Greek Literature and the Roman Empire

The Politics of Imitation
Erscheinungsjahr 2004
ISBN: 978-0-19-927137-5
Verlag: OUP Oxford

Buch, Englisch, 392 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 140 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 557 g

Greek Literature and the Roman Empire uses up-to-date literary and cultural theory to make a major and original contribution to the appreciation of Greek literature written under the Roman Empire during the second century CE (the so-called 'Second Sophistic'). This literature should not be dismissed as unoriginal and mediocre. Rather, its central preoccupations, especially mimesis and paideia, provide significant insights into the definition of Greek identity during the period. Focusing upon a series of key texts by important authors (including Dio Chrysostom, Plutarch, Philostratus, Lucian, Favorinus, and the novelists), Whitmarsh argues that narratives telling of educated Greeks' philosophical advice to empowered Romans (including emperors) offer a crucial point of entry into the complex and often ambivalent relationships between Roman conquerors and Greek subjects. Their authors' rich and complex engagement with the literary past articulates an ingenious and sophisticated response to their present socio-political circumstances.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Whitmarsh, Tim

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction

- Part One: The Politics of Imitation

- 1: Repetition: The Crisis of Posterity

- 2: Education: Strategies of Self-making

- Part Two: Greece and Rome

- 3: Rome Uncivilized: Exile and the Kingdom

- 4: Civilizing Rome: Greek Pedagogy and the Roman Emperor

- 5: Satirizing Rome: Lucian

- Conclusion

- Appendix One: Translation of Favorinus, `On Exile'

- Appendix Two: The Performative Context of Dio's `Kingships'

- Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Tim Whitmarsh is Leverhulme Lecturer in Hellenistic Literature, University of Exeter.