The Epic Journey In Greek And Roman Literature

Download or read book The Epic Journey in Greek and Roman Literature written by Thomas Biggs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Homer to the moon, this volume explores the epic journey across space and time in the ancient world.

Download or read book The Epic Journey in Greek and Roman Literature written by Thomas Biggs and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-05-23 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores journeys across time and space in Greek and Latin literature, taking as its starting point the paradigm of travel offered by the epic genre. The epic journey is central to the dynamics of classical literature, offering a powerful lens through which characters, authors, and readers experience their real and imaginary worlds. The journey informs questions of identity formation, narrative development, historical emplotment, and constructions of heroism - topics that move through and beyond the story itself. The act of moving to and from 'home' - both a fixed point of spatial orientation and a transportable set of cultural values - thus represents a physical journey and an intellectual process. In exploring its many manifestations, the chapters in this collection reconceive the centrality of the epic journey across a wide variety of genres and historical contexts, from Homer to the moon.

Download or read book Classical Literature written by Richard Jenkyns and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2016-03-01 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The writings of the Greeks and Romans form the bedrock of Western culture. Inventing the molds for histories, tragedies, and philosophies, while pioneering radical new forms of epic and poetry, the Greeks and Romans created the literary world we still inhabit today. Writing with verve and insight, distinguished classicist Richard Jenkyns explores a thousand years of classical civilization, carrying readers from the depths of the Greek dark ages through the glittering heights of Rome's empire. Jenkyns begins with Homer and the birth of epic poetry before exploring the hypnotic poetry of Pindar, Sappho, and others from the Greek dark ages. Later, in Athens's classical age, Jenkyns shows the radical nature of Sophocles's choice to portray Ajax as a psychologically wounded warrior, how Aeschylus developed tragedy, and how Herodotus, in "inventing history," brought to narrative an epic and tragic quality. We meet the strikingly modern figure of Virgil, struggling to mirror epic art in an age of empire, and experience the love poems of Catullus, who imbued verse with obsessive passion as never before. Even St. Paul and other early Christian writers are artfully grounded here in their classical literary context. A dynamic and comprehensive introduction to Greek and Roman literature, Jenkyns's Classical Literature is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the classics -- and the extraordinary origins of Western culture. "There is scarcely anything on which he does not offer an original aperç sometimes illuminating, sometimes simply provocative, but always worth reading... Jenkyns's view of ancient literature is Olympian." -- G.W. Bowersock, The New York Review of Books

Download or read book Journeys to the Underworld and Heavenly Realm in Ancient and Medieval Literature written by John C. Stephens and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2019-02-14 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concepts of heaven and hell are among the oldest, most widespread religious beliefs in history. In Western literature, they are frequently embedded in stories of underworld explorations and celestial journeys--stories examining the nature of the universe, life on earth and the existence of the gods. The author analyzes tales of wonder in both ancient and medieval European literature. Other-worldly narratives appeared in literary contexts in the ancient world, including mythology, poetry and philosophical writings. In medieval times, they remained a popular form of literary expression. These stories are primarily religious in nature, describing fantastic worlds filled with miracles and supernatural beings.

Download or read book Classical Literature written by William Allan and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-03 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William Allan's Very Short Introduction provides a concise and lively guide to the major authors, genres, and periods of classical literature. Drawing upon a wealth of material, he reveals just what makes the 'classics' such masterpieces and why they continue to influence and fascinate today.

Download or read book Music and Memory in the Ancient Greek and Roman Worlds written by Lauren Curtis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-28 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Combines multiple theoretical perspectives and diverse media to examine the relation between music and memory in ancient Greece and Rome.

Download or read book Oppian's Halieutica written by Emily Kneebone and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals the sophistication of a once-popular Greek didactic epic on the sea and its fish, addressed to the Roman emperor.