Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first written literature appeared in Mesopotamia around 3200 BC. Scribes developed cuneiform to track economic transactions before the same clay tablets began to hold the Epic of Gilgamesh within a few centuries.
During the Fifth Dynasty, literature in Ancient Egypt emerged from the practical needs of the state and the afterlife. Lists of offerings to the gods were rewritten as prayers, and statistical records of state officials expanded into autobiographies that exemplified the virtues of their subjects.
By the Zhou dynasty, Confucius had collected the Six Classics, which became the central texts by which all other works were compared. The Classic of Poetry, the oldest existing anthology of Chinese poetry, comprises 305 works by anonymous authors dating from the 12th to 7th centuries BC.
Greek plays originated from chorus plays in Athens in the 6th century BC, evolving into elaborate productions featuring complex choreography, scenic architecture, and masks. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides crafted tragedies that explored the human condition, while Aristophanes and Menander developed comedies that satirized society.
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri was completed around 1321. Dante's journey reflects the medieval philosophy of the afterlife and establishes the Tuscan language as the standard Italian language.
The 20th century brought modernist literature, with authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner analyzing their own places in American society. The post-World War II era saw the emergence of postmodern literature, with popular genres like fantasy and science fiction developing their own critical awards and establishments.