Transcriber’s Notes Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation have been standardised but all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and superscripts thus y^{en}. Symbols that are not available are marked {symbol}. There are several variations between the Table of Contents and the headings within the text. These remain. [Illustration: THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES.] [Illustration: Linguistic Map OF EUROPE] ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF ANCIENT LITERATURE ORIENTAL AND CLASSICAL BY JOHN D. QUACKENBOS, A.M., M.D. ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, COLUMBIA COLLEGE ACCOMPANIED WITH _ENGRAVINGS AND COLORED MAPS_ NEW EDITION _REVISED AND CORRECTED_ NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS 1890 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by JOHN D. QUACKENBOS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Copyright, 1889, by JOHN D. QUACKENBOS. PREFACE. The History of Literature, as a separate branch of the history of civilization, is of comparatively recent origin; the first work on the subject in any language dating no further back than the sixteenth century, and being little more than a crude catalogue of authors and their books. Yet who can deny the great importance of such history? When studied in connection with illustrative extracts from the masterpieces of which it treats, it furnishes a key to the intellectual development of our race, introduces us to the great minds that stand as beacon lights in successive ages, and with their wisdom widens the scope of knowledge, while it refines the taste and disciplines the judgment. Lord Bacon said but the truth, when he remarked that the history of the world without the history of letters would be as incomplete as a statue of Polyphemus deprived of his single eye.