Literature and Art - AP European History

The Odyssey and The Iliad are two famous epics written down from the oral tradition of Homer. The epic poems tell the tale of the Trojan War and the return home of Odysseus from this war. The were among the foundations of both archaic and classical panhellenism ("all Greece"). The peninsula of Greece was, at this time, not a nation-state (nation-states did not, strictly speaking, exist at this time in history), but a collection of city-states, united by a common language and by large-scale common cultural practices (The Olympic Games, Homer, the ritual recognition of the gods of Olympus). Greek city-states were yet still quite distinct culturally, socially, and politically when seen up-close.

Charles Dickens was by far the most well-known and widely read novelist of the Victorian period in Great Britain, to the point that he was a celebrity on par with any other figure of the time. His work was not just popular among the masses, but also largely about them, as his work featured intriguing characters, descriptions of familiar themes and people, the city of London, and a serialized format of each chapter being published separately in installments. One trend from previous writers that Dickens did not continue was a reliance on complicated classical references.

The Renaissance represented a revival of Greco-Roman culture, and therefore its art began to reflect classical art and themes, including myths. Nevertheless, religious themes continued to be popular in art. During the Renaissance, the status of the artist increased greatly: individuals such as Michelangelo were widely revered for their artistic genius. Additionally, individual patrons more frequently began to commission art (most famously, the Medici family in Florence); the portrait became a more common genre; and even religious paintings often portrayed the patron and his family. Note that during the Renaissance, the human body began to be depicted in a more naturalistic manner, and was typically glorified. Consider, for example, Michelangelo’s David.

Voltaire was an Enlightenment-era philosopher most famous for his ardent defense of freedom of religion and freedom of speech. He clashed frequently with the authorities in France, but was widely influential across Europe. His most famous work, Candide, was published in 1759. It is a satirical attack on religion in Europe and mocks the established political order of the time period.

Members of a French exploratory voyage to South America in the sixteenth century encountered cannibalistic people living in the Amazon, and a few of them were even brought back to Europe by the expedition. The group was widely sensationalized, but Montaigne’s first-hand experience led him to believe that these people were far less savage and barbaric than the European people around him. In Of Cannibals, he reverses the Eurocentric view of social progress and compares the lives of the cannibals with the barbaric conditions of European society to suggest that the Europeans were the real savages.

In Praise of Folly was published the first decade of the sixteenth century by the Dutch humanist Erasmus. Although Erasmus remained an ardent Catholic his whole life and never fully embraced the Protestant Reformation, he was nonetheless dissatisfied with the corruption and abuses that he saw within the church. In Praise of Folly is a scathing attack on these corruptions. It is sometimes credited with helping to lay the foundations for the Protestant Reformation.

Raphael’s The School of Athens is one of the most famous and influential artistic works of the Renaissance period. It depicts the classical Greek philosophers Socrates and Plato holding court at the school of Athens and is widely understood to be a celebration and exaltation of the values and accomplishments of the classical period, particularly ancient and classical Greece.

The Baroque movement emerged in popularity in the seventeenth century and was supported by both the Papacy and the European aristocracy. It employs exaggerated motion and dramatic detail to create a style of art meant to seem both impressive and imposing. It was widely employed by the aristocracy to create artistic and architectural works that were meant to express power and control. The Palace of Versailles is one such example.

Charles Dickens is probably the most famous writer of the Victorian period of British history. His writings coincided with the Industrial Revolution and often focused on portraying social injustices and the arduous lives of the British working class. Famous works by Charles Dickens include Oliver Twist and Hard Times.

Impressionism as an artistic movement emerged in the nineteenth century and was particularly influential in France. All of these individuals were notable impressionists, and Monet is often referred to as the original impressionist. Impressionism focuses on ordinary subject matter, and the use of light. It was initially widely criticized by artistic experts in French and European society for being unrealistic and crude, but it soon gained overwhelming popularity as it spread around the world.

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness was published in 1899 and is one of the most influential works in the English language. The book deals with European ideals of what constitutes barbarism and the right to call oneself “civilized” by exploring the harsh reality of European imperialism on the African continent. Conrad is sharply critical of the racial motivations behind European imperialism.

Persian Letters was published in 1721 by the Enlightenment philosopher Charles de Montesquieu. It employs the perspective of two travellers from the Near East who are visiting France and observing French society. It critiques the nature of French society and Christianity.

The Book of the Courtier was published in 1528 by the Italian Renaissance writer Baldassare Castiglione. The book outlines the ideal qualities of a Renaissance man and was widely influential in European society. It was particularly influential in British society, where it came to define the correct behavior of a wealthy British gentleman.

The Rococo artistic movement was widely popular in eighteenth century and is characterized by sentimentality and deviations from realism. The Neoclassical movement, which emerged in the late eighteenth century around the time of the French Revolution, is widely understood as a backlash against this movement. Neoclassicism focused on recreating the styles of classical Greece and Rome and valued realism and the accurate representation of the human form.

All of these writers are correctly matched with their most famous piece of literature except for Thomas More, who is famous for writing Utopia. Lives of Illustrious Men was written by Petrarch, sometimes referred to as “the Father of Humanism.”

Romanticism flourished in the first half of the nineteenth century throughout Europe as a literary movement that reacted against the Englightenment, valued emotion, and lauded both medieval literature and regional identities. This last point was also a huge factor in the burgeoning nationalism of the era, which sought to overthrow traditional autocratic governments and replace them with democratically elected governments that were meant to more accurately reflect their constituencies.

Don Quixote is the most famous work in the history of Spanish literature. It was written by Cervantes in the sixteenth century and is primarily a mockery of the culture that existed in Spain in Cervantes’ time period. Cervantes wanted to shine a light on the absurd glorification of chivalry and anachronistic reverence for medieval values. Cervantes' disdain, and muted, vexed respect for, chivalric cultural values can be found in the most lasting image of the work, and one of the most lasting images in all of literature, that of Don Quixote riding valiantly into battle against a windmill.

Montesquieu is usually remembered for writing The Spirit of Laws, which influenced the formation of the United States’ government with its advocation for separation of powers and its emphasis on the necessity of checks and balances in any legislative system. Montesquieu also wrote Persian Letters, a text of possibly equal importance, which marked the first time Europeans were given a substantive view of their society from the perspective of a foreigner (or, more accurately, the first time such a perspective was paid substantial attention). It introduced many Europeans to the notion that their perspective might be limited, that they had what is now called a Eurocentric view on the world.

The majority of the Renaissance took place in Italy, as intellectuals from all over Europe flocked to booming cultural centers receiving vast amounts of wealth and support from patrons of the arts and sciences. Florence in particular had undergone a public revitalization of classical Greek studies that focused on poetry, mathematics, science, and art during the rule of the prominent and scholarly Medici family.

Wilfred Owen's poetry, including his celebrated Dulce et Decorum Est, railed against the horrors of the First World War and helped give a voice to a generation destroyed by violence. John Keats was a 19th century Romantic poet. Jack Kerouac was a mid-century poet and novelist, and a prominent member of the Beat movement. Michel de Montaigne was 16th century French writer widely credited with inventing the modern form of the essay. Philip Larkin is a poet of the mid-20th century.