What is the most "timeless" story?

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What would you say is the story that has passed from generation to generation unabated for the longest time. I think it would be the Oddysy or some of that Shakespere stuff. They aren't excatly my favorite, but I guess they are pretty good or something considering they have been around for so very long.

 

The Bible

 

Any "rite of passage" story is timeless, so take that as you will.

 

The Bible, viewed as a piece of literature, has been around for quite some time. Other long running stories include the Japanese "Tale of Genji" and the Babylonian "Gilgamesh and Enkidu" Both of those suckers are ANCIENT!

 

Beowulf?

 

Yeah, Frog, Beowulf is one of the oldest stories from Anglo-Saxon culture. The version as we know it was set down between 800 -- 1100 AD, IIRC. The basic story, though, had probably been around for a lot longer. The two I mentioned have been around for centuries before Christ.

 

the Aeneid is ancient, though it may not be the most well-known, it's definitely one of my favs.

 

Damsel in Distress? The princess gets kidnapped by the evil what have you. In Scifi this can mean Darth Vader and in D&D or computer games such as NWN it can mean someone like Klauth or whoever the bad guy flavor of the game is.

 

Very interesting all,I think I agree with Sorbo, even though I said differently. I was very, tired, at the time.

 

Thanks, for agreeing with me Kovalis Darkfire and my name is SorVo!

[So is your full name Kebin Sorvo? - BTA]

[ April 13, 2003, 04:10: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

 

Kovalis Darkfire: Sorry, but You meant Odysseia from Homeros? (I'm using greek forms as they are used in Czech)

 

I'm pretty sure, that yes.

Anyway, I think the Bible is quite ancient. And all those rites of passage stories as well.

 

Well, ArrynMorgerim, it's actually Oddysseia and Omiros in Greek but in English it's Oddyssey and Homeros. Anyway Oddyssey is the oldest manuscript, or at least one of the oldest. 800-700 B.C.

 

I think it's definitivley the Trojan war and the Oddyssey. They made it for the sake of their stories and without the help of religious duty.

But India, China and Japan have surely stories of their own.

 

I'd say the Iliad and the Oddyssey (sp?). They are definately two of the oldest epic stories that are still read around the world.

 

The Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Odyssey were all written about the same time period, that being the end of the Greek Age of Heroes. Hoever, the Iliad and the Odyssey were written, as has been mentioned above, somewhere in the 1100 B.C. to the 800 B.C. era (the Greek Dark Ages). The Aeneid was written by Virgil in the early A.D., so isn't really in the running (but deserves a mention nonetheless).

However, the oldest story would probably be of the origin of man, or religious stories (usually the same thing). Since you did not restrict the discussion to written stories, folklore and so on beats any written work hands down. Given that, it is possible that various barbarian tribes whose culture has still been preserved in some form could easily qualify as the oldest stories passed from generation to generation.

I don't know as much about the Asian cultures and their traditions, but it seems they got an even earlier start on writing and organized legends than Western culture, so some of the legends of their gods might be the oldest we can prove the existence of in olden times.

 

Lord of the Rings has only been around for a few years. I don't understand what you mean by saying that.

 

I'm sure you meant decades instead of years, Kovalis.

 

It doesn't matter G'Jakob. We're talking about 800 B.C. and he mentions Lord of the Rings which is written in the 50's (or 60's, i dont remember)

Well, as for the most timeless story, Egyptians (and Sumerians even earlier) invented writing though I don't know if they used it in writing stories apart from their laws etc.