using a similar style to the two Homeric epics. It also makes frequent allusions to figures from classical literature and mythology, using them as symbols to convey a Christian message. Lucian's A True Story was part of the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels. Bulfinch's Mythology, a book on Greek mythology published in 1867 and aimed at a popular audience, was described by Carl J. Richard as "one of the most popular books ever published in the United States". George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion is a modern, rationalized retelling of the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion. James Joyce's novel Ulysses, heralded by critics as one of the greatest works of modern literature, is a retelling of Homer's Odyssey set in modern-day Dublin. The mid-twentieth-century British author Mary Renault wrote a number of critically acclaimed novels inspired by ancient Greek literature and mythology, including The Last of the Wine and The King Must Die. Even in works that do not consciously draw on Graeco-Roman literature, authors often employ concepts and themes originating in ancient Greece. The ideas expressed in Aristotle's Poetics, in particular, have influenced generations of Western writers and literary critics. A Latin translation of an Arabic version of the Poetics by Averroes was available during the Middle Ages. Common Greek literary terms still used today include: catharsis, ethos, anagnorisis, hamartia, hubris, mimesis, mythos, nemesis, and peripeteia. Notes References Further reading External links Greek literature Ancient Greek culture Arts in ancient Greece History of literature Ancient Greek Western culture Literature by language European literature