What works of literature (or art, I suppose) do people think are the most historically influential? To get the obvious out of the way, I suggest that we not count religious canons of any kind, so don't bother posting the Bible or Quran or anything like that. Unless, of course, someone wants to propose that a secular work has been more influential...

Carl Marxs 'Communist Manifesto' made a bit of a dint in history.

Darwin's theory of evolution is up there too.

Martin Luther's list of demands and questions - not technically a work of literature though, but neither is the Theory of Evolution.

How about Beowulf?

Charles Darwins 'The Origin of Species' is a work of literature.

Beowulf is a semi obscure anglo saxon poem thats had no influence on anything.

Literature..

John Milton's "Paradise Lost"
Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"


I wouldn't count the Manifesto or Origin of Species as literature, really.

Victor Hugo is said to have transformed the French legal system with Les Miserable. Dickens had a similar effect in England, though perhaps on a lesser scale. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle had a dramatic effect in the US. Fiction is the language of cultural change.

J

Any classic Greek literature. (Plato, Socrates, Aristotle)

Although these scholars are known more for their ideas and not necessarily their literature.

Bible and other major world religions' holy books
Communist Manifesto
The Jungle
The Declaration of Independance (Somewhat literature:undecide: )

Bright day
Do you take drama also as literature? If yes I would like to point out Rossum's Universal Robots of Capek. Anyway most influential one? There isn't any.
May all your days be bright.

"The tale of Genji"- considered to be the first novel.

The translation of the bible into German from Martin Luther, the works of Karl Marx, Goethe´s "Leiden des jungen Werther" and his other books, Schiller and Lessings Nathan the wise. As well Darwin, Kopernicus and Einstein on the scientific area. Well I think I have to add Immanuel Kant and his critics. They are much more impressive than Marx. While his "pupil" Marx failed his philosophy is much better but not as known as Marx.

Adler

I am surprised noone has yet mentioned Mein Kampf by Hitler. A badly written book with dangerous and idiotic ideas, but it changed the world.
Ant the Communist Manifesto (my current literary project) as well.

Illiad and Oyssey- the basis for much of Greek politics and justification for actions in the classical era, and school book of the Greek, and subsequentlly the Romans (as well as the sucessor states), its impact on law and western thought are profound, to say these books are greatlly responsible for the foundations western culture is an understatement.

Magna Carta was the first western European step in shifting power from kings to people.

Epic of Gilgamesh: very early literature from mid east that influenced later books like the Bible.

If literature would be defined as works based in fiction, I think some works of the renaissance, or else the greek epics.

The Mahabarata.

Most of the influencial stuff has been mentioned, but I think some Science Fiction books have been somehwat Influencial, people starting to think about time travel, space travel, 'big brother' etc. Feeding Imagination like that can be very influencial.

Epic of Gilgamesh, Illiad, Odyssey, Ramayaana, Mahabarata, any other piece of epic poetry-these have really had an influence on the actions of mankind.

what about Machiavelli's The Prince?
Diderot's Encyclopedia
not really sure if they are considered literature in the sense that you mean here though...
also Cervantes' Don Quixote is a big one i think

C. S. Lewis? (too religous?)

Three Kingdoms? (in China anyway)

Orwell & Huxley?

Lao Tzu? (too religous?)

Virgil, Plato, Euclid, etc...?

Dante Alighieri?

Thomas Payne?

Dr. Atkins!!!

I'd like to add Sun Tzu's The Art of War to mine.

Originally posted by floppa21


Dr. Atkins!!! [/B]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I might laugh, but your more then likelly right (and BTW, glad to see you havent left us completelly , though OT isnt the same without you, but I hope that oyu are enjoying your desicsion on what you choose regardless :))

Not really literature but more essay-like, Montesquieu was very influential in the creation of the three separate systems (legislative, executive and justice) that are te base of modern democracies.

Uncle Tom's cabin as a work of literature is considered to have helped motivate the public opinion against the rural slavery-based "South", which enabled the powerful of the industrial North to force war on the confederacy.