Sophistic Views of the Epic Past from the Classical to the Imperial Age

Sophistic Views of the Epic Past from the Classical to the Imperial Age
Author:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1350255777

This collection of essays sheds new light on the relationship between two of the main drivers of intellectual discourse in ancient Greece: the epic tradition and the Sophists. The contributors show how throughout antiquity the epic tradition proved a flexible instrument to navigate new political, cultural, and philosophical contexts. The Sophists, both in the Classical and the Imperial age, continuously reconfigured the value of epic poetry according to the circumstances: using epic myths allowed the Sophists to present themselves as the heirs of traditional education, but at the same time this tradition was reshaped to encapsulate new questions that were central to the Sophists' intellectual agenda. This volume is structured chronologically, encompassing the ancient world from the Classical Age through the first two centuries AD. The first chapters, on the First Sophistic, discuss pivotal works such as Gorgias' Encomium of Helen and Apology of Palamedes, Alcidamas' Odysseus or Against the Treachery of Palamedes, and Antisthenes' pair of speeches Ajax and Odysseus, as well as a range of passages from Plato and other authors. The volume then moves on to discuss some of the major works of literature from the Second Sophistic dealing with the epic tradition. These include Lucian's Judgement of the Goddesses and Dio Chrysostom's orations 11 and 20, as well as Philostratus' Heroicus and Imagines.

Sophistic Views of the Epic Past from the Classical to the Imperial Age

Sophistic Views of the Epic Past from the Classical to the Imperial Age
Author:
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1350255785

This collection of essays sheds new light on the relationship between two of the main drivers of intellectual discourse in ancient Greece: the epic tradition and the Sophists. The contributors show how throughout antiquity the epic tradition proved a flexible instrument to navigate new political, cultural, and philosophical contexts. The Sophists, both in the Classical and the Imperial age, continuously reconfigured the value of epic poetry according to the circumstances: using epic myths allowed the Sophists to present themselves as the heirs of traditional education, but at the same time this tradition was reshaped to encapsulate new questions that were central to the Sophists' intellectual agenda. This volume is structured chronologically, encompassing the ancient world from the Classical Age through the first two centuries AD. The first chapters, on the First Sophistic, discuss pivotal works such as Gorgias' Encomium of Helen and Apology of Palamedes, Alcidamas' Odysseus or Against the Treachery of Palamedes, and Antisthenes' pair of speeches Ajax and Odysseus, as well as a range of passages from Plato and other authors. The volume then moves on to discuss some of the major works of literature from the Second Sophistic dealing with the epic tradition. These include Lucian's Judgement of the Goddesses and Dio Chrysostom's orations 11 and 20, as well as Philostratus' Heroicus and Imagines.

The Oxford Handbook of the Second Sophistic

The Oxford Handbook of the Second Sophistic
Author: Daniel S. Richter
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 777
Release: 2017
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199837473

The study of the Second Sophistic is a relative newcomer to the Anglophone field of classics, and much of what characterizes it temporally and culturally remains a matter of legitimate contestation. This Handbook offers a diversity of scholarly voices that attempt to define the state of this developing field. Included are chapters that offer practical guidance on the wide range of valuable textual materials that survive, many of which are useful or even core to inquiries of particularly current interest (e.g., gender studies, cultural history of the body, sociology of literary culture, history of education and intellectualism, history of religion, political theory, history of medicine, cultural linguistics, intersection of the classical traditions and early Christianity).

The Social World of Intellectuals in the Roman Empire

The Social World of Intellectuals in the Roman Empire
Author: Kendra Eshleman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2012-11-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1139851837

This book examines the role of social networks in the formation of identity among sophists, philosophers and Christians in the early Roman Empire. Membership in each category was established and evaluated socially as well as discursively. From clashes over admission to classrooms and communion to construction of the group's history, integration into the social fabric of the community served as both an index of identity and a medium through which contests over status and authority were conducted. The juxtaposition of patterns of belonging in Second Sophistic and early Christian circles reveals a shared repertoire of technologies of self-definition, authorization and institutionalization and shows how each group manipulated and adapted those strategies to its own needs. This approach provides a more rounded view of the Second Sophistic and places the early Christian formation of 'orthodoxy' in a fresh context.

Greek Political Imagery from Homer to Aristotle

Greek Political Imagery from Homer to Aristotle
Author: Roger Brock
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2013-05-23
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1472502175

The great helmsman, the watchdog of the people, the medicine the state needs: all these images originated in ancient Greece, yet retain the capacity to influence an audience today. This is the first systematic study of political imagery in ancient Greek literature, history and thought, tracing it from its appearance, influenced by Near Eastern precursors, in Homer and Hesiod, to the end of the classical period and Plato's deployment of images like the helmsman and the doctor in the service of his political philosophy. The historical narrative is complemented by thematic studies of influential complexes of images such as the ship of state, the shepherd of the people, and the state as a household, and enhanced by parallels from later literature and history which illustrate the persistence of Greek concepts in later eras.

Homer

Homer
Author: Barbara Graziosi
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 177
Release: 2013-10-16
Genre: Poetry
ISBN: 1849667500

This book offers a new approach to the study of Homeric epic by combining ancient Greek perceptions of Homer with up-to-date scholarship on traditional poetry. Part I argues that, in the archaic period, the Greeks saw the lliad and Odyssey neither as literary works in the modern sense nor as the products of oral poetry. Instead, they regarded them as belonging to a much wider history of the divine cosmos, whose structures and themes are reflected in the resonant patterns of Homer's traditional language and narrative techniques. Part II illustrates this claim by looking at some central aspects of the Homeric poems: the gods and fate, gender and society, death, fame and poetry. Each section shows how the patterns and preoccupations of Homeric storytelling reflect a historical vision that encompasses the making of the universe, from its beginnings when Heaven mated with Earth, to the present day.

The Sophists

The Sophists
Author:
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-10-10
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1472521196

The Sophists were bold, exciting innovators with new ideas about Athenian society. The first to arrive, in about 444 BC, was Protagoras. During the last half of the fifth century BC he was followed by a succession of 'new age' itinerant instructors who were skilled in teaching. Mainly they taught the young ambitious men of Athens, instilling in them the skills they sought in order to become successful, that is, rich and influential. The Athenians flocked to hear them and enrol in their courses. The Sophists dared to charge high fees for their instruction and their students willingly paid.The Sophists were versatile and multi-talented. It seems that there was nothing one or other of them could not teach, but perhaps their greatest legacy to western society was their development of language, which, naturally, also benefited them in their work.Plato criticised the Sophists for promoting dangerous ideas which threatened the traditional structure of society. They taught their students how to argue convincingly and to turn the weaker argument into a winning argument against the stronger. Plato was markedly vitriolic in his criticism of the Sophists. Perhaps he was justified.Were the Sophists clever, rather than wise? Where does the truth lie? This book, with its lively, comprehensive treatment of the subject by twenty leading scholars in the field, will help the reader to decide.

The Gods in Epic

The Gods in Epic
Author: D. C. Feeney
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 449
Release: 1993
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 9780198149385

The role of the gods in the classical world's epic tradition has been the subject of controversy since ancient times, and many modern readers continue to find their presence a source of frustration. Although the problem of the gods in some individual works has been intensely discussed, this is the first study to be devoted to the classical literary tradition as a whole, together with the apparatus of critical scholarship which was part of that tradition. The work of the ancient critics provides some access to the interpretative conventions of the original reading community, while their theories of fiction and genre also shed light on the problems of the truth-value of epic fiction and the kind of belief that poetry generates. Their work is only a preliminary guide, however, and the major portion of this study is devoted to the poets themselves and to the themes particularly associated with them: discussion of fiction is located with Apollonius, allegory with Statius, anthropomorphism with Ovid, and so on. The survey seeks to restore a sense of the power of this unique form of fiction.

On Heroes

On Heroes
Author: Philostratus (the Athenian)
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2003
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9789004127012

This English translation, with introduction and notes, an extensive glossary, maps, and topical bibliographies, explores religious authority and revealed knowledge and is indispensable for the study of Homer, heroes, literature, religion, and culture in the Roman Empire and Late Antiquity. Paperback edition is available from the Society of Biblical Literature (www.sbl-site.org).