Classical Literature A Concise History [Paperback]

This accessible one-volume survey of the literature of Greece and Rome covers the period between Homer around 700 BC and Augustine around AD 410.

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• Highlights what is important historically and of continuing interest and value in classical literature.
  
• An introduction by the editor presents essential information in a concise, accessible way.
  
• Each chapter focuses on a particular genre or area of literature.
  
• This structure allows readers to see continuities between different periods and to move easily between the Greek and Roman worlds.
  
• Includes extensive quotations in English.
  
• A timeline and an index of authors help to make the material as accessible as possible.

Preface.

Acknowledgements.

Abbreviations.

Maps.

Introduction.

1. Epic.

2. Drama.

3. Rhetoric.

4. History, Biography, Fiction.

5. Erotic Literature.

6. Literature and Power.

7. Aspects of Wit.

8. Thinkers.

9. Believers.

Appendix 1 Translations of Four Longer Passages.

Appendix 2 Timeline.

Appendix 3 List of Roman Emperors.

Appendix 4 Major Greek and Roman Gods.

Notes.

Further Reading.

Index

The book is a tour de force ... Rutherford speaks directly to his readers, telling them what they need to know to set a work into its historical and social context ... Even scholars who are completely familiar with all the texts Rutherford discusses will profit from consullcb