Dante wrote this Comedy not in highly regarded Latin, but in the spoken dialect of Tuscany. The decision helped turn that dialect into the legitimate language we now call Italian, a tribute to the importance of literature in shaping language.

Johannes Gutenberg

Iliad was typical of early works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh of Mesopotamia or the Mayan Popol Vuh. This epic literature served as common reference points for entire cultures, telling their audiences where they came from and who they were.

Political independence required cultural independence, and novels proved the best way of gaining it.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein

Novels didn’t have the baggage associated with ancient forms of literature and therefore allowed new types of authors and readers to emerge, especially women, who used the flexible form to grapple with the most pressing questions of modern society.

The Tale of Genji

Alexander possessed an additional weapon: Homer’s Iliad. He had learned to read and write by studying this text as a young man, and thanks to his teacher, the philosopher Aristotle

As more and more parts of the world became literate, new technologies, above all paper and print, increased the reach and influence of written stories. Both inventions lowered the cost of literature, which meant that new groups of readers could have access to written stories. And new readers meant new stories started to appear, catering to these readers’ tastes and interests.

Arabic world

Despite its place in literature, Homer’s epic poem had repercussions far beyond the libraries and campfires of ancient Greece

defeated the entire Persian Empire, conquering a vast realm that stretched from Egypt to northern India

his father was assassinated and Alexander ascended the throne

The small kingdom in northern Greece was perpetually at war with its neighbours, above all Persia, which meant that Alexander had to learn how to lead armies into battle

to show that it not only gives pleasure but is beneficial both to the constitutions and to human life

Alexander the Great was groomed to be the leader of Macedonia