Epic and History [Hardcover]

• 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
  

 

List of Figures and Tables vii

Notes on Contributors viii

Series Editor’s Preface xiv

1 Introduction 1
David Konstan and Kurt A. Raaflaub

2 Maybe Epic: The Origins and Reception of Sumerian Heroic Poetry 7
Piotr Michalowski

3 Historical Events and the Process of Their Transformation in Akkadian Heroic Traditions 26
Joan Goodnick Westenholz

4 Epic and History in Hittite Anatolia: In Search of a Local Hero 51
Amir Gilan

5 Manly Deeds: Hittite Admonitory History and Eastern Mediterranean Didactic Epic 66
Mary R. Bachvarova

6 Epic and History in the Hebrew Bible: Definitions, “Ethnic Genres,” and the Challenges of Cultural Identity
in the Biblical Book of Judges 86
Susan Niditch

7 No Contest between Memory and Invention: The Invention of the Pa08ava Heroes of the MahAbhAratalӍ