The Greatest Ancient and Poetry Books of All Time

Click to learn how this list is calculated.

This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

View: List Grid Table
Filter by: Genres Dates Countries

Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
175 Metamorphoses Ovid 8 Roman Latin
285 Oresteia Aeschylus -458 Greek Ancient greek
405 De Rerum Natura Lucretius 55 Roman Latin
518 The Odes Horace 23 Roman Latin
900 The Poems of Sappho Sappho -569 Greek Ancient greek
1016 Poems Of C. P. Cavafy C. P. Cavafy 1935 Greek Greek
1049 Works and Days Hesiod -700 Greek Ancient greek
1364 Fragments Heraclitus -500 Greek Ancient greek
1543 Eclogues Virgil -37 Latin Latin
1544 The Poetic Edda Unknown 1270 Multiple Old norse
2026 Stanzas about the Death of his Father Jorge Manrique 1476 Spanish Spanish
2148 The Book of Songs China -600 Chinese Classical chinese
2421 Phaedrus Plato -370 Greek Ancient greek
2565 Poetry Quintus Lutatius Catulus -89 Roman Latin
2778 Carmina Burana Unknown 1230 Multiple Latin
3127 Attis And Other Poems Catullus -53 Roman Latin
3255 The Theogony Hesiod -700 Greek Ancient greek
3638 The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain Han Shan 600 Chinese Classical chinese
3953 Odes Andreas Kalvos 1824 Greek Greek
4531 Der Naturen Bloeme Jacob van Maerlant 1270 Dutch Middle dutch
4732 The Making of Homeric Verse Milman Parry 1971 American English
4781 Pharsalia Lucan 61 Roman Latin
4899 The Poetry Of Enheduanna Enheduanna -2300 Unknown Sumerian
5852 Works Empedocles -439 Greek Ancient greek
6136 Poems Of Du Fu Du Fu 759 Chinese Classical chinese
9856 Meghadūta Kālidāsa -400 Indian Sanskrit
10047 Poems Of Wang Wei Wei Wang 700 Chinese Chinese
15735 The Iliad / The Odyssey Homer -762 Greek Ancient greek
15761 The Oedipus Plays Of Sophocles Sophocles -429 Greek Ancient greek
15897 An Anthology Of Sanskrit Court Poetry Vidyakara, Daniel Ingalls 1957 Unknown Sanskrit
17119 Poems Of Sextus Propertius Propertius -29 Roman Latin
17119 Selected Poems Su Tung–p’o Chinese Chinese
16857 Iliad & Odyssey Homer -749 Greek Ancient greek (homeric greek)