Ancient literature and Classical literature are often misunderstood in terms of their content and subject matter. Ancient literature is concerned with scriptural literature, consisting of books and manuscripts containing scriptural matter. The basis of ancient literature for Christianity is the description of passages found in the Bible, while for Hinduism, it’s the descriptions of passages found in the Vedas. Every religion has its own ancient literature. In addition to religious literature, ancient literature includes books and manuscripts written on ancient arts and sciences, such as astrology, astronomy, art, and theater.
Key Takeaways
- Ancient literature deals with scriptural literature and is specific to each religion.
- Ancient literature also includes works on ancient arts and sciences, such as astrology, astronomy, art, and theater.
- Classical literature, on the other hand, deals with works on poetry, prose, and drama written during olden times, including epic literature, lyrical compositions, poetry compositions, and plays.
Classical literature, in contrast, deals with works on poetry, prose, and drama written during olden times. The main difference between ancient literature and classical literature lies in their subjects. Classical literature consists of books and works, including plays, dramas, prose works, poetry, and versification done in olden times in the courts of kings and monarchs. In short, it can be said that classical literature comprises epic literature, lyrical compositions, poetry compositions, and plays written during the classical period.
Every language in the world has its own classical period during which several classics would have been written. All these classics written during the olden period come under classical literature. The works of Shakespeare and Milton in English literature and the works of Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti in Sanskrit literature can be assumed to come under classical literature of the respective languages. These are the differences between ancient literature and classical literature.
