Lecture 3.

Similarities between oriental literature and

antique literature: Similarities in oriental
literature and epic
 The purpose of teaching this discipline is to show the role and
importance of the history of fiction and the development of literary-
theoretical thinking in the life of the individual and society, the
development of students' literary and aesthetic thinking, the
emergence of scientific observation and theoretical analysis and
interpretation. the formation of their talents, the formation of an
active creative spirit and responsibility.
In this sense, the following tasks are important:
 - Scientific analysis of individual, national and universal aspects of
literary models;
 - Explain to students the role and importance of fiction and literary
theory in the development of the nation and society;
 - to develop students' skills in understanding fiction;
 - to develop the skills of understanding the literature and its analysis
and research from a philological point of view;
 - to develop the relationship between literature and human on the
basis of literary laws;
 - Development of new and emerging literary and scientific methods
and directions in fiction and literary theory based on public opinion;
 - Enhancement of the national and universal literary-theoretical
traditions, the literary and aesthetic taste of the people
 Based on the traditions of world literature the course "History of World
Literature" provides extensive information on:
 a) the ancient period of world literature;
 b) medieval literature;
 c) Literature of the XVII-XVIII centuries
 d) literature of the XIX century;
 e) the periods of literature of the twentieth century.
 Classified periods are studied not only from the literary-historical
point of view, but also from the literary-theoretical, philosophical,
psychological and aesthetic point of view.
 Significant literary events that took place in ancient Greece, Rome,
and Europe are compared to the literature of the people of the East.
 The first examples of written creative works began to appear in
Greece 2700-2800 years ago.
 Greek literature played an important role in the rise of Roman culture.
The culture, art and literature created by these two ancient peoples
of the earth are called ancient culture, ancient literature.
Ancient Greek and Ancient Roman literature have both
similarities and differences. Some of the similarities
include:

 Mythology: Both ancient Greek and Roman literature are rich in

mythology, which played a significant role in the storytelling and
cultural beliefs of each society. Many of the myths in ancient Greek
literature were later adapted into Roman literature and
incorporated into Roman beliefs and values.
 Epic Poetry: Both ancient Greek and Roman literature feature epic
poetry as a major genre, with works such as the "Iliad" and
"Odyssey" in Greek literature, and "The Aeneid" in Roman
literature. These epic poems often featured tales of heroism,
adventure, and the gods.
 Drama: Ancient Greek and Roman literature both feature drama as
a major genre, with works such as Greek tragedies and comedies
and Roman plays and mime. Both cultures valued the power of
drama to entertain, educate, and reflect societal values and
beliefs.
 Influence on Western Literature: Both ancient Greek and Roman
literature have had a profound impact on Western literature, with
works from each culture serving as foundations for later literary
traditions and influencing writers for generations to come.
Despite these similarities, there are also differences
between ancient Greek and Roman literature,
including:
 Language: The ancient Greeks wrote in Greek, while the ancient
Romans wrote in Latin. This difference in language means that
each culture's literature has its own unique style, vocabulary, and
syntax.
 Focus on Gods and Religion: While both ancient Greek and Roman
literature feature the gods prominently, the Romans had a more
centralized, organized religion and a greater focus on the gods as
powerful and influential forces in their daily lives.
 Social and Political Context: The ancient Greeks lived in a city-state
society, while the ancient Romans lived in an empire. This
difference in social and political context is reflected in the literature
of each culture, with the Greeks often exploring the complexities of
individual human experience, while the Romans often exploring
themes related to power, conquest, and empire.
 The Latin word antic ("antiguus") means "ancient". However, it is not
correct to apply this term only to the Greco-Roman literature,
because the original cradle of culture was the countries of the East;
the first literary monuments were previously created in countries
such as Egypt, Iran, China, India, Babylon (Babylon), as well as
Central Asia.
 However, we must never deny that Greek literature is an independent
literature without relying on the literature of any nation. From this
point of view, the main task before us is to provide students with in-
depth knowledge and skills from this course, and its program is broad
and perfect.
 ANTIQUE LITERATURE
 The word "antique" means "ancient" in Latin (antigus). However, the term antiquity does
not apply to all ancient literature. Only the literature of ancient Greece and Rome is
understood under this title and it is explained by the fact that the culture and art of Greece
and Rome is considered to be the ancient cradle of literature. Although the birthplace of
ancient literature was Greece (VII-VI centuries BC), it had also a major influence on Roman
culture in the III century. The culture lasted until the V-VI centuries AD.
 Antique period was a truly flourishing phase of culture. Old Architecture, art and literature
created in Greece and Rome samples with their perfection, with a high degree of skill
creation and those great discoveries made by human thought still have been amazing the
humanity.
 Names of many artists who grew up during this period have reached the present day. The
works they have created are not appealing with just being purely artistic, but the
problems raised in them, human experiences, the eternity of emotions, and their closeness
to hearts still agitate the human being. It is difficult to find a reader who is not acquainted
with Homer the Great and his Iliad and Odyssey, or Sophocles with his famous tragedy of
King Oedipus.
 Hence, the historical boundary of ancient literature dates back to BC
and it covers a period of 1,200 years, from the 8th to the 7th
centuries AD to the 5th century AD including.
 Greek literature is the ancient literature of the people of Europe. We
are far from saying that the elements of ancient Eastern literature
have not had influence on the Greeks. Greek folklore was enriched by
the folklore of the neighboring people.
 Born on this folklore basis, Greek literature developed independently.
Now most of the art forms and stylistic devices we know are
considered to be the creations of the Greeks.
 Roman literature developed after Greek literature. It developed based
on the experiences of the Greek literature. Hundreds and thousands
of examples of European literature are forgotten, only staying as the
property of experts, but Homer's epics, examples of Greek drama, the
works of great Roman poets still have not lost their artistic value and
aesthetic significance.
 The charm of these works is not only in the high skill of narrating, but
in the expression of the feelings and aspirations of the people which
created this literature, as well. Issues equal to centuries are captured
in ancient Greco-Roman literature. .
 They honored and sang about courage, the passion of struggle, the
love for country, the power of human, and at the same time they
blackened the hypocrisy, cowardice, betrayal, and all evil features like
those. So, although it was created in the distant past, the examples of
Greco-Roman literature have been approved and still popular
throughout the history.
 The nations of Europe referred to Greek art and literature several
times during their development and based on them tried to deal with
disturbing feelings and ideas they had. Even at that period, when
Paganism was being strongly persecuted in the Middle Ages, the
antique topics were not left out of European literature.
 The great scholars of the Renaissance who were born in Italy in the
14th century and later moved to other European countries aimed at
awakening humanity from the sleep of ignorance with the help of
science, art and literature, philosophical teachings of the ancient
world.
 Humanitarians paid a great attention to collecting and publishing
antiquities. Thus, the word " Renaissance" was originated from the
concept of "restoration of ancient culture".
 The literary current of European classicism in the seventeenth
century emerged and developed from the imitation of art of the
ancient world. In particular, for 100-150 years the theme of the
tragedies of antiquity took central part on the European stages.
 Approaching creatively, the art creators of that period used samples
of ancient literature and literary theory (especially Aristotle's Poetics)
effectively in creating their own literary concepts. . The law of "three
units" (time, space, unit of motion), widely used in the classicism
drama is the result of such an approach.
 From the 2nd half of the eighteenth century onwards, attitudes in
ancient literature have changed a bit. Head against absolute power,
the bourgeois leaders found the ideas of freedom and liberty that
interested them so much in the literary, historical, and philosophical
monuments of antiquity. Literature, theater and even applied art
during the French Revolution (1789-1794) was also dressed in
antique clothing. The following words of Andre Shene, a brilliant
representative of literature, confirm our ideas about that:
 “Using the antique paints, we make our torches ignite from their
political flames, and with a new spirit we're going to create an ancient
poem."
 So the ancient Greeks and Romans culture became the basis for the
new European civilization. Many great writers, in particular, Dante,
Petrarch, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Rable, Komel,
Rasin, Moliere, Voltaire, Lessing, Goethe and Schiller used ideas,
artistic imagery of the antique period, and reinterpreted them in their
works.
 The great Russian writers and critics like Pushkin, Gogol, Belinsky,
Turgenev and Tolstoy also praised the literature of the ancient world,
and especially in a letter to one of Belinsky's friends the Greek and
Roman poets were highly valued by these words:
 “The Iliad ... is such a source of peace for me that I sometimes feel
exhausted by some sweet torture ... I understood many things which I didn’t
understand because of Plutarch. I realized that the newest humanity had
grown up on Greek and Roman soils”.
 It is known from historical and scientific sources that Central Asia has been
in cultural relations with the antique world for many centuries. At its time,
Hellenistic culture contributed to the development of the culture of our
country effectively. Along with this, in the period of the Greco-Bactrian rulers
the Eastern Hellenism culture emerged with the active participation of the
people of the East.
 “Today we find our country’s history of thousands of years, the traces of
some literature that has completely disappeared (Tomaris, Shirak, epics) in
the works of Roman historians of ancient Greek (Herodotus, Polyene,
Diodorus, Xares)”, writes N.M Mallayev, the Uzbek scholar on Literature.
 In science, as a result of cultural development that began in the X-XI
centuries great strides have been made. This period was
characterized with such great scientists as Al-Kharizmi, Abu Nasr al-
Farabi, Abu Ali ibn Sina, Abu Rayhan Beruni which have made great
contributions to the development of world culture.
 Abu Nasr al-Farabi who was famous as “Second Aristotle” or “Al
muallim as-soniy ”(“ second teacher ”), Ibn Sina, known with the
titles as “The third Aristotle”, "leader of science", "sultan of
philosophy" wrote commentaries on the scientific and philosophical
works of Greek scholars and philosophers, widely commenting and
interpreting them.
 Many historical, artistic, and scientific works have been written about
Alexander the Great, his personality, who wanted to unite East and
West. There have been various interpretations of his death in history.
 In the epic "Saddi Iskandariy" written by Hazrat Navoi the image of
Alexander is unique, unrepeatable, interpreted in a new way. The
genius poet tortured his contemporaries through the image of
Alexander, focusing on exciting spiritual and moral issues.
 From the 30s to 40s of the XX century the study of ancient literature
and the translation of works of the writers into Uzbek who lived and
worked during that period has been revived in Uzbekistan.
 In particular, ancient Greek literature began to be studied by Oybek,
A.Alimuhammedov, H.Sulaymonov. . After that, the first translations
of antiquity into Uzbek have seen the public. In this regard, Oybek,
Askad Mukhtor and Erkin Vahidov worked effectively to show the true
color of still a new research in antique literature.
 As a result of Q.Mirmuhammedov’s hard work Homer’s epics “Iliad”
and “Odyssey” were translated into Uzbek. From the growing number
of translations of works of ancient Greek and Roman artists and
philosophers, it can be indicated that the interest in the culture of the
antique times is still highly growing.
Examples of Ancient Literature
 The Pyramid Texts of Egypt, also considered literature, tell of the journey of
the soul to the afterlife in the Field of Reeds and these works, unlike
Mesopotamian Naru Literature, presented the subject as truth.
 Egyptian religious culture was based on the reality of an afterlife and the
role the gods played in one's eternal journey, of which one's life on earth
was only one part.
 Homer’s Iliad recounts the famous ten-year war between the Greeks and
the Trojans while his Odyssey tells of the great hero Odysseus’s journey
back home after the war to his beloved wife Penelope of Ithaca and this, like
the other works mentioned, reinforced cultural values without a concern for
what may or may not have happened concerning the war with Troy.
 The story told in the biblical Book of Exodus (1446 BCE) is considered
historical truth by many today, but originally could have been meant
to be interpreted as liberation from bondage in a spiritual sense as it
was written to empower the worshipers of Yahweh, encouraged them
to resist the temptations of the indigenous peoples of Canaan, and
elevated the audience's perception of themselves as a chosen people
of an all-powerful god.
 The Song of Songs (c. 950 BCE) from the Hebrew scripture of the
Tanakh, immortalizes the passionate love between a man and a
woman (interpreted by Christians, much later, as the relationship
between Christ and the church, though no such interpretation is
supported by the original text) and the sacred aspect of such a
relationship.
 The Indian epic Mahabharata (c.800-400 BCE) relates the birth of a
nation while the Ramayana (c. 200 BCE) tells the tale of the great
Rama's rescue of his abducted wife Sita from the evil Ravna.
 The works found in the Assyrian King Asurbanipal’s library (647-627
BCE) record the heroic deeds of the gods, goddesses and the
struggles and triumphs of heroic kings of ancient Mesopotamia such
as Enmerkar, Lugalbanda, and Gilgamesh. Scholar Samuel Noah
Kramer points out that the early Sumerian works - and, indeed,
Sumerian culture as a whole - resonates in the modern day on many
levels and is especially apparent in literature.
Kramer writes:
 It is still apparent in a Mosaic law and a Solomonic proverb, in the tears of Job and a
Jerusalem lament, in the sad tale of the dying man-god, in a Hesiodic cosmogony
and a Hindu myth, in an Aesopic fable and a Euclidean theorem, in a zodiacal sign
and a heraldic design. (5)
Originality in Ancient Literature
 Most early works were written in the poetical metre which the writer had heard
repeated over time and, therefore, the dating of such pieces as the Enuma Elish or
the Odyssey is difficult in that they were finally recorded in writing many years after
their oral composition.
 The great value which modern-day readers and critics place on 'originality’ in
literature was unknown to ancient people. The very idea of according a work of the
imagination of an individual with any degree of respect would never have occurred
to anyone of the ancient world. Stories were re-tellings of the feats of great heroes,
of the gods, the goddesses, or of creation, as in Hesiod and Homer.
 So great was the respect for what today would be called 'non-fiction’,
that Geoffrey of Monmouth (1100-1155 CE) claimed his famous
History of the Kings of Briton (which he largely made up) was actually
a translation from an earlier text he had 'discovered’ and Sir Thomas
Malory (1405-1471 CE) famed as the author of the Morte D’Arthur,
denied any original contributions to the work he compiled from earlier
authors, even though today it is clear that he added much to the
source material he drew from.
 This literary tradition of ascribing an original work to earlier,
seemingly-authoritative, sources is famously exemplified in the
gospels of the Christian New Testament in that the gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, understood by many believers to be
eye-witness accounts of the ministry of Jesus, were written much later
by unknown authors who chose names associated with the early
church.
 Literature encompasses forms such as poetry, drama, prose, folklore,
epic tale, personal narrative, poetry, history, biography, satire,
philosophical dialogues, essays, legends and myths, among others.
 Plato’s Dialogues, while not the first to combine philosophical themes
with dramatic form, were the first to make drama work in the cause
of philosophical inquiry.
 Later writers drew on these earlier works for inspiration (as Virgil did
in composing his Aeneid, based on Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey,
between 30-18 BCE) and this tradition of borrowing lasted until the
time of Shakespeare (1564-1616 CE) and continues in the present
day.
 Literature is a mirror of people's life. Hence studying the ancient
literature should be begun from studying the lives of the peoples who
created it. These people are the ancient Greeks and Romans.
 In the II millennium BC in the territory of Greece and on the islands of
the Aegean Sea an ancient culture Crete-Mycenae, named after two
major centers appeared.
 According to ancient Greek people’s thoughts, myths about gods and
goddesses who found their placec on the "sacred" Mount Olympus
were also created in this period.
 The first period of Cretan-Mycenaean literature was folklore which
included many centuries of its existence, was completed in the ninth
century BC. Samples of the works of this period have not reached us,
and some information about it can be found in the literature of the
later period, in Egyptian and Hittite documents. Formed over several
centuries in the archaic period, Homer’s Iliad and the Odyssey are the
only fully survived samples of epics which were successfully recorded
in the sixth century BC.
 If an epic tells the story about the world, surrounding a human being
and the events in it, the lyric sings about the human’s inner world
and explains the mutual experiences of the poet and the hero.
 The term "lyric" refers to a stringed instrument, the lyre, and means
"a poem performed to the accompaniment of music".
 There are two main types of lyric poetry in ancient Greek poetry
which are monodic, performed by a soloist lyrics and choral lyrics
sung by many. Pindaming's works are the first examples of choral
lyricism, monodic lyrics can be found in the poems of Sappho and
Anacreont.
 The Greeks imagined lyrical poetry in connection with song, music,
and even dance. Gradually such types of lyrics as yamb and elegy
genres have become genres designated exclusively for reading.
 In the poetry of the VII-VI centuries BC, it was in trend to interpret the idea of the
individual and his thoughts from a religious-moral point of view. In the sixth century,
prose in the Ionian style was born in Ionia. Novels depicting images of ordinary and
historical people, and examples referring to the name of Aesop have been created.
 Athenian culture flourished in the period of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, dramatic
genres, especially tragedy developed. Aeschylus, the great poet of the Athenian
democracy, addressed social and moral issues in his tragedies.
 Sophocles created the image of a free man. The comedy, retaining its traditional
form was enriched with a new socio-satirical content, developed.
 The works of Aristophanes in this period emerged as a sharp satire in Greek political
and cultural life. Along with individualized characters generalized humorous images
appeared.: As a result of Roman conquest in the 2nd century BC, the cultural life of
Greece turned into a depression, and only by the first century AD, a revival had
taken place. In the IV century the Greek literature was completely in crisis.
Ancient Greek literature is divided into the following periods:
 1. Khit-Mycenae or Aegean culture ( from the year 2000 BC to the XII
century BC).
 2. Literature of the Homeric period (IX-VIII centuries BC).
 3. The archaic period of Greek literature (before the beginning of the
V century BC).
 4. Ancient period - V-IV centuries. The flourishing of the Hellenic polis
period
 5. Hellenistic period (literature of Hellenic society) - VI-I centuries BC.
 6. Greek literature of the Roman Empire - From the end of the I
century BC.
 Ancient Greek literature which united Eastern and European literature
of the New Age is considered to be an important part of world
literature in terms of its significance.