Latin literature, the body of writings in Latin, primarily produced during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, when Latin was a spoken language. When Rome fell, Latin remained the literary language of the Western medieval world until it was superseded by the Romance languages it had generated and by other modern languages. After the Renaissance the writing of Latin was increasingly confined to the narrow limits of certain ecclesiastical and academic publications. This article focuses primarily on ancient Latin literature. It does, however, provide a broad overview of the literary works produced in Latin by European writers during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Ancient Latin literature
Literature in Latin began as translation from the Greek, a fact that conditioned its development. Latin authors used earlier writers as sources of stock themes and motifs, at their best using their relationship to tradition to produce a new species of originality. They were more distinguished as verbal artists than as thinkers; the finest of them have a superb command of concrete detail and vivid illustration. Their noblest ideal was humanitas, a blend of culture and kindliness, approximating the quality of being “civilized.”
Little need be said of the preliterary ... (200 of 9,284 words)
Latin literature, the body of writings in Latin, primarily produced during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, when Latin was a spoken language. When Rome fell, Latin remained the literary language of the Western medieval world until it was superseded by the Romance languages it had generated and by other modern languages. After the Renaissance the writing of Latin was increasingly confined to the narrow limits of certain ecclesiastical and academic publications. This article focuses primarily on ancient Latin literature. It does, however, provide a broad overview of the literary works produced in Latin by European writers during the Middle Ages and Renaissance.
Ancient Latin literature
Literature in Latin began as translation from the Greek, a fact that conditioned its development. Latin authors used earlier writers as sources of stock themes and motifs, at their best using their relationship to tradition to produce a new species of originality. They were more distinguished as verbal artists than as thinkers; the finest of them have a superb command of concrete detail and vivid illustration. Their noblest ideal was humanitas, a blend of culture and kindliness, approximating the quality of being “civilized.”
Little need be said of the preliterary ... (200 of 9,284 words)
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..