History of Ancent Greek Literature - Murray, Gilbert

Classical Review, 2016

The academic world is currently host to the proliferation of variously labelled compendia of topically or thematically defined Darstellungen, the genre to which this book belongs. Among the medium’s inherent merits is that it allows editors more discretionary latitude than, say, a textbook or a reference work does. It is also, though, prone to the negative consequences of cronyism, a problem for which there is no obvious practical solution. In any case, as the phenomenon inexorably swells our library collections, the profit lines of publishers and the CVs of contributors, these compendia have become a major presence in the apparatus of teaching and scholarship. It is, therefore, gratifying to encounter a specimen of the genre that promises as successfully as this one to inform and whet the interest of a variety of readers. It has been an engaging and stimulating exercise to read this collection with its multiple perspectives on the panorama of Greek literature from Homer to the threshold of the Byzantine era and its extended effects on the cultural history of the centuries since. All of that is supplemented by entries on what might collectively be termed ‘para-literary’ matters: inter alia L. Del Corso on ‘Mechanics and Means of Production in Antiquity’ (pp. 9–26), R. Armstrong on ‘Textual Survival and Transmission’ (pp. 27–40), E. Wilson on ‘Trends in Greek Literature in the Contemporary Academy’ (pp. 491–510) (i.e. curriculum, pedagogy, critical approaches etc. in English-speaking, but mainly American, schools and universities.) The editors follow a creative plan, reflective in a way of Greek literature itself, that integrates traditional and predictable elements (a total of fifteen chapters dedicated to individual chronological periods and major literary genres) with innovative or unusual approaches and themes, some of which few readers are likely to anticipate. The content is deployed in an editors’ introduction and in 33 chapters distributed thematically (more or less) among eight Parts. Each of 30 contributors presents a single chapter and editor H. adds a medley of three (‘Philosophical Writing’, pp. 235–55, ‘Places [i.e. cities] of Production’, pp. 325– 43, and ‘Literature and Truth’, pp. 373–85) distributed among three different Parts. The contributors, some of them well-known and veteran scholars, are drawn from two or three generations and from the international community of classicists. All this lends a lively poikilia of mode and method to the collection. No particular target readership is specified, and if the reference in the first sentence of the introduction to ‘an introductory companion volume’ should suggest that the content is directed more towards neophytes than towards periti, any such notion is soon dispelled. For one thing, notwithstanding the copious prefatory key to abbreviations, the novice will surely balk at many conventions of scholarly writing including such intra-textual references as ‘P. Cair. Masp. II 67097 and 67185’ or ‘Σ Aristoph. Equ. 400a = Cratinus, Pytine test. ii, PCG Vol. IV’. From the opposite perspective, it would be a rare journeyman Hellenist, however thoroughly versed in Greek literature and its criticism, for whom there are not at least some ‘introductory’ moments in a volume that distils an accumulation of earlier scholarship too vast and varied to have been mastered by any individual. Indicative of that are the bountiful bibliographies that accompany individual chapters. THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 1

Anuari de Filologia. Antiqua et mediaeualia (Revistes Científiques de la Universitat de Barcelona, RCUB), 2021

This paper delves into the question of the potential addressees of ancient Greek novels. After shedding some light on the matter (based on ancient sources which account for the sociocultural underpinnings of the new genre), a classification is established in an attempt to provide a deeper understanding of alleged homogeneity in readership. The entire bibliography demonstrates a discontinuation in the conception prevalent decades ago, which, based on subjective and anachronistic interpretations, would find reinforcement in the silence of ancient sources. To make matters more intricate, the surviving information regarding how the novel was viewed in ancient times appears not to point to a prestigious status thereof. All things considered, should these presumptions alone lead us to consider the novel as a low-quality genre in terms of literary and stylistic standards? Ancient Greek novel might well be one of those cases in which literary or cultural creations have called for reassessment and revaluation several centuries following their conception.

Journal of historical studies, 2016

Until fairly recently the Greek novel was of little to no interest to historians of antiquity. Within the previous few decades however academic opinion on the genre has steadily grown more favourable to the point where study of the Greek novel has experienced something of a revival, consequentially resulting in the rehabilitation of the genre into the internationally recognized wider corpus of canonical ancient literature. As a result of this invigorated engagement scholars have, quite naturally, deliberated over sociological aspects of the Greek novel within the historical context of its conception. Of paramount importance within this discussion has been the question of the novel’s intended and unintended ancient readership, as it is known that most, if not all, of the Greek novels were circulated widely throughout the Roman Empire, especially within the Greek-speaking Eastern Mediterranean, from the mid 1st century CE to the late 4th century.

Special publication, 1984

The present volume is the first of a series that will list and describe the Latin translations of ancient Greek authors and the Latin commentaries on ancient Latin (and Greek) authors up to the year 1600. The work is planned as a contribution to the history of classical scholarship. It is intended to illustrate the impact which the literary heritage of ancient Greece and Rome had upon the literature, learning, and thought of those long centuries of Western history usually known as the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. During that whole period, the acquaintance with, and the gradual appropriation of, this ancient literary heritage played a much more central and more productive role than has been true in more recent times, although the approach to this ancient material may have been imperfect, uncritical, and often wrong by present scholarly standards. Hence it is important to ascertain how much the Middle Ages, how much the Renaissance, how much each century or generation within those larger periods actually knew of the ancient Greek and Latin literatures. The widespread debate about the relative extent and merits of classical learning during those centuries can be settled only by a dispassionate, careful, and critical stocktaking of the relevant textual, documentary, or bibliographical evidence. We cannot merely examine such a vague and indistinct unit as 'classical literature,' but we must trace in detail the history and transmission of each ancient author, and of each of his writings. We must take ancient literature in the broadest possible sense, and include not merely the 'classical' authors of the earlier periods, but also their successors down to 600 A.D., and not only the poets and writers of literary prose, but also all authors, some of them obscure or anonymous, who wrote on philosophy or theology, on grammar or rhetoric, or on the various arts, sciences, or pseudo-sciences. All these subjects were to occupy an important place in the intellectual history of the later centuries, and they derived much of their subject matter, vocabulary, and method from the available ancient sources. Even within the area of poetry and belles-lettres, we must keep in mind that several authors now prominent were almost forgotten, and others now neglected occupied the center of attention. This fact will not disturb us, for we do not merely wish to find in the past the antecedents for our own interests, but also to know and understand the past in its own interests where they were different from ours. Perhaps the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, in emphasizing certain aspects of ancient literature that have disappeared from the modern view, may even have grasped some authentic traits of antiquity. In other words, this work addresses itself to students of classical antiquity as well as of the Middle Ages and of the Renaissance, to historians of literature as well as

An analysis of divergent theories on, and evidence for, the genre's intended and unintended ancient readership

The Text and its Margins: Post-Structuralist Approaches to Twentieth- Century Greek Literature , 1985

“Preface” (with Margaret Alexiou) and “Toward a Genealogy of Modern Greek Literature,” in The Text and its Margins: Post-Structuralist Approaches to Twentieth- Century Greek Literature (op. cit.), 7-13, 15-36

The Riverside Press Cambridge + The New Alexandria Library of Texas , 1899

Another rare book of its kind is a comprehensive anthology that presents some of the most influential works from ancient Greek literature. This collection includes excerpts from epic poetry, lyric poetry, tragedy, comedy, historiography, philosophy, and oratory, offering a representative selection of Greek literary achievements. The volume is structured with introductory notes that provide historical and literary context, followed by translated passages from significant authors, including Homer, Sappho, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Plato, and others. The anthology highlights the evolution of Greek literary forms, from the oral traditions of The Iliad and The Odyssey to the philosophical dialogues of Plato and the historical narratives of Herodotus and Thucydides. It also showcases the poetic artistry of lyricists such as Sappho and Pindar, the dramatic innovations of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, and the satirical brilliance of Aristophanes. Additionally, the collection provides insight into Greek rhetorical and philosophical traditions through the works of Demosthenes and Plato. By incorporating translations from prominent scholars and poets, Masterpieces of Greek Literature not only preserves the essence of the original texts but also makes them accessible to an English-speaking audience. The inclusion of biographical sketches and scholarly notes enhances the reader’s understanding of the historical, cultural, and intellectual milieu in which these works were produced. As a result, this anthology serves as an essential resource for students and scholars of classical antiquity, providing a gateway to the rich literary heritage of ancient Greece. Tags Greek literature, Homer, Iliad, Odyssey, Hector, Andromache, Achilles, Troy, Polyphemus, Cyclops, Tyrtaeus, martial elegy, Spartan poetry, Archilochus, lyric poetry, Callisteatus, scolion, ancient Greek drinking songs, Hybrias the Cretan, Alcaeus, winter poetry, Sappho, Hymn to Aphrodite, love poetry, Lesbian poet, Anacreon, Anacreontics, Old Age, The Pet Dove, drinking songs, Simonides of Ceos, Thermopylae, Pindar, Pythian odes, Olympic games, Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, Greek tragedy, Sophocles, Antigone, Euripides, Heracles, Alcestis, Aristophanes, The Birds, The Frogs, Greek comedy, satire, Herodotus, father of history, Persian Wars, The Nile, Egyptian customs, Sesostris, pyramids, Battle of Marathon, Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, Pericles' Funeral Oration, plague of Athens, Siege of Plataea, Retreat from Syracuse, Xenophon, Socratic dialogues, Anabasis, Battle of Cunaxa, The Ten Thousand, Plato, The Republic, Allegory of the Cave, Ship of State, Socrates, death of Socrates, Gorgias, rhetoric, philosophy, democracy, Demosthenes, Oration on the Crown, Athenian politics, Theocritus, pastoral poetry, Daphnis, Adonis festival, Lucian, Timon of Athens, satire, ancient Greek drama, poetic meters, elegy, dithyrambs, iambic poetry, epic poetry, choral odes, Athenian democracy, Greek oratory, rhetorical speeches, Persian invasion, naval battles, triremes, hoplites, classical Athens, Hellenistic poetry, Delphic Oracle, orphism, Dionysian festivals, mystery cults, symposium, Greek philosophers, Cynicism, Stoicism, sophists, ancient libraries, Alexandria, papyrus manuscripts, manuscript preservation, Homeric hymns, Mycenaean Greece, Trojan War, Hesiod, Theogony, Works and Days, archaic Greek poetry, lyricism, poetic fragments, symposium culture, Spartan military tradition, battle songs, moral philosophy, virtue ethics, Plato’s dialogues, Aristophanes' satire, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, New Comedy, Peloponnesian strategy, naval warfare, historical methodology, historiography, cultural exchange, Egyptian-Greek relations, Persian customs, Herodotus’ ethnography, myth and history, fate and free will, tragic fate, Sophoclean irony, dramatic structure, catharsis, chorus in Greek drama, dramatic irony, pathos, logos, ethos, persuasive rhetoric, forensic oratory, sophistry, dialectics, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, allegory, utopia, Platonic ideals, political philosophy, city-state governance, ethical dilemmas, heroic ideal, divine intervention, Olympian gods, mythology, Homeric similes, poetic imagery, epic similes, rhetorical strategies, persuasive speech, courtroom rhetoric, demagoguery, citizen participation, polis structure, city-state rivalries, Persian rulers, Cyrus the Great, Darius, Xerxes, Greek alliances, Delian League, Peloponnesian League, Spartan hegemony, Athenian imperialism, democracy vs. oligarchy, hoplite warfare, phalanx formation, military treatises, education in Athens, gymnasium culture, rhetorical schools, Socratic method, moral absolutism, relativism, virtue, honor, shame culture, poetic innovation, allusions in poetry, performance traditions, oral tradition, preservation of texts, scholia, classical reception, transmission of texts, Byzantine scribes, Renaissance humanism, philology, textual criticism, comparative literature, cross-cultural influences, Alexander the Great, Hellenistic expansion, Pergamon library, Ptolemaic dynasty, theatrical performance, chorus dynamics, mask usage in theater, scenic design, dramatic competitions, Dionysia festival, tragic trilogy, satyr plays, comic relief, laughter in literature, parody, intertextuality, literary criticism, mimesis, Greek aesthetics, beauty and proportion, music in Greek poetry, meter and rhythm, elegiac couplet, hexameter, iambic trimeter, epinician odes, poetry of praise, lamentation, heroic mourning, lament for Hector, funeral rites, burial customs, Greek funerary art, commemoration, eulogy, panegyric, historical speeches, oral historiography, battle narratives, psychological drama, madness in Greek tragedy, fate vs. choice, divine justice, moral lessons, philosophical dialogues, truth-seeking, sophists’ rhetoric, political critique, democratic institutions, Athenian citizenship, Spartan discipline, military training, courage, cowardice, poetic satire, literary allusions, pastoral idylls, bucolic poetry, Greek landscape, nature in poetry, Arcadian themes, rustic life, shepherds, love lament, seduction poetry, Thyrsis, sea imagery, voyage themes, Greek ships, merchant trade, economy of Greece, coinage, tribute system, taxation, law and order, courtroom drama, legal disputes, inheritance laws, civic duty, public speaking, virtue and vice, Greek mythological references, hero cults, divine retribution, omens, dreams, seers, oracular pronouncements, pilgrimage sites, sacred rituals, festival traditions, poetic competitions, literary genres, narrative techniques, speechcraft, irony in literature, wit, sarcasm, philosophical skepticism, comedy of manners, political allegory, utopian visions, dystopian elements, tragic heroes, hubris, downfall, resilience, suffering, poetic justice, karma, cosmic order, Platonic forms, demiurge, Atlantis myth, love and desire, courtly love, romantic ideals, mythic transformations, shape-shifting gods, divine punishment, hospitality customs, xenia, gifts of the gods, sacred oaths, binding pacts, treachery, exile, revenge plots, feuding families, reconciliation, friendship, brotherhood, education and virtue, mentor-student relationships, Socratic questioning, logical paradoxes, debate traditions, festival oratory, sacred poetry, hymnody, choral lyric, folk songs, seasonal poetry, agricultural themes, harvest traditions, symbolic imagery, animal metaphors, metamorphosis, narrative framing, cosmic myths, creation myths, Prometheus, Pandora, Hesiodic cosmogony, primordial gods, underworld journeys, afterlife beliefs, soul’s immortality, eschatology, ritual purification, Greek religious philosophy, mysticism, philosophical sects, proto-science, early cosmology, astronomical observations, celestial myths, constellations, orphic hymns, pre-Socratic thought, atomism, materialism, dualism, ontological debates, perception and reality, skepticism, intellectual history, philosophical evolution, language and rhetoric, Greek grammar, poetic devices, stylistic analysis, textual interpretation, manuscript studies, translation theory, historical context, cultural memory, literary heritage, rediscovery of classics, enlightenment philosophy, comparative mythology, interdisciplinary studies, Greek legacy, classical influence, modern adaptations, and timeless wisdom , Ancient Greece, classical literature, epic poetry, Greek mythology, oral tradition, hexameter, Homeric similes, dactylic hexameter, heroic code, Greek warfare, hoplites, Spartan poetry, elegiac couplets, Greek invective poetry, sympotic culture, choral odes, dithyramb, Aeolic dialect, lyric meter, melic poetry, monody, odes, Greek choral tradition, satyr plays, dramatic irony, fate and destiny, hubris, catharsis, Greek chorus, deus ex machina, tragic flaw, rhetorical speeches, comedy and satire, Old Comedy, political allegory, Athenian politics, Peloponnesian conflicts, democracy and tyranny, historical narrative, historiography, eyewitness accounts, ethnography, Greek mercenaries, military strategy, Anabasis, philosophical dialogues, Socratic method, dialectic reasoning, moral philosophy, Platonic ideals, allegorical storytelling, metaphysics, rhetoric and persuasion, civic duty, justice and law, philosophical ethics, political theory, intellectual history, sophists, rhetorical debate, forensic oratory, public speaking, ancient rhetoric, philosophical allegories, utopian societies, justice in philosophy, philosophical skepticism, Greek realism, bucolic poetry, pastoral themes, idylls, Hellenistic literature, literary dialogues, satire and parody, Greek prose, cultural criticism, Athenian society, artistic legacy, ancient aesthetics, poetic inspiration, muses and divination, invocation to the muse, literary patronage, poetic competitions, festival performances, theatrical masks, dramatic festivals, Dionysian rituals, theatrical innovation, city-state cultu...

Ancient narrative, 2015

Readers and Writers in the Ancient Novel is a collection of articles that, as the title suggests, focuses on the ancient novel's written form as a key to understanding it as a literary genre. The editors call attention to the centrality the ancient novel grants to both historical and fictional images of "readers" and "writers." The title of the present collection of essays suggests a dramatic move away from an earlier notion of the novel's popular readership. The methodological shift that took place in the mid-1980s has radically changed studies of the ancient novel. Scholars have gradually abandoned the focus on folkloric and popular concerns and invested much more interest in the sophistic context, and have turned, as a result, more to questions of readership and reception. In 1994 two seminal articles on the ancient novel's readership appeared in James Tatum's The Search for the Ancient Novel, in which the exploration of the genre was still described as a contribution to "the newest chapter in ancient literature." Both Susan A. Stephens' "Who Read Ancient Novels?" and Ewen Bowie's "The readership of Greek Novels in the Ancient World" responded critically to modern discussions of the ancient novels, challenging the idea that the ancient novel was a low and popular type of literature intended for a broad and uncultivated audience. More specifically, both Stephens and Bowie argued against the association of the ancient novel with inexperienced readers, and with women in particular (as Brigitte Egger, for example, has argued in her influential work), or more generally with "people who had not yet moved definitely from orality to literacy" (as Tomas Hägg, among others, affirms in "Orality, Literacy, and the 'Readership' of the Early Greek Novel"). 1 As for the hypotheses that literary incompetence required reading aloud, mime performances that transmit the novel's main plot lines, or possibly even the use of illustrated texts, the general consensus today is that the novel's highly textual