Vedas, anonymous prose and verse, c. 3000-c. 500 BC
Epic of Gilgamesh, anonymous poem cycle, early 2nd millennium BC
The Bible, anonymous verse and prose, c. 900 BC onwards
Upanishads, anonymous prose and verse, c. 800-c. 500 BC
The Iliad, poem by Homer, c. 750 BC
The Odyssey, poem by Homer, c. 720 BC
Fragment 1 ["Address to Aphrodite"], poem by Sappho, 7th century BC
Fragment 31 ["Declaration of Love for a Young Girl"], poem by Sappho, 7th century BC
The City of God, prose by St Augustine, 5th century
Olympian One, poem by Pindar, c. 476 BC(?)
The Persians, play by Aeschylus, 472 BC
The Seven Against Thebes, play by Aeschylus, 467 BC
Prometheus Bound, play by Aeschylus, c. 466-59 BC
The Suppliant Maidens, play by Aeschylus, c. 463 BC
Pythian Odes Four and Five, poems by Pindar, c. 462 BC(?)
The Oresteia, play by Aeschylus, 458 BC
Ajax, play by Sophocles, before 441 BC(?)
Antigone, play by Sophocles, c. 441 BC(?)
Medea, play by Euripides, 431 BC
Women of Trachis, play by Sophocles, c. 430-20 BC
Oedipus the King, play by Sophocles, after 430 BC
Hippolytus, play by Euripides, 428 BC
The Clouds, play by Aristophanes, 423 BC
Electra, play by Euripides, c. 422-16 BC
Ion, play by Euripides, c. 421-13 BC
Electra, play by Sophocles, c. 418-10 BC(?)
The Trojan Women, play by Euripides, 415 BC
The Birds, play by Aristophanes, 414 BC
Lysistrata, play by Aristophanes, 411 BC
Philoctetes, play by Sophocles, 409 BC
Orestes, play by Euripides, 408 BC
The Frogs, play by Aristophanes, 405 BC
Oedipus at Colonus, play by Sophocles, 401 BC
Phaedrus, prose by Plato, 5th/4th century BC
The Republic, prose by Plato, 5th/4th century BC
The Symposium, prose by Plato, 4th century BC
On the Crown, prose by Demosthenes, 330 BC
Characters, prose by Theophrastus, c. 319 BC
The Grouch, play by Menander, 316 BC
Aetia, poem by Callimachus, 3rd century BC
Hecale, poem by Callimachus, 3rd century BC
Idyll I, poem by Theocritus, c. 270s BC
Idyll IV, poem by Theocritus, c. 270s BC
Idyll VII, poem by Theocritus, c. 270s BC
Amphitryo, play by Plautus, 2nd century BC
The Brothers Menaechmus, play by Plautus, 2nd century BC
The Pot of Gold, play by Plautus, 2nd century BC
The Eunuch, play by Terence, 161 BC
Phormio, play by Terence, 161 BC
The Brothers, play by Terence, 160 BC
The Aeneid, poem by Virgil, 1st century BC
Epigrams, poems by Martial, 1st century BC
Georgics, poem by Virgil, 1st century BC
Odes Book I, Poem 5, poem by Horace, 1st century BC
Odes Book IV, Poem 7, poem by Horace, 1st century BC
Poem 85, poem by Catullus, 1st century BC
Three Poems: 2, 63, and 76, poems by Catullus, 1st century BC
In Defence of Marcus Caelius Rufus, prose by Cicero, 56 BC
On the Commonwealth, prose by Cicero, c. 51 BC
Oedipus, play by Seneca, c. 48 BC
Thyestes, play by Seneca, c. 48 BC
On Old Age, prose by Cicero, 44 BC
Loves, poem by Ovid, late 1st century BC
The Poetic Art, poem by Horace, late 1st century BC
Mahabharata, epic poem attributed to Vyasa, 1st millennium BC/AD
The Art of Love, poem by Ovid, 1st century BC/1st century
AD Metamorphoses, poem by Ovid, 1st century BC/1st century
AD Kalevala, anonymous poem, origins date to early 1st century
AD The Little Clay Cart, anonymous play, 1st century AD(?)
On the Sublime, anonymous poem, late 1st century
AD Ramayana, poem attributed to Valmiki, 1st/2nd century
Lives of Lysander and Sulla, prose by Plutarch, 1st/2nd century
AD Satire 10, poem by Juvenal, 1st/2nd century
AD Annals, prose by Tacitus, early 2nd century
AD Meditations, prose by Aurelius, c. 170
Cupid and Psyche, story by Apuleius, c. 180
Daphnis and Chloe, poem by Longus, 2nd/3rd century
Confessions, Book I, prose by St. Augustine, 4th century
The Mosella, poem by Ausonius, c. 371
The Cloud Messenger, poem by Kalidasa, 5th century
Sakuntala, poem by Kalidasa, 5th century
The Rape of Proserpine, poem by Claudian, c. 400
The Consolation of Philosophy, prose by Boethius, early 6th century
"Hard Is the Road to Shu," poem by Li Bai, c. 744
"Invitation to Wine," poem by Li Bai, 752
The Thousand and One Nights, anonymous stories, 9th century
Journey to the West, anonymous novel, 11/12th century
Ruba’iyat, poems by Omar Khayyam, 11/12th century
The Song of Roland, poem, c. 1100
Erec and Enide, poem by Chretien de Troyes, written c. 1170
Lancelot, poem by Chretien de Troyes, written c. 1170
The Conference of the Birds, poem by Farid al-Din Attar, c. 1177
The Tale of the Campaign of Igor, anonymous poem, c. 1185
Guigamor, poem by Marie de France, late 12th century
The Saga of King Olaf the Saint, prose by Snorri Sturluson, 12th/13th century
Aucassin and Nicolette (Anon), romance, 13th century
Egils saga, anonymous prose, 13th century
Njals saga, anonymous prose, 13th century
The Poetic Edda, anonymous poems, 13th century
The Prose Edda, prose by Snorri Sturluson, 13th century
Nibelungenlied, poem, c. 1200
Parzival, poem by Wolfram von Eschenbach, written c. 1200-10
Willehalm, unfinished poem by Wolfram von Eschenbach, written c. 1210-12
Titurel, poetic fragment by Wolfram von Eschenbach, written c. 1212-20
The Romance of the Rose (de Lorris and Meung), poem, c. 1225-70
Rose Garden, prose and verse by Sa’di, 1258
The New Life, poems by Dante Alighieri, 1295
Water Margin, anonymous novel, 14th century
The Divine Comedy, poem by Dante Alighieri, 1321
The Ninth Tale of the Fifth Day of The Decameron, story by Giovanni Boccaccio, c. 1350
"Sonnet 90," poem by Petrarch, before 1356
The Book of the City of Ladies, prose by Christine de Pizan, 1405
"Ballade des dames du temps jadis," poem by Frangois Villon, 1489(written c. 1460?) "
Ballade des pendus," poem by Frangois Villon, 1489
The Ship of Fools, poem by Sebastian Brant, 1494
The Praise of Folly, prose by Desiderius Erasmus, 1511
The Prince, prose by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513
Orlando Furioso, poem by Ludovico Ariosto, 1515
Auto da Barca do Inferno, Auto da Barca do Purgatorio, Auto da
Barca da Gloria, plays by Gil Vicente, 1517, 1518, 1519
The Colloquies, prose by Desiderius Erasmus, 1518
Farsa de Ines Pereira, play by Gil Vicente, 1523
The Mandrake, play by Niccolo Machiavelli, 1524
"Ein feste Burg," hymn by Martin Luther, 1531 (written 1528?)
Gargantua and Pantagruel, novels by Frangois Rabelais, 1532-34(?)
La cortigiana, play by Pietro Aretino, 1534
The Wandering Scholar in Paradise, play by Hans Sachs, written 1550
"Ode to Michel de l’Hospital," poem by Pierre de Ronsard, 1552
Lazarillo de Tormes, anonymous novel, 1554
"Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage," poem by Joachim Du Bellay, 1558
"Hymn to Autumn," poem by Pierre de Ronsard, 1563
"Apology for Raymond Sebond," prose by Michel de Montaigne, 1570
The Lusiads, poem by Luis de CamSes, 1572
Aminta, play by Torquato Tasso, 1573
"Quand vous serez bien vieille . . .," poem by Pierre de Ronsard,1578 (written 1572)
Jerusalem Delivered, poem by Torquato Tasso, 1580
"On the Power of the Imagination," prose by Michel de Montaigne, 1588
"On Vanity," prose by Michel de Montaigne, 1588
The Peony Pavilion, novel by Tang Xianzu, 1598
Peribanez and the Comendador of Ocana, play by Lope de Vega Carpio, 1608
Don Quixote, novel by Miguel de Cervantes, 1615
Fuenteovejuna, play by Lope de Vega Carpio, 1619
Life Is a Dream, play by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, 1623
The Trickster of Seville, play by Tirso de Molina, 1625
Justice Without Revenge, play by Lope de Vega Carpio, 1632
The Great Stage of the World, play by Pedro Calderon de la Barca, c. 1635
The Theatrical Illusion, play by Pierre Corneille, 1635-36
The Cid, play by Pierre Corneille, 1636-37
Voyages to the Moon and the Sun, novels by Cyrano de Bergerac, 1657-62
The Conceited Young Ladies, play by Moliere, 1659
Tartuffe, play by Moliere, 1664
Don Juan, play by Moliere, 1665
Maxims, prose by La Rouchefoucauld, 1665-78
The Misanthrope, play by Moliere, 1666
The Miser, play by Moliere, 1668
Berenice, play by Jean Racine, 1670
Bajazet, play by Jean Racine, 1672
The Hypochondriac, play by Moliere, 1673
The Art of Poetry, poem by Nicolas Boileau, 1674
Phaedra, play by Jean Racine, 1677
Fables, stories by Jean de La Fontaine, 1688-89
Athalie, play by Jean Racine, 1691
The Game of Love and Chance, play by Marivaux, 1730
Manon Lescaut, novel by Abbe Prevost, 1733
The False Confessions, play by Marivaux, 1737
A Matter of Dispute, play by Marivaux, 1744
Zadig, novella by Voltaire, 1748
The Dream of the Red Chamber, novel by Cao Xueqin, mid-18th century
The Comic Theatre, play by Carlo Goldoni, 1750
The Mistress of the Inn, play by Carlo Goldoni, 1753
Poem on the Disaster of Lisbon, poem by Voltaire, 1756
The Test of Virtue, play by Denis Diderot, 1757
Candide, novella by Voltaire, 1759
Emile, fiction by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762
The Social Contract, prose by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1762
The Philosophical Dictionary, prose by Voltaire, 1764
Minna von Barnhelm, play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1767
Goetz of Berlichingen, play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1773
The Sufferings of Young Werther, novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1774
The Tutor, play by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, 1774
The Barber of Seville, play by Beaumarchais, 1775
Nathan the Wise, play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, 1779
The Confessions, prose by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1781
Les Liaisons Dangereuses, novel by Choderlos de Laclos, 1782
The Minor, play by Denis Fonvizin, 1782
The Reveries of a Solitary, prose by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1782
Saul, play by Vittorio Alfieri, 1782
Ode to Joy, poem by Friedrich von Schiller, written 1785
Don Carlos, play by Friedrich von Schiller, 1787
Torquato Tasso, play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1790
Justine, novel by Marquis de Sade, 1791
Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship, novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1795-96
Jacques the Fatalist, novel by Denis Diderot, 1796
Wallenstein, plays by Friedrich von Schiller, 1798-99
Hymns to the Night, poems by Novalis, 1800
Mary Stuart, play by Friedrich von Schiller, 1800
Rene, prose by Chateaubriand, 1802
William Tell, play by Friedrich von Schiller, 1804
"Bread and Wine," poem by Friedrich Hlderlin, 1806(written 1800-01)
The Broken Jug, play by Heinrich von Kleist, 1808
Faust, play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: part I, 1808; part II, 1832
Elective Affinities, novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1809
Michael Kohlhaas, story by Heinrich von Kleist, 1810
"Hansel and Gretel," story by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, 1812
Peter Schlemihl, novella by Adelbert von Chamisso, 1814
The Devil’s Elixirs, novel by E.T.A. Hoffmann, 1815-16
The Story of Just Caspar and Fair Annie, novella by Clemens Brentano, 1817
"The Infinite," poem by Giacomo Leopardi, 1819
The Prince of Homburg, play by Heinrich von Kleist, 1821
"Homecoming," 20, poem by Heinrich Heine, 1824
Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing, novella by Joseph von Eichendorff, 1826
"Moses," poem by Alfred de Vigny, 1826 (written 1822)
The Betrothed, novel by Alessandro Manzoni, 1827
Scarlet and Black, novel by Stendhal, 1830
Eugene Onegin, poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, 1831
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, novel by Victor Hugo, 1831
The Waves of Sea and Love, play by Franz Grillparzer, 1831
The Bronze Horseman, poem by Aleksandr Pushkin, written 1833
Eugenie Grandet, novel by Honor de Balzac, 1833
Lorenzaccio, play by Alfred de Musset, 1834
Danton’s Death, play by Georg Bchner, 1835 (complete version 1850)
Chatterton, play by Alfred de Vigny, 1835
The Diary of a Madman, story by Nikolai Gogol’, 1835
Military Servitude and Grandeur, stories by Alfred de Vigny, 1835
Old Goriot, novel by Honore de Balzac, 1835
"To Himself," poem by Giacomo Leopardi, 1835
The Government Inspector, play by Nikolai Gogol’, 1836
"The Emperor’s New Clothes," story by Hans Christian Andersen, 1837
Lost Illusions, novel by Honore de Balzac, 1837-43
The Charterhouse of Parma, novel by Stendhal, 1839
A Hero of Our Times, novel by Mikhail Lermontov, 1840
Dead Souls, novel by Nikolai Gogol’, 1842
"Abdias," story by Adalbert Stifter, 1843
Maria Magdalena, play by Friedrich Hebbel, 1844
The Three Musketeers, novel by Alexandre Dumas pere, 1844
"The Broom," poem by Giacomo Leopardi, 1845
"The Snow Queen," story by Hans Christian Andersen, 1845
The Village Notary, novel by Baron Jozsef Eotvos, 1845
Cousin Bette, novel by Honore de Balzac, 1847
Camille, novel by Alexandre Dumas fils, 1848
Memoirs, prose by Chateaubriand, 1849-50
Immensee, novella by Theodor Storm, 1851 (written 1849)
The Jew’s Beech Tree, novella by Annette von Droste-Hulshoff, 1851
"Rock Crystal," story by Adalbert Stifter, 1853
"Art," poem by Theophile Gautier, 1856
Peasant Tales, stories by Bj0rnstjerne Bj0rnson, 1856?
Indian Summer, novel by Adalbert Stifter, 1857
Madame Bovary, novel by Gustave Flaubert, 1857
Oblomov, novel by Ivan Goncharov, 1859
First Love, novel by Ivan Turgenev, 1860
"Spleen," poems by Charles Baudelaire, 1861
"To the Reader," poem by Charles Baudelaire, 1861
Fathers and Sons, novel by Ivan Turgenev, 1862
Les Miserables, novel by Victor Hugo, 1862
"Windows," poem by Charles Baudelaire, 1863
Notes from the Underground, prose by Fedor Dostoevskii, 1864
"Herodiade," poem by Stephane Mallarme, 1864-98
Brand, play by Henrik Ibsen, 1865
"L’Angoisse," poem by Paul Verlaine, 1866
Crime and Punishment, novel by Fedor Dostoevskii, 1867
Peer Gynt, play by Henrik Ibsen, 1867
The Idiot, novel by Fedor Dostoevskii, 1869
A Month in the Country, play by Ivan Turgenev, 1869
Sentimental Education, novel by Gustave Flaubert, 1869