Description:
"This book is a masterpiece. Demonstrating that Helen of Troy is part of an international story type, Edmunds completely reexamines how one should study traditional narrative, notions of fiction, and the relations between myth and cult. This book is a condensed and compelling initiation into what shapes stories and our reading of them. It is going to become a classic in its own right."--Richard P. Martin, author of "Myths of the Ancient Greeks"
"Clearly the work of many years and much reflection, "Stealing Helen" is an impressive and wide-ranging book from a well-known and innovative scholar. Treating the central topic of Helen from multiple points of view drawn from many disciplines, this invigorating book will interest not only classicists but also anyone interested in the history and construction of narrative traditions."--Stephanie W. Jamison, University of California, Los Angeles
"A work of meticulous and extensive scholarship, "Stealing Helen" brings folkloric techniques into the mainstream classical study of myth. Edmunds's erudition is remarkable and spans a vast range of classical and folkloric sources."--John Colarusso, McMaster University
Brief description: Lowell Edmunds is professor emeritus of classics at Rutgers University. He is the author of Oedipus: The Ancient Legend and Its Later Analogues and the editor of Approaches to Greek Myth.
Review Quotes: "Ultimately, the book's greatest merit may lie . . . in his [Edmunds'] broad horizons--in his delight at discovering similarities between classical literature and the tales and experiences of people across the globe."---Barbara Graziosi, Times Higher Education