Which languages and literary traditions are included in Western literature?

Western literature encompasses the history of writings primarily in the languages of the Indo-European family, which includes Greek, Latin, Germanic, Baltic, Slavic, Celtic, and Romance languages.1

While these languages form the core of the tradition, Western literature also includes works in other languages whose cultures are closely associated with the West, such as Semitic languages like Hebrew, as well as Finnish and Hungarian.1

The foundation of this shared literary heritage originates in ancient Greece and Rome. This tradition was preserved and spread through Christianity, eventually being transmitted into the vernacular languages of Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and other regions settled by Europeans. Despite the diversity of these national literatures, they maintain a unity in their main features that distinguishes them from the literatures of the rest of the world. Key genres established by the Greeks and Romans—such as epic, tragedy, comedy, lyric, satire, history, and biography—remain central to this tradition.12