Augustine's "Confessions" and the beginning of self-consciousness.

As Cahill points out, Augustine of Hippo represents the first instance where self-conscience takes shape in Western literature:

If we page quickly through world literature from its beginnings to the advent of Augustine, we realize that with Augustine human consciousness takes a quantum leap forward —and becomes self-consciousness. Here for the first time is a man consistently observing himself not as Man but as this singular man —Augustine. From this point on, true autobiography becomes possible, and so does its near relative, subjective and autobiographical fiction.

(Cahill: p. 41)

Sure, before Augustine there were other instances of people writing about their experiences. However, the key was always the experiences themselves, the outside, the events. With Augustine, for the first time, it's the individual's concept of self, his own internal struggles and doubts, that is reflected on the page. Now, this would be a trivial issue if it weren't because the idea of individual is key to our civilization. Most people would agree that Western civilization is sustained on four legs: classical Antiquity (i.e., the Greek and Roman cultures), the Judeo-Christian tradition, the Age of Enlightenment and, finally, although directly linked to the previous one, modern Science. Well, in Augustine we find the first clear indication of the idea of individual, developed by the confluence between the classical civilization and both Judaism and Christianity. Neither the contemporary notion of human rights nor the idea of modern democracy would be possible without this accomplishment.