Description:
Greek epigram is a remarkable poetic form. The briefest of all ancient Greek genres, it is also the most resilient: for almost a thousand years it attracted some of the finest Greek poetic talents as well as exerting a profound influence on Latin literature, and it continues to inspire and influence modern translations and imitations. After a long period of neglect, research on epigram has surged during recent decades, and this volume draws on the fruits of that renewed scholarly engagement. It is concerned not with the work of individual authors or anthologies, but with the complexities of epigram as a genre, and provides a selection of in-depth treatments of key aspects of Greek literary epigram of the Hellenistic, Roman, and early Byzantine periods. Individual chapters offer insights into a variety of topics, from the dynamic interactions between poets and their predecessors and contemporaries, and the relationship between epigram and its sociopolitical, cultural, and literary background from the third century BCE up until the sixth century CE, to its interaction with its origins, inscribed epigram more generally, other literary genres, the visual arts, and Latin poetry, as well as the process of editing and compilation that generated the collections that survived into the modern world. Through the medium of individual studies the volume as a whole seeks to offer a sense of this vibrant and dynamic poetic form and its world, which will be of value to scholars and students of Greek epigram and classical literature more broadly.
Review Quotes:
"'The book ... is of a very high quality because of its content, the work of the editors, and the beautiful printing of the Oxford University Press. ... The volume constitutes an excellent update on the way in which the epigrammatic genre is read by today's philology, it contains innovative analysis of specific epigrams, and, above all, it shows the new perspectives and lines of interpretation about this genre and the enormous possibilities they offer." -- Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"Like the 2013 conference from which it developed, this valuable new volume gathers established and up-and-coming stars of contemporary epigram studies with the explicit aim of understanding epigram as a genre writ large across a millennium, from Hellenistic through to the early Byzantine revival of the sixth century. This was the age of Agathias, Julian of Egypt, Paul the Silentiary, and Macedonius, all of whom are amply treated ... one of this volume's signal services to the discipline is to remind us all just how capacious it is, and how wondrous. The volume is scholar-like and well produced, and for once represents properly good value." -- Classical World
"This volume, a valuable contribution to the ever-growing literature on Greek epigram, will definitely find its place next to other collected volumes dealing with this remarkable poetic form. Readers who have the patience to go through the book from beginning to end will be rewarded by the many perceptive interpretations of individual passages, the novel topics, new insights on often discussed themes as well as the high quality of the scholarship of all contributions ... it is a rich, meticulous and thought-provoking presentation of a genre that (ut quibusdam videtur) almost defies comprehensiveness." -- Classical Review