Author Description
This book consists of seventeen essays by a team of international scholars exploring aspects of the reception of literature from the earliest surviving Greek poetry to the demise of classical literature at the end of the Roman empire. Deploying fresh insights to map out lively and provocative surveys, the contributors examine all genres of the classical world--epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, history, philosophy, rhetoric, epigram, elegy, pastoral, satire, biography, epistle, declamation, panegyric--in search of answers to the questions of who were the genres for and what did these people make of them.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This collection of essays investigates the reception and social function of classical literature from early Greek poetry through the decline of the Roman Empire. Edited by Oliver Taplin, the volume compiles contributions from an international team of scholars who apply contemporary analytical frameworks to understand how ancient audiences engaged with diverse literary forms. The primary argument posits that literature in the classical world was not a static artifact but a dynamic medium shaped by the specific expectations and interpretations of its contemporary readers and listeners.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Comprehensive analysis of genres including epic, tragedy, comedy, philosophy, and rhetoric
- Examination of the historical transition from Greek oral traditions to Roman written texts
- Methodological approaches to audience reception and literary consumption
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the reception of literature rather than providing a linguistic or philological analysis of the original manuscripts
- It does not cover post-classical or medieval interpretations of these works
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars frequently cite this collection as a useful resource for understanding the social context of ancient literary production. The essays are noted for their accessibility to students of classics while maintaining the academic rigor expected in university-level research.
Page Count:
624
Publication Date:
2000-09-07
ISBN-10:
0192100203
ISBN-13:
9780192100207
Classical
Ancient History
Literary Criticism
Academic