The Greatest Ancient and Poetry Books of All Time
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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.
| 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) |