A lost literary work (referred throughout this article just as a lost work) is a document, literary work, or piece of multimedia, produced of which no surviving copies are known to exist, meaning it can be known only through reference. This term most commonly applies to works from the classical world, although it is increasingly used in relation to modern works. A work may be lost to history through the destruction of an original manuscript and all later copies.

Works—or, commonly, small fragments of works—have survived by being found by archaeologists during investigations, or accidentally by anybody, such as, for example, the Nag Hammadi library scrolls. Works also survived when they were reused as bookbinding materials, quoted or included in other works, or as palimpsests, where an original document is imperfectly erased so the substrate on which it was written can be reused. The discovery, in 1822, of Cicero's De re publica was one of the first major recoveries of a lost ancient text from a palimpsest. Another famous example is the discovery of the Archimedes Palimpsest, which was used to make a prayer book almost 300 years after the original work was written. A work may be recovered in a library, as a lost or mislabeled codex, or as a part of another book or codex.

Well known but not recovered works are described by compilations that did survive, such as the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder or the De architectura of Vitruvius. Sometimes authors will destroy their own works. On other occasions, authors instruct others to destroy their work after their deaths. Such instructions are not always followed: Virgil's Aeneid was saved by Augustus, and Kafka's novels by Max Brod. Handwritten copies of manuscripts existed in limited numbers before the era of printing. The destruction of ancient libraries, whether by intent, chance or neglect, resulted in the loss of numerous works. Works to which no subsequent reference is preserved remain unknown.

Deliberate destruction of works may be termed literary crime or literary vandalism (see book burning).

Antiquity (to 500 CE)

Specific titles

• Enheduanna (24th–23rd century BC)
  • Hymn of Praise of Enheduanna, only survives in fragments.^[1]
• Homer (8th or 7th century BC)
  • Margites^[2][3][4]
  • The Odyssey mentions the blind singer Demodocus performing a poem recounting the otherwise unknown "Quarrel of Odysseus and Achilles", which might have been an actual work that did not survive.^[5]
• The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (sometime between 750 and 650 BC)^[6]
• The work of the Cyclic poets (excluding Homer, dated between the 8th century and 5th century BC), specifically:
  • six epics of the Epic Cycle: Cypria, Aethiopis, the Little Iliad, the Iliupersis ("Sack of Troy"), Nostoi ("Returns"), and Telegony.^[7]
  • four epics of the Theban Cycle: Oedipodea, Thebaid, Epigoni (epic), and Alcmeonis.
  • other early Greek epics: Titanomachy, Heracleia, Capture of Oechalia, Naupactia, Phocais, Minyas
• Thespis (c. 6th century BC)^[8] (possibly erroneous attributions or forgeries made during the Common Era)
  • Contest of Pelias and Phorbas
  • Hiereis (or Priests)
  • Hemitheoi (or Demigods)
  • Pentheus
• Thales (c. 624/623 – c. 548/545 BC)
  • On the Solstice (possible lost work)
  • On the Equinox (possible lost work)
• Anaximander (c. 610 – c. 546 BC)^[9]
  • On Nature (or Perì Phúseôs)
  • Rotation of the Earth (or Gês Períodos)
  • On Fixed Stars (or Perì Tôn Aplanôn)
  • The Celestial Sphere (or Sphaîra))
• The Hellespontine Sibyl (c. 6th century BC)
  • Sibylline Books
• Pherecydes of Syros (6th century BCE)
  • Heptamychia
• Ctesias (fifth century BC)
  • Persica, a history of Assyria and Persia in 23 books
  • Indica, an account of India
• Aeschylus (525–455 BC)^[10]
  • Alcmene
  • The Argo
  • Atalanta
  • The Bacchae
  • Callisto
  • The Children of Heracles
  • Circe
  • The Danaids
  • The Egyptians
  • Epigoni
  • Iphigenia
  • Ixion
  • The Lion
  • Memnon
  • Myrmidons, survives in fragments.
  • Nereids, survives in fragments.
  • Niobe
  • The Nurses of Dionysus
  • Penelope
  • Pentheus
  • Philoctetes
  • Phrygians (or Hector’s Ransom), survives in fragments.
  • The Priestesses
  • Prometheus The Fire-Bearer
  • Prometheus The Fire-Kindler
  • Prometheus Unbound
  • Semele
  • Sisyphus The Runaway
  • Sisyphus The Stone-Roller
  • The Sphinx
  • Telephus
  • The Thracian Women
  • The Weighing of Souls
  • Women of Salamis
  • The Youths
• Anaxagoras (c. 500 – 428 BC)
  • Book of Philosophy. Only fragments of the first part have survived.
• Xenocles (c. 5th century BC)^[11]
  • Athamas
  • Bacchae
  • Licymnius
  • Lycaon
  • Myes
  • Oedipus
• Sophocles (c. 497 – 406 BC)^[12]
  • Akhilleôs Erasti (or Male Lover of Achilles).
  • Aigeus
  • Aithiopes
  • Alexandros
  • Amphiaurus
  • Amycos Satyrykos
  • Antenoridae
  • Cassandra
  • Cerberus
  • Clytemnestra
  • Daedalus
  • Danae
  • Dionysiaca
  • Epigoni, only small fragments survive.^[13]
  • Eris
  • Helenes Apaitesis (or Helen’s Demand).
  • Helenes Gamos (or Helen’s Marriage).
  • Herakles Epi Tainaro (or Heracles At Taenarum).
  • Ichneutae, only a fragmentary 400 lines survive making it the second best surviving Satyr play behind Euripides's Cyclops.
  • Inachos, only small fragments survive.
  • Ion
  • Iphigenia
  • Ixion
  • Minos
  • Niobe
  • Odysseus Acanthoplex, only fragments survive.
  • Odysseus Mainomenos (or Odysseus Gone Mad)
  • Pandora
  • Peleus
  • Phaedra
  • Philoctetes In Troy
  • Phoenix
  • Priam
  • Sisyphus
  • Tantalus
  • Tereus, only fragmentary knowledge survives.
  • Theseus
  • Triptolemos, only small fragments survive.
• Protagoras (c. 490 BC – c. 420 BC)
  • "On the Gods" (essay)
  • On the Art of Disputation
  • On the Original State of Things
  • On Truth
• Gorgias (483–375 BC)
  • On Non-Existence (or On Nature). Only two sketches of it exist.
  • Epitaphios. What exists is thought to be only a small fragment of a significantly longer piece.
• Pherecydes of Leros (c. 480 BC)
  • A history of Leros
  • On Iphigeneia, an essay
  • On the Festivals of Dionysus
• Euripides (c. 480 – c. 406 BC)
  • Alcmaeon in Corinth (405 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Alcmaeon in Psophis (438 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Alexandros (415 BC)
  • Andromeda (412 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Antiope (410 BC)
  • Archelaus (410 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Bellerophon (430 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Captive Melanippe (412 BC)
  • Cresphontes (425 BC)
  • Cretan Women (438 BC)
  • Cretans (435 BC)
  • Dictys (431 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Erectheus (422 BC)
  • Hypsipyle (410 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Palamedes (415 BC)
  • Peliades (455 BC)
  • Phaethon (420 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Philoctetes (431 BC), only fragments survive.
  • Sisyphus (415 BC)
  • Sthenboea (429 BC)
  • Telephus (438 BC)
  • Theristai (or Reapers) (431 BC)
  • Wise Melanippe (420 BC)
• Socrates (c. 470–399 BC)
  • Verse versions of Aesop's Fables.^[14]
• Pherecydes of Athens (c. 465 BC)
  • Genealogies of the gods and heroes, originally in ten books; numerous fragments have been preserved.
• Prodicus (c. 465 BC – c. 395 BC)
  • On Nature
  • On the Nature of Man
  • "On Propriety of Language"
  • On the Choice of Heracles
• Agathon (c. 448 – c. 400 BC)
  • Aerope
  • Alcmaeon
  • Anthos (or The Flower)^[15]
  • Mysoi (or Mysians)
  • Telephos (or Telephus)
  • Thyestes
• Aristophanes (c. 446 BC – c. 386 BC)^[16]
  • Banqueters (427 BC)
  • Babylonians (426 BC)
  • The Clouds (first version 423 BC)
  • Amphiaraus (414 BC)
  • Plutus (first version 408 BC)
  • Cocalus (387 BC)
  • Aiolosicon (387 BC)
• Speusippus (c. 408 – 339/8 BC)
  • On Pythagorean Numbers
• Aristotle (384–322 BC)
  • second book of Poetics, dealing with comedy
  • On the Pythagoreans^[17]
  • Protrepticus (fragments survived)
• Eudemus (c. 370 BCE – c. 300 BCE)
  • History of Arithmetics, on the early history of Greek arithmetics (only one short quote survives)
  • History of Astronomy, on the early history of Greek astronomy (several quotes survive)
  • History of Geometry, on the early history of Greek geometry (several quotes survive)
• Ptolemy I Soter (c. 364 – 282 BC)
  • History of Alexander^[18]
• Callisthenes (c. 360 – 327 BCE)
  • An account of Alexander's expedition
  • A history of Greece from the Peace of Antalcidas (387) to the Third Sacred War (357)
  • A history of the Phocian war
• Cleitarchus (mid to late 4th century BCE)
  • History of Alexander
• Pytheas of Massalia (c. 350 BC, fl. c. 320–306 BC)
  • τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ὠκεανοῦ (ta peri tou Okeanou) "On the Ocean"
• Aristarchus of Samos (c. 310 – c. 230 BCE)
  • Astronomy book outlining his heliocentrism (astronomical model in which the Earth and planets revolve around a relatively stationary Sun)^[19]
• Manetho (early third century BC)
  • Ægyptiaca (History of Egypt) in three books. Only few fragments survive.
• Berossus (beginning of the 3rd century BC)
  • Babyloniaca (History of Babylonia)
• Euclid (fl. 300 BC)
  • Conics, a work on conic sections later extended by Apollonius of Perga into his famous work on the subject.
  • Porisms, the exact meaning of the title is controversial (probably "corollaries").
  • Pseudaria, or Book of Fallacies, an elementary text about errors in reasoning.
  • Surface Loci concerned either loci (sets of points) on surfaces or loci which were themselves surfaces.
• Archimedes (c. 287 – c. 212 BC)
  • On Sphere-Making
  • On Polyhedra
• Ctesibius (285–222 BC)
  • On pneumatics, a work describing force pumps
  • Memorabilia, a compilation of his research works
• Eratosthenes (c. 276 BC – c. 195/194 BC)
  • Περὶ τῆς ἀναμετρήσεως τῆς γῆς (On the Measurement of the Earth; lost, summarized by Cleomedes)
  • Geographica (lost, criticized by Strabo)
  • Arsinoe (a memoir of queen Arsinoe; lost; quoted by Athenaeus in the Deipnosophistae)
• Cato the Elder (234–149 BC)
  • Origines, a 7-book history of Rome and the Italian states.
  • Carmen de moribus, a book of prayers or incantations for the dead in verse.
  • Praecepta ad Filium, a collection of maxims.
  • A collection of his speeches.
• Nicagoras, Athenian sophist (2nd century BC)
  • Lives of Famous People
  • On Cleopatra in Troas
  • Embassy Speech to Philip the Roman Emperor
• Minucianus, son of Nicagoras the Athenian sophist (2nd century BC)
  • Art of Rhetoric
  • Progymnasmata
• Nicander (2nd century BC)
  • Aetolica, a prose history of Aetolia.
  • Heteroeumena, a mythological epic.
  • Georgica and Melissourgica, of which considerable fragments are preserved.
• Agatharchides (2nd century BC)
  • Ta kata ten Asian (Affairs in Asia) in 10 books
  • Ta kata ten Europen (Affairs in Europe) in 49 books
  • Peri ten Erythras thalasses (On the Erythraean Sea) in 5 books
• Apollodorus of Athens (c. 180 BC – after 120 BC)
  • Chronicle (Χρονικά), a Greek history in verse
  • On the Gods (Περὶ θεῶν), known through quotes to have included etymologies of the names and epithets of the gods
  • A twelve-book essay about Homer's Catalogue of Ships
• Sulla (138–78 BC)
  • Memoirs, referenced by Plutarch
• Varro (116–27 BC)
  • Saturarum Menippearum libri CL or Menippean Satires in 150 books
  • Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum libri XLI
  • Logistoricon libri LXXVI
  • Hebdomades vel de imaginibus
  • Disciplinarum libri IX
• Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
  • Hortensius a dialogue also known as "On Philosophy".
  • Consolatio, written to soothe his own sadness at the death of his daughter Tullia
• Quintus Tullius Cicero (102 – 43 BC)
  • Four tragedies in the Greek style: Troas, Erigones, Electra, and one other.
• Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC)
  • Bibliotheca historia (Historical Library). Of 40 books, only books 1–5 and 10–20 are extant.
• Alexander Polyhistor (first half of 1st century BC)
  • Successions of Philosophers
• Gaius Julius Caesar (100 BC – 44 BC)
  • Anticatonis Libri II (only fragments survived)
  • Carmina et prolusiones (only fragments survived)
  • De analogia libri II ad M. Tullium Ciceronem
  • De astris liber
  • Dicta collectanea ("collected sayings", also known by the Greek title άποφθέγματα)
  • Letters (only fragments survived)
    • Epistulae ad Ciceronem ('Letters to Cicero')
    • Epistulae ad familiares ('Letters to Relatives')
  • Iter ('journey')) (only one fragment survived)
  • Laudes Herculis
  • Libri auspiciorum ("books of auspices", also known as Auguralia)
  • Oedipus
  • other works:
    • contributions to the libri pontificales as pontifex maximus
    • possibly some early love poems
• Gaius Asinius Pollio (75 BC – AD 4)
  • Historiae (Histories)
  • Epitome by Gaius Asinius Pollio of Tralles
• Gaius Maecenas (c. 70 – 8 BC)
  • Prometheus; descriptive fragments from some other authors survive. Construct of book is surmised by researchers.
• Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus (64 BC – AD 8 or c. 12)
  • Memoirs of the civil wars after the death of Caesar, used by Suetonius and Plutarch
  • Bucolic poems in Greek
• Strabo ( 64 or 63 BC – c. 24 AD)
  • History
• Augustus (63 BC – AD 14)
  • Rescript to Brutus Respecting Cato
  • Exhortations to Philosophy
  • History of His Own Life
  • Sicily (a work in verse)
  • Epigrams
• Livy (59 BC – AD 17)
  • 107 of the 142 books of Ab Urbe Condita, a history of Rome are lost
• Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BC – AD 20)
  • De Orthographia: De Obscuris Catonis, an elucidation of obscurities in the writings of Cato the Elder
  • Saturnus, dealing with questions of Roman ritual
  • Rerum memoria dignarum libri, an encyclopaedic work much used by Pliny the Elder
  • Res Etruscae, probably on augury
• Helvius Cinna (died 20 March 44 BC)
  • Zmyrna, a mythological epic poem about the incestuous love of Smyrna (or Myrrha) for her father Cinyras
• Ovid 43 BC – 17/18 AD)
  • Medea, of which only two fragments survive.
• Tiberius (42 BC – AD 37)
  • Autobiography ("brief and sketchy", per Suetonius)
• Claudius (10 BC – AD 54)
  • De arte aleae (The art of playing dice, a book on dice games)
  • an Etruscan dictionary
  • Tyrrhenika, twenty volumes on Etruscan history
  • a history of Augustus' reign
  • Carchedonica, eight volumes on Carthaginian history
  • a defense of Cicero against the charges of Asinius Gallus
• Seneca the Younger (c. 4 BC – AD 65)
  • Book on signs, 5000 were compiled
  • Against Superstitions, Augustine preserved some passages.
  • Book on medicine. Either a planned or lost literary work
• Memnon of Heraclea (c. 1st century AD)
  • History of Heraclea Pontica
• Pamphilus of Alexandria (1st century AD)
  • Comprehensive lexicon in 95 books of foreign or obscure words.
• Agrippina the Younger (AD 15 – AD 59)
  • Casus suorum (Misfortunes of her Family, a memoir)
• Pliny the Elder (AD 23/24 – 79)
  • History of the German Wars, some quotations survive in Tacitus's Annals and Germania
  Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Lost_book
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