Remembering Parthenope: The Reception of Classical Naples from Antiquity to the Present [Hardcover]

This edited collection focuses on how the ancient past of the city of Naples has been invented, shaped, transmitted, and received in literature, art, and material culture since the time of the city's foundation.This edited collection focuses on how the ancient past of the city of Naples has been invented, shaped, transmitted, and received in literature, art, and material culture since the time of the city's foundation. Adopting a chronological approach, chapters examine important moments in Naples' reception history from the Roman period (when the city was already several centuries old) to the present day.Among the topics covered are representations of the city's early history and mythology in texts and temples of the Roman period; later uses of Romanspolia(marble sculptures and architectural elements) in Christian churches; the importance of antiquity to the rulers of the Angevin and Swabian periods; the appropriation of the city's classical heritage by Renaissance humanists; the image of the 'local' poets Virgil and Statius in later eras; humanist images of the ancient aqueducts and catacombs that ran beneath the city; representations of classical monuments in early modern city guides; images of ancient ruins in contemporary Catholic nativity scenes; and the archaeology and philosophy of the city's Metro system.Featuring contributions from an interdisciplinary range of scholars, this comprehensive volume provides a highly accessible point of entry into the vast bibliography on ancient Naples.AcknowledgementsList of FiguresList of Contributors1. Introduction: Entering the Siren's City,Claudio Buongiovanni and Jessica Hughes2. Setting the Agenda: The Image of Classical Naples in Strabo's Geography and other Ancient Literary Sources,Lorenzo Miletti3. The Temple of the Dioscuri and the Mythic Origins of Neapolis,Rabun Taylor4. Colonizing the Past: Cultural Memory and Civic Identity in Hellenistic and Roman Naples,Kathryn Lomas