Epic and History (Ancient World: Comparative Histories) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1118785118 ISBN 13: 9781118785119

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014

Synopsis

With contributions from leading scholars, this is a unique cross-cultural comparison of historical epics across a wide range of cultures and time periods, which presents crucial insights into how history is treated in narrative poetry.

• The first book to gain new insights into the topic of ‘epic and history’ through in-depth cross-cultural comparisons
• Covers epic traditions across the globe and across a wide range of time periods
• Brings together leading specialists in the field, and is edited by two internationally regarded scholars
• An important reference for scholars and students interested in history and literature across a broad range of disciplines
  

 

About this title

About the Author

David Konstan is Professor of Classics at New York University. He is the author of Friendship in the Classical World (1997), Pity Transformed (2001), The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks (2006), A Life Worthy of the Gods: The Materialist Psychology of Epicurus (2008), and Before Forgiveness: The Origins of a Moral Idea (2010).

Kurt A. Raaflaub is the David Herlihy University Professor and Professor of Classics and History Emeritus at Brown University. His previous works include War and Peace in the Ancient World (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece (with J. Ober and R. W. Wallace, 2007), Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies (with R. J. A. Talbert, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (with J. Arnason, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), and The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy: A Politico-cultural Transformation and Its Interpretations (with J. Arnason and P. Wagner, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013).

From the Back Cover

"I would recommend this volume both for scholars of epic and heroic literature (especially if they have interests in comparative literature or in questions of orality and historicity), who will no doubt enjoy its generally succinct essays with pertinent bibliography for each tradition." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 9 February 2011)

"Essential. Graduate students and researchers." (Choice, October 2010)

Heroic epics have existed in many cultures, from antiquity to the modern day, offering an important means by which societies commemorate the past and transmit memories over time. Yet few attempts have been made to compare these epics systematically or to establish a typology of heroic epic. Nor is it always clear to what extent heroic epics reflect history, or what methodologies might be used to retrieve historical information from epics.

Addressing these issues, Epic and History invites comparison across a broad variety of cultures in which traditions of epic – oral and written – existed and continue to exist. It makes a unique and conscious effort to take full advantage of this cross-cultural comparison to enhance our understanding of this important topic, presenting crucial insights into how history is treated in narrative poetry.

Contributors are leading scholars on epic and heroic poetic traditions. They base their analyses on profound knowledge of the wide range of cultures discussed throughout the book, from the ancient Near East and South Asia, the Greco-Roman world, and medieval Europe – from Scandinavia to Spain – to today’s Egypt, Southern Africa, and Central America.

From the Inside Flap

"I would recommend this volume both for scholars of epic and heroic literature (especially if they have interests in comparative literature or in questions of orality and historicity), who will no doubt enjoy its generally succinct essays with pertinent bibliography for each tradition." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 9 February 2011)

"Essential. Graduate students and researchers." (Choice, October 2010)

 

Heroic epics have existed in many cultures, from antiquity to the modern day, offering an important means by which societies commemorate the past and transmit memories over time. Yet few attempts have been made to compare these epics systematically or to establish a typology of heroic epic. Nor is it always clear to what extent heroic epics reflect history, or what methodologies might be used to retrieve historical information from epics.

Addressing these issues, Epic and History invites comparison across a broad variety of cultures in which traditions of epic – oral and written – existed and continue to exist. It makes a unique and conscious effort to take full advantage of this cross-cultural comparison to enhance our understanding of this important topic, presenting crucial insights into how history is treated in narrative poetry.

Contributors are leading scholars on epic and heroic poetic traditions. They base their analyses on profound knowledge of the wide range of cultures discussed throughout the book, from the ancient Near East and South Asia, the Greco-Roman world, and medieval Europe – from Scandinavia to Spain – to today’s Egypt, Southern Africa, and Central America.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1118785118
• ISBN 13: 9781118785119
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 456
• Editor: Konstan David, Raaflaub Kurt A.