The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature

M.C. Howatson

ISBN 10: 019860081X / ISBN 13: 9780198600817

Published by Oxford University Press, 2006

About this Item

640 pages. ex library stamps. From Achilles's heel to the sword of Damocles, Western culture teems with allusions from the rich heritage of classical literature, and this new edition of The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature, the first updating since Sir Paul Harvey's original edition of 1937, provides the key to these works and the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations that produced them. Substantially revising the first edition, this volume condenses the findings of the most recent scholarship into highly readable prose and supplies a wealth of background information not found in Harvey's Companion. Indispensable to those studying classical literature in depth, the book will be equally accessible to the non-specialist. All Greek is transliterated, with translations given for all quotations from Greek and Latin. The main focus of the Companion remains the lives and works of the principal authors. Biographical entries offer the essential facts and sift the conjectural evidence, while entries on the major works include discussions of the philosophical dialogues and political speeches and plot summaries of the epic poems and plays. The various literary forms--epic, comedy, tragedy, rhetorical writing--are covered in depth, supplemented by articles on the origins of the Greek and Latin alphabets and languages. The Companion also puts this literature into its societal and historical contexts, including many articles on political, social, and artistic achievements. We learn, for example, about the political climate that produced the great speeches of Demosthenes and Cicero. Orators, statesmen, and generals stalk the pages, and major battles and conquests from the time of Alexander to the fall of Rome are summarized. Articles on contemporary social mores and religious beliefs help explain literary references, while the glories of philosophy, science, and art are celebrated from Cynics to Stoics, astronomy to water-clocks, and flute competitions to vase painting. Helpful maps supplement geographical entries, a chronological table provides an overview of the main historical and literary events, and a systematic set of cross-references links the entries. The breadth and accuracy of this volume will surely make it the standard reference book of its kind for years to come.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1749402110760

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 019860081X
• ISBN 13: 9780198600817
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket

About this title

Synopsis

The second edition of The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature provides enthusiasts for the classical world and its literary heritage with the complete reference guide to the subject. This book not only presents the reader with all the essential facts about the authors, tales, and characters from ancient myth and literature, but also uniquely places these details in the wider contexts of the history and society of the Greek and Roman worlds. With an extensive web of cross-references and a useful chronological table and location maps, this volume traces the development of literary forms and the classical allusions which have become embedded in our Western culture. * Accounts of the lives and works of the classical writers: poets, dramatists, historians, and philosophers from Aeschylus and Anacreon to Socrates, Xenophon, and Zeno * Character entries and plot summaries: the Labours of Hercules, the tragic fates of Oedipus and Antigone, the comic pieces by Aristophanes and Plautus, Odysseus' tussles with Polyphemus the one-eyed giant, the Sirens, and the god Poseidon * Literary styles: the development of biography, epic, rhetoric, tragedy, and lyric poetry; examples of metrical form and poetic devices: hexameters, iambic and lyric metres, assonance, metonymy * Historical, political, social, and wider cultural background: aqueducts, armies, art, education, emperors and political orators, law courts, music, position of women, religion, and vase-painting * General textual themes: Greek and Roman alphabets and language, books and writing, historiography, papyrology, transmission of ancient texts * Accessible and informative: all Latin and Greek words are translated; detailed maps pin-point places with literary connections; chronological table gives instant access to the major literary and historical events

About the Author

M.C. Howatson is Fellow of St. Anne's College, Oxford, and University Lecturer in Classical Languages in the University of Oxford.