There can be no doubt that the most important is the Bible, but which comes closest in terms of influence?
My guess would be either the Iliad or the Divine Comedy, but I’m not well read enough to competently assess this question.
What does the Dope think?
In terms of which gets the most references? I’d go with either the Divine Comedy or The Grimm’s Fairy Tales. I suspect that the latter is actually more likely, simply because more people will have actually read more than the first few pages (though probably not the entirety of the tales).
(It’s also worth noting that within the Bible, nearly all references come from Revelations.)
Uh, I’m pretty sure this isn’t even remotely accurate.
You’re forgetting that most of everything is crap. Any B-grade horror film or novel is going to take images of blood and doom from Revelations. Going by sheer mass, that’ll beat any comers.
What does “important” mean? Neither of the texts you mention have been read by probably 99% of the English speaking population at any given time. That isn’t to say they may not be important in terms of later works being distantly derivative, but there is more than one way to be important.
There would be justifiable ways of defining “important” that would give many of the top selling books of all time a good claim, particularly those that:
are widely read by children (who are impressionable);
contain distinct sets of values (and are not just enjoyable stories) which influence behaviour, and
which people bought to be read and were read, as opposed to books that have high sales or print run figures because they are set texts or were bought in bulk by institutions, or which were printed by religious or political fanatics with no reference to people’s actual desire to read them
Some interesting contenders would be the Harry Potter series, Tolkien, various other very high selling but much loved children’s books (several of which I haven’t read so I can’t say if they have depth or are just fluff), “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” which is a big seller, maybe “A Tale of Two Cities” (or is that just a big seller because everyone has to buy it for school?).
I see the difficulty in defining the importance of a book. The points you mentioned are valid, but I would also add the cultural, philosophical and political impact.
And please note that I was referring to the whole Western World, not only the English speaking part.
Well, there’s no doubt at all that The Bible is the most influential and best known written work in the west. To state otherwise is foolish.
#2 is harder. Someone upthread mentioned ‘Tale of Two Cities’ but I would doubt that. I certainly never had to read it for school - either high school or college. I’d likely go with something from Shakespeare. One of the ones taught in high school. That would make it Julius Caesar, MacBeth or Romeo and Juliet.
I suppose I’d go with Romeo and Juliet. The tale of star-crossed lovers resonates with people on most levels and I’d bet most of the west would understand pretty quickly if you described two people as being such.
I’d go with Don Quixote, just because it was the first fully-realized western novel and because it opened the floodgates for more of the same.
A case could be made for Oliver Twist, which had great and lasting impact as an agent of social advocacy. Uncle Tom’s Cabin came earlier, but was not as well-written and has not aged as well.
Are we limiting “literature” to fiction? Marx and Darwin left some serious footprints. So did The Federalist Papers.
In terms of ultimate influence, I’d say Aristotle’s *Analytics/Organon.
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If the Christian bible is first then how can the Quran not be second?
If we’re defining literature as “any sort of written work” then I’d argue that any early philosophical (Aristotle, Hume etc.) or economic (Smith) tract would trump Dante or Grimm Bros. in terms of influence on society.
If we’re defining literature as “entertaining prose” than I’d argue that the Bible isn’t literature, it’s scripture. And in that case, I’d love to know what the first, most important work is (Gilgamesh?).
No, it can be a scientific or philosophical work.
ETA: Really like Suil Dubh said, “any sort of written work”.
Just out of curiosity, what makes you list “The Divine Comedy”?
This isn’t an attack, I’m just genuinely curious.
I read the whole thing ages ago. From what I remember it was far too Catholic (and Florentine!) to be easily accessible to the general public.
Without denying the importance of any non-Western works at all, I wanted to restrict the question to the occidental tradition.
Well, let’s not underestimate Fanny Hill, then.
No love for Homer?
As I mentioned in the OP, I’m no expert in this field and have to admit that I didn’t ever read the Divine Comedy. But I find it referenced many times, and once read (maybe on this board) that much of the Christian ideas about hell came from it rather than from the Bible. As I understand it (I may be wrong), it was a kind of literary starting point of the Renaissance.
Ah, OK, got it.
I’m no expert either (cue someone who is to please join in) but…
…the impression I was under was that Dante may have codified a lot of the fire and brimstone, but the imagery was pre-existing in the public consciousness, with a long tradition in Hades, Hel etc.
IIRC there was a thread somewhere on the Dope about Hell quite recently.
I still don’t get this.
Anyway, after the Bible(should that be considered as 66 books?), I think perhaps Hamlet. If we are considering collected works, than Shakespeare’s plays would be a definite to me.
If we start considering the Bible as separate books, I think I’d say the gospel of Matthew is perhaps the most important work, followed by Romans. Going Old Testament, I think Genesis-Deuteronomy could be collected together and considered the most important. This, and Psalms, I guess.
Which is more ubiquitous in fiction?
For the Four Horsemen, I can think of Good Omens and Incarnations of Immortality off the top of my head, and Wikipedia names 30 different things named after them. As to multiplying food? Er…it was in the Bible. If you’re talking about the Bible, it’s certainly a story that comes up, but I don’t think I’ve seen it taken and adapted by others even once. If anything, you’re more likely to see a reference to a cornucopia than a wise man handing out loafs of bread.
Armageddon?, it’s been used a couple times in fiction. Jesus and the money changers? Nope, I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen Bruce Willis go and rob a bank so that he could toss all the money into a river and rant about how evil they are.
666? Yeah, I think you’ll find that if you ask about there are far more people who could tell you that 666 means something about the devil or the anti-Christ than could tell you what a Samaritan is.