What is the oldest known work of fiction?Understanding what these reference shortforms representOrigin of the idea of a series of booksWas construction work involving hydraulic cements in ancient Rome restricted to the summer season?What's the oldest monomyth?Were the greatest rulers from before the Classical Antiquity known by ancient historians?More honorable to plunder than to work for Germanic tribes in antiquityDid the medieval Europe have an active “lowbrow” culture?What is the earliest known book / novel trilogy in literature?Why wasn't there more use of wind power in antiquity?Which SF author was unable to check his own work out of the library due to insufficient security clearance?

Meta programming: Declare a new struct on the fly

What is the opposite of 'gravitas'?

Could solar power be utilized and substitute coal in the 19th century?

What does 사자 in this picture means?

Calculating the number of days between 2 dates in Excel

Lightning Web Component - do I need to track changes for every single input field in a form

Reply ‘no position’ while the job posting is still there (‘HiWi’ position in Germany)

Is there an Impartial Brexit Deal comparison site?

Greatest common substring

A known event to a history junkie

Is exact Kanji stroke length important?

No idea how to draw this using tikz

What will be the temperature on Earth when Sun finishes its main sequence?

Simple recursive Sudoku solver

Should my PhD thesis be submitted under my legal name?

Superhero words!

The One-Electron Universe postulate is true - what simple change can I make to change the whole universe?

How will losing mobility of one hand affect my career as a programmer?

Why is delta-v is the most useful quantity for planning space travel?

Can the harmonic series explain the origin of the major scale?

I'm in charge of equipment buying but no one's ever happy with what I choose. How to fix this?

Can I use my Chinese passport to enter China after I acquired another citizenship?

My boss asked me to take a one-day class, then signs it up as a day off

Is there a problem with hiding "forgot password" until it's needed?



What is the oldest known work of fiction?


Understanding what these reference shortforms representOrigin of the idea of a series of booksWas construction work involving hydraulic cements in ancient Rome restricted to the summer season?What's the oldest monomyth?Were the greatest rulers from before the Classical Antiquity known by ancient historians?More honorable to plunder than to work for Germanic tribes in antiquityDid the medieval Europe have an active “lowbrow” culture?What is the earliest known book / novel trilogy in literature?Why wasn't there more use of wind power in antiquity?Which SF author was unable to check his own work out of the library due to insufficient security clearance?













4















What is the oldest known work of fiction that we know was meant to be taken as fiction? I mean to exclude mythologies; the audience of these was meant to believe they were true. What is the oldest work of fiction where it's truth was never considered?



An example of what I'm looking for: Lysitrata is a work of fiction, and it's audience knew that. The Egyptian creation myth is a work of fiction, but it's audience did not know that.










share|improve this question







New contributor




Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
























    4















    What is the oldest known work of fiction that we know was meant to be taken as fiction? I mean to exclude mythologies; the audience of these was meant to believe they were true. What is the oldest work of fiction where it's truth was never considered?



    An example of what I'm looking for: Lysitrata is a work of fiction, and it's audience knew that. The Egyptian creation myth is a work of fiction, but it's audience did not know that.










    share|improve this question







    New contributor




    Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
    Check out our Code of Conduct.






















      4












      4








      4








      What is the oldest known work of fiction that we know was meant to be taken as fiction? I mean to exclude mythologies; the audience of these was meant to believe they were true. What is the oldest work of fiction where it's truth was never considered?



      An example of what I'm looking for: Lysitrata is a work of fiction, and it's audience knew that. The Egyptian creation myth is a work of fiction, but it's audience did not know that.










      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.












      What is the oldest known work of fiction that we know was meant to be taken as fiction? I mean to exclude mythologies; the audience of these was meant to believe they were true. What is the oldest work of fiction where it's truth was never considered?



      An example of what I'm looking for: Lysitrata is a work of fiction, and it's audience knew that. The Egyptian creation myth is a work of fiction, but it's audience did not know that.







      classical-antiquity literature






      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.











      share|improve this question







      New contributor




      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      share|improve this question




      share|improve this question






      New contributor




      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.









      asked 5 hours ago









      Ryan_LRyan_L

      1211




      1211




      New contributor




      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.





      New contributor





      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.






      Ryan_L is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
      Check out our Code of Conduct.




















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes


















          5














          I remember being taught that the oldest known work of fiction was the Ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers.



          The story was one of those found on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which has been dated to the 19th Dynasty (c 1215 BCE) and is now owned by the British Museum:



          Two brothers



          • Image source British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

          The text is written in hieratic script, but a translation is available in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom, pp 203-211.






          share|improve this answer
























            Your Answer








            StackExchange.ready(function()
            var channelOptions =
            tags: "".split(" "),
            id: "324"
            ;
            initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

            StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
            // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
            if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
            StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
            createEditor();
            );

            else
            createEditor();

            );

            function createEditor()
            StackExchange.prepareEditor(
            heartbeatType: 'answer',
            autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
            convertImagesToLinks: false,
            noModals: true,
            showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
            reputationToPostImages: null,
            bindNavPrevention: true,
            postfix: "",
            imageUploader:
            brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
            contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
            allowUrls: true
            ,
            noCode: true, onDemand: true,
            discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
            ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
            );



            );






            Ryan_L is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









            draft saved

            draft discarded


















            StackExchange.ready(
            function ()
            StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f51807%2fwhat-is-the-oldest-known-work-of-fiction%23new-answer', 'question_page');

            );

            Post as a guest















            Required, but never shown

























            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes








            1 Answer
            1






            active

            oldest

            votes









            active

            oldest

            votes






            active

            oldest

            votes









            5














            I remember being taught that the oldest known work of fiction was the Ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers.



            The story was one of those found on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which has been dated to the 19th Dynasty (c 1215 BCE) and is now owned by the British Museum:



            Two brothers



            • Image source British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

            The text is written in hieratic script, but a translation is available in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom, pp 203-211.






            share|improve this answer





























              5














              I remember being taught that the oldest known work of fiction was the Ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers.



              The story was one of those found on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which has been dated to the 19th Dynasty (c 1215 BCE) and is now owned by the British Museum:



              Two brothers



              • Image source British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

              The text is written in hieratic script, but a translation is available in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom, pp 203-211.






              share|improve this answer



























                5












                5








                5







                I remember being taught that the oldest known work of fiction was the Ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers.



                The story was one of those found on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which has been dated to the 19th Dynasty (c 1215 BCE) and is now owned by the British Museum:



                Two brothers



                • Image source British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

                The text is written in hieratic script, but a translation is available in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom, pp 203-211.






                share|improve this answer















                I remember being taught that the oldest known work of fiction was the Ancient Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers.



                The story was one of those found on the Papyrus D'Orbiney, which has been dated to the 19th Dynasty (c 1215 BCE) and is now owned by the British Museum:



                Two brothers



                • Image source British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

                The text is written in hieratic script, but a translation is available in Miriam Lichtheim's Ancient Egyptian Literature: Volume II: The New Kingdom, pp 203-211.







                share|improve this answer














                share|improve this answer



                share|improve this answer








                edited 4 hours ago

























                answered 5 hours ago









                sempaiscubasempaiscuba

                52.5k6179230




                52.5k6179230




















                    Ryan_L is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.









                    draft saved

                    draft discarded


















                    Ryan_L is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.












                    Ryan_L is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.











                    Ryan_L is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.














                    Thanks for contributing an answer to History Stack Exchange!


                    • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

                    But avoid


                    • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

                    • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.

                    To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




                    draft saved


                    draft discarded














                    StackExchange.ready(
                    function ()
                    StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fhistory.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f51807%2fwhat-is-the-oldest-known-work-of-fiction%23new-answer', 'question_page');

                    );

                    Post as a guest















                    Required, but never shown





















































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown

































                    Required, but never shown














                    Required, but never shown












                    Required, but never shown







                    Required, but never shown







                    Popular posts from this blog

                    How should I use the fbox command correctly to avoid producing a Bad Box message?How to put a long piece of text in a box?How to specify height and width of fboxIs there an arrayrulecolor-like command to change the rule color of fbox?What is the command to highlight bad boxes in pdf?Why does fbox sometimes place the box *over* the graphic image?how to put the text in the boxHow to create command for a box where text inside the box can automatically adjust?how can I make an fbox like command with certain color, shape and width of border?how to use fbox in align modeFbox increase the spacing between the box and it content (inner margin)how to change the box height of an equationWhat is the use of the hbox in a newcommand command?

                    Doxepinum Nexus interni Notae | Tabula navigationis3158DB01142WHOa682390"Structural Analysis of the Histamine H1 Receptor""Transdermal and Topical Drug Administration in the Treatment of Pain""Antidepressants as antipruritic agents: A review"

                    inputenc: Unicode character … not set up for use with LaTeX The Next CEO of Stack OverflowEntering Unicode characters in LaTeXHow to solve the `Package inputenc Error: Unicode char not set up for use with LaTeX` problem?solve “Unicode char is not set up for use with LaTeX” without special handling of every new interesting UTF-8 characterPackage inputenc Error: Unicode character ² (U+B2)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeX. acroI2C[I²C]package inputenc error unicode char (u + 190) not set up for use with latexPackage inputenc Error: Unicode char u8:′ not set up for use with LaTeX. 3′inputenc Error: Unicode char u8: not set up for use with LaTeX with G-BriefPackage Inputenc Error: Unicode char u8: not set up for use with LaTeXPackage inputenc Error: Unicode char ́ (U+301)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeX. includePackage inputenc Error: Unicode char ̂ (U+302)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeX. … $widehatleft (OA,AA' right )$Package inputenc Error: Unicode char â„¡ (U+2121)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeX. printbibliography[heading=bibintoc]Package inputenc Error: Unicode char − (U+2212)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeXPackage inputenc Error: Unicode character α (U+3B1) not set up for use with LaTeXPackage inputenc Error: Unicode characterError: ! Package inputenc Error: Unicode char ⊘ (U+2298)(inputenc) not set up for use with LaTeX