Ancient Greek LiteratureISBN: 978-0-7456-2792-2
Paperback
296 pages
August 2004, Polity
This is a Print-on-Demand title. It will be printed specifically to fill your order. Please allow an additional 10-15 days delivery time. The book is not returnable.
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Whitmarsh offers new readings of some of the best-known and most
influential authors of Greek antiquity, including Sophocles,
Euripides, Herodotus, Aristophanes and Plato, as well as
introducing many lesser-known figures. Unlike conventional
narrative histories, this volume focuses on the profound
effects of literature within Greek society. Whitmarsh shows
that literature, distributed via a range of social institutions,
such as festivals, theatres, symposia and book production, played
an important role in the legitimization – and challenging
– of ideologies of gender, class and cultural identity. The
volume also addresses the legacy of Greek literature: how the
Victorian cult of Hellenism and its successors have structured the
reception of ancient texts, and how and why the modern West has
adopted the Greeks as its ancestors.
This book will be important reading for undergraduates, in their first year and above, of ancient Greek literature and culture. All texts in the volume are translated, and no knowledge of ancient Greek literature is assumed.