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.
Orality was the backbone of ancient Greek culture throughout its different periods. This volume will serve to deepen the reader’s knowledge of how Greek texts circulated during the Roman Empire.
This text uses up-to-date literary and cultural theory to explore the phenomenal rise of interest in literary writing in Greece under the Roman Empire.
There are times, in fact, when Lucian comes close to expressing admiration for Alexander via conventional language of biographical praise. For example he seems to have some of the same physical presence and quasi-divine beauty as ...
The very occasional occurrence of inscriptions in different metres, mostly iambic, did not affect the existing linguistic convention either. The Greek world of the sixth and fifth centuries BC was abounding with verse inscriptions; ...
His text , as Jaś Elsner98 and James Porter , 99 amongst others , have recently stressed , conjures up an imagined vision of everything which is most marvellous and memorable within the Hellenic heritage .
E. Gowers , The Loaded Table : Representations of Food in Roman Literature ( Oxford 1993 ) . A. Hardie , Statius and the Silvae ( Liverpool , 1983 ) . J. Henderson , Figuring out Roman Nobility : Juvenal's Eighth Satire ( Exeter ...
"This masterful study will have its place on every ancient historian's bookshelf."—Claudia Rapp, author of Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity: The Nature of Christian Leadership in an Age of Transition
This volume will be of interest to students and scholars of rhetoric and political thought in the ancient world, and to anyone interested in ongoing debates about intellectual freedom, limits on speech, and the advantages of presenting ...
This book explores the cultural conflicts of the second-century CE Roman Empire, through the perspective of Greek writings.
These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions.