These are the main works discussed in each chapter of Erich Auerbach's book Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature. Originally published in German, Mimesis explores how every day life and realism is represented in western literature from the ancient Greeks to Modernist writers in the 20th century. The chapters can be read independently, with or without having read the works featured in them.
From Wikipedia: Erich Auerbach (November 9, 1892 – October 13, 1957) was a German philologist and comparative scholar and critic of literature. Along with Leo Spitzer, Auerbach is widely recognized as one of the foundational figures of comparative literature. With the rise of National Socialism Auerbach was forced to vacate his position in 1935. Exiled from Nazi Germany, he took up residence in Istanbul, Turkey, where he wrote Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in Western Literature (1946), generally considered his masterwork.
