Introduction. Mythology and literature of antiquity

2. Modern concept of the World Literature.
After Goethe, the interpretations put upon Weltliteratur have mostly tended to vacillate between the aesthetic and the archival, between a selective canon of masterpieces and a comprehensive coverage of “all” literature – “littérature universelle”, as it came to be known in France, “universal” or “general” literature in England and North America. These versions of Weltliterature volved in a somewhat uneasy coexistence with the new term of “Comparative Literature” and its Continental cousins such as “Littérature comparée,” “Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft,” or “Letteratura comparata.” World literature almost inevitably became the province of this new discipline. This, however, was usually not Goethe’s transnational intellectual and artistic commerce but rather a more circumscribed comparison of major works from proudly independent national traditions. Moreover, this canon was largely restricted to literatures in European languages, and even primarily in a few major European languages, foremost among them French, English and German, often connected to Latin and to classical Greek. Italian, Spanish, and Russian typically came in as distant runners-up, and then the occasional other, smaller, European literature, often depending upon the provenance or linguistic skill of a particular practitioner.
The shape of world literature has been transformed since then, as a result of the cultural and other changes.
Literature is the springboard of almost everything. Talk about Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Sociology, Politics, Culture and etc. name them and Literature has them.
The novels of almost all nations all over the globe initiated the revolt leading the nations to become free from the hands of the colonizers. Philippines gained its freedom through Rizal’s two novels: Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo and so with the rest of the countries.
Another role played by Literature is the integration of values. Literature does not only mold the intellectual faculties of every individual but also his total faculties- the emotional, moral, social, and spiritual faculties thus, developing him into a holistic individual.