One may wonder that the question I’m trying to answer is rather an easy one. Their justification is that no one has written better than Shakespeare. I also agree that no one has ever been able to write so beautifully, so poetically, in such a simple language and in such a smart way as Shakespeare has written. However I thought it will be fair to bring up what are the competitors, and what other writings there are that is able to challenge Shakespeare’s. Here I will look into those writings from oldest to latest.
We have written records going back to 3000 years. The oldest texts are the ones found in the pyramid. These writings dates back to 3000 years, but in that there is nothing interesting to us. After that something that is worth looking at is the Babylonian poem Gilgamesh, which was also written on clay tablets and walls. It was written around 2900 years ago. It’s poetry is good and short.
Here’s an example:
Humbaba’s mouth is fire; His roar the floodwater
his breath is death.
Also another example
How long does a building stand before it falls?
How long does a contract last? How long will brothers
share the inheritance before they quarrel?
How long does hatred last?
Time after time the river has risen and flooded.
The insect leaves the nest to live but for a minute.
How long is the eye able to look at the sun?
From the very beginning nothing at all has lasted.
After that the oldest notable text is iliad and Odyssey by homer written 2870 years ago. In my opinion this poem is far better than any of the single Shakespeare’s play. Iliad an action war song, and Odyssey is a song about a king’s journey back to home.
Example from Iliad:
Everything looks more beautiful Because we are doomed
You will not be more beautiful than you are now
and we will not be here again.
And opening lines of Odyssey:
Sing to me about the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns
driven time and again off course, after he had plundered
the hallowed heights of Troy.
Many cities of men he saw and learned their minds,
many pains he suffered, heartsick on the open sea,
fighting to save his life and bring his comrades home.
After that comes the writing by famous roman poet Virgil. His Aeneid. It was written on 29BC, 2046 years ago counting from today. This is same story of Homer’s Iliad, Odyssey and Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.
Again if we compare any of Shakespeare’s individual writing with Aeneid, I would say Aeneid is far superior in terms of poetry, action and language.
Here is a few line from Aeneid:
But the queen–too long she has suffered the pain of love,
hour by hour nursing the wound with her lifeblood,
consumed by the fire buried in her heart.
His looks, his words, they pierce her heart and cling
no peace, no rest for her body, love will give her none.
After Aeneid nothing came closer to any of those. After a long long time 1900 years later just one writing came up, it was Moby dick by Harman Melville published in 1851, one can say this is the best writing that has written from Shakespeare’s time to this day. After Shakespeare’s death not many poets came even miles closer to him, none was able to write something comparable to his beauty and poetry. However if there is anyone who came closer, it would be Melville with his Moby Dick.
That’s all the writings which is worth looking into. If we look at individual poetry the ranking would looks like this:
1- Iliad by Homer
2- Aeneid by Virgil
3- Hemlet by Shakespeare
4- King Lear by Shakespeare
5- Henry by Shakespeare
But if we look into the person, the list looks like this:
… and so on…
Again, It looks like I’m trying to answer the easiest question in the world. without a doubt the best poet and the writer is Shakespeare.