How does classical literature compare with Enlightenment literature?

D: How does classical literature compare with Enlightenment literature?
The Greeks wrote tragedies about human themes such as love, hate, war, and betrayal, and comedies, many of which were satires. How does classical literature compare with Enlightenment literature?

Answers and Views:

Answer by neveramount
The wonderful, Age of Reason was a time where philosophers placed an emphasis on reason as the best and ultimate method for learning. It explored issues in law and politics and education, while attacking social injustices and ignorance and tyranny. Could we ever come back to this time? This is a period where some many advances occur. Nowadays the advances occur in the gaming industry. (I hope you’re purchasing that slim PS3 version that’s coming out…do you want to be a fatty in the Wii crowd?) Voltaire is probably the most well-known figure of this time. He fought against bigotry and intolerance…and promoted the most rationalistic thoughts through his literary skills… If there is ever a book I could recommend, it’d be Candide.

Besides Voltaire, you should look into Denis Diderot, famously known for editing the French Encylopedie, a collection of articles which attempted to explain recent discoveries in science while at the same time discounting religious authority, the many injustices…

I cannot tell you how the period of Enlightenment has affected us even with sitcoms like “Gossip Girl,” or 1980s literature such as Jay MacInerny or Bret Easton Ellis, you will be exposed to what has truly shaped modern works to provoke that real self-analysis. If you take up Rousseau for instance, you will find a man that is beyond just a French literary sensation. (See Reveries of the Solitary Stroller).

Now, to compare these to Greek tragedies would be like saying would I prefer a hamburger with meat versus Captain Crunch?