaissance predecessors. Writers looked to the classical texts for their creative
inspiration in an effort to imitate classical form.
- Gulliver’s Travels-written by Jonathan Swift

THE ENLIGHTENMENT PERIOD (1715-1789)

- also known as “Age of Reason ”

- It is called the "Enlightenment" due to the increased reverence for logic and disdain for
superstition. It is marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than religious tradition.
 Its foremost thinkers, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, also served as political
leaders of the American Revolution.

ROMANTIC PERIOD (1790-1830)

- Romantic literary arts focus on nature, imagination, emotion and individuality

- Romantic artists wished to move away from the formality of the previous generation.
- Strong emotion became a source of aesthetic experience.
- In America, this period is called the Transcendental Period.

VICTORIAN PERIOD (c. 1832-1901)

- the literature of this era expressed fusion of pure romance to gross realism
- Les Miserables – written by Victor Hugo

MODERN PERIOD (c. 1914-1945)

- Modernism provided a radical break with traditional modes of literature. Its main
characteristics were stylistic innovations - disruption of traditional syntax and form and an
obsession with primitive attitudes (violence, self-centeredness)

POSTMODERN PERIOD (c. 1945 onward)

- Modern literary writers, poets, and playwrights experiment with metafiction and
fragmented poetry.
- Harry Potter of J.K. Rowling

FUNCTIONS OF LITERARY ART AND POETRY

1. Literature of Power
 move the heart and mind of people
2. Literature of Knowledge
 inform, teach, and persuade people
 Gives particular values, messages, themes, and knowledge with which science and
philosophy are not concerned.
 UNDER:
  Social and Political Function
- Literature shows how society works including the social and political
condition.
 Moral Function
- Literature imparts moral values to its readers.
 Cultural Function
- Literature orients its readers to the traditions, folklore and the arts of
the ethnic group’s heritage.
 Educational Function
- It teaches various things about the human experience. It portrays the
facets of life that we see, and those that we would never dream of
seeing.
3. Literature relieve human
 either writers or readers, literature relive people from the pressure of thoughts and
emotions

SIGNIFICANCE

1. Better writing skills

2. Build critical thinking skills
3. Expand horizons - helps us realize the wide world outside, surrounding us
4. A leap into the past - History and Literature are entwined with each other.
5. Appreciation for other cultures and beliefs - provide methods of learning about cultures and
beliefs other than our own
6. Address humanity – help us understand ourselves as well as address human nature and
conditions which affect all people

VIEWS OF 19TH CENTURY (1799 to 1900)

TWO literary views became prominent during 19 th Century: (1) Literary Romanticism and
(2) Literary Realism.

Literary Romanticism

 late 18th Century to mid19th Century

 Literary Views
 Imagination, rather than reason, was the most important creative faculty.
 Literary arts must emphasize the importance of emotional sensitivity and
individual subjectivity.
  Author keeps advantage of personal freedom and spontaneity, breaking the wall
between the reader and the author.

Literary Realism

 mid19th Century to late 19th Century

 Literary Views
 Opposite to romanticism, writers need to tell a story as truthfully as possible
instead of dramatizing or romanticizing it.
 Author is separate from the world of the story and acts as an objective
transcriptionist.

INSIGHTS

 Literary arts and poetries of the old and modern times introduce us to new perspectives
and different worlds.
 Literary arts and poetries appeal to people’s souls and emotions. It deals with people’s
pains, sufferings, as well as pleasures.
 Every literary art and poetry has its own message to tell. However, with the progress of
technology, many people nowadays don’t read them except when required. Stimulation and
encouragement is needed for current and future generation to appreciate the art of
literature and to used them in daily life

Sources:

http://saisd001jdebolt1.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/66562957/literary_periods

https://www.powershow.com/view4/5f403e-MDRlY/The_History_of_World_Literature_1000_BC_-
_Present_powerpoint_ppt_presentation

http://awinlanguage.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-function-of-literature.html

https://www.theodysseyonline.com/7-reasons-why-literature-is-so-important

https://www.reference.com/world-view/difference-between-romanticism-realism-
e44597b47d8c82f3

https://literarydevices.net/realism/