The Western canon encompasses a vast body of literature, philosophy, art, music, and other cultural works originating from Western civilization. While many significant works within the canon are written in English, it includes contributions from various languages and cultures throughout history, including:
* Ancient Greek: Works by Homer, Plato, Aristotle, Sophocles, Euripides
* Latin: Works by Virgil, Cicero, Ovid, Lucretius
* French: Works by Voltaire, Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Simone de Beauvoir
* German: Works by Goethe, Kant, Nietzsche, Marx
* Italian: Works by Dante, Machiavelli, Boccaccio
* Spanish: Works by Cervantes, García Márquez, Lorca
* Russian: Works by Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Gogol
* And many others...
The canon is not fixed and its boundaries are constantly debated. However, it generally includes works that have had a significant impact on Western thought and culture, regardless of their original language.
It's important to note that the concept of the Western canon has been critiqued for its Eurocentric bias and its exclusion of voices from non-Western cultures. However, it remains a valuable starting point for understanding the history and development of Western civilization.