Description
Book SynopsisA Companion to Ancient Epic presents for the first time a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of ancient Near Eastern, Greek, and Roman epic. It offers a multidisciplinary discussion of both long-standing ideas and newer perspectives.
Trade Review"For those who are interested in Greek and Roman epic, the book is a treasure-house of splendid variety.... The editor and the publisher both deserve praise for a very fine volume." (
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society)
"Blackwell's Companion to Ancient Epic does just what the title suggests: it accompanies readers on journeys of exploration in this huge (in every sense) field. Just as importantly, the Companion will show new readers why they might want to immerse themselves in these poems.... The many highlights in this Companion demonstrate the value of asking scholars to write for non-specialists. That endeavor provides a stimulus for new levels of focus and clarity; even ideas and materials that may be familiar become fresh again when they are presented in such succinct distillations." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review)
Table of ContentsList of Figures ix
Notes on Contributors x
Acknowledgments xvi
Abbreviations of Ancient Authors and Works xvii
Abbreviations of Modern Reference Works xxiii
Map: The ancient epic territories xxv
Introduction 1
John Miles Foley
Part I Issues and Perspectives 7
1 Epic as Genre 9
Richard P. Martin
2 The Indo-European Context 20
Joshua T. Katz
3 Epic and Myth 31
Lowell Edmunds
4 Performance 45
Minna Skafte Jensen
5 Epic and History 55
Kurt A. Raaflaub
6 The Epic Hero 71
Gregory Nagy
7 The Gods in Epic, or the Divine Economy 90
Bruce Louden
8 Women in Ancient Epic 105
Helene P. Foley
9 Archaeological Contexts 119
Susan Sherratt
10 The Physical Media: Tablet, Scroll, Codex 142
Michael W. Haslam
11 Ancient Reception 164
Robert Lamberton
12 Translating Ancient Epic 174
Richard Hamilton Armstrong
13 Analogues: Modern Oral Epics 196
John Miles Foley
Part II Near Eastern Epic 213
14 Comparative Observations on the Near Eastern Epic Traditions 215
Jack M. Sasson
15 Mesopotamian Epic 233
Scott B. Noegel
16 Epic in Ugaritic Literature 246
N. Wyatt
17 Hittite and Hurrian Epic 255
Gary Beckman
18 Persian/Iranian Epic 264
Olga M. Davidson
19 The Challenge of Israelite Epic 277
Susan Niditch
Part III Ancient Greek Epic 289
20 Near Eastern Connections 291
Walter Burkert
21 Homer’s Iliad 302
Mark W. Edwards
22 Homer’s Odyssey 315
Laura M. Slatkin
23 Hesiod 330
Stephanie Nelson
24 The Epic Cycle and Fragments 344
Jonathan S. Burgess
25 Apollonius of Rhodes 353
D. P. Nelis
26 Quintus of Smyrna 364
Alan James
27 Nonnus 374
Robert Shorrock
28 Epic and Other Genres in the Ancient Greek World 386
R. Scott Garner
29 Homer’s Post-classical Legacy 397
Casey Dué
Part IV Roman Epic 415
30 The Origins and Essence of Roman Epic 417
Joseph Farrell
31 Early Republican Epic 429
Sander M. Goldberg
32 Lucretius 440
Monica R. Gale
33 Virgil’s Aeneid 452
Michael C. J. Putnam
34 Ovid 476
Carole E. Newlands
35 Lucan 492
Shadi Bartsch
36 Valerius Flaccus 503
Andrew Zissos
37 Statius 514
William J. Dominik
38 Silius Italicus 528
Raymond D. Marks
39 Claudian 538
Michael H. Barnes
40 Latin Christian Epics of Late Antiquity 550
Dennis E. Trout
41 Epic and Other Genres in the Roman World 562
R. Jenkyns
42 Virgil’s Post-classical Legacy 574
Craig Kallendorf
Bibliography 589
Index 651
