Ancient Epic [Hardcover]

Ancient Epic offers a comprehensive and accessible introduction to six of the greatest ancient epics – Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Vergil's Aeneid, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Apollonius of Rhodes' Agonautica.

• Provides an accessible introduction to the ancient epic
• Offers interpretive analyses of poems within a comprehensive historical context
• Includes a detailed timeline, suggestions for further readings, and an appendix of the Olympian gods and their Akkadian counterparts

Chronologies viii

Map x

Introduction 1

1 The Epic of Gilgamesh 14

2 The Context of Homeric Epic 33

3 The Iliad 52

4 The Odyssey 81

5 The Argonautika of Apollonios of Rhodes 106

6 The Context of Roman Epic 125

7 The Aeneid of Virgil 143

8 The Metamorphoses of Ovid 172

Appendix: Chart of Olympian Gods and their Akkadian Counterparts 189

Glossary of Greek and Latin terms 192

Index 193

[King] also draws connections between the works so the reader can see the epics in the context of their genre and historical period. (CHOICE, February 2010)

“Provides a comprehensive idea [of] ancient epic, showing how this literary genre is not only an invaluable cultural asset in itself, but the bearer of messages and values far remote or dead … .The brilliant and dense general introduction identifies the preliminary concepts necessary to address the overall theme of the book … .Trulyl³ƒ