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Book SynopsisLush Diodorus sets the lads on fire,But now another has him in his net -Timarion, the boy with wanton eyes . . . Meleager, AP 12.109Encompassing four thousand short poems and more, the ramshackle classic we call the Greek Anthology gathers up a millennium of snapshots from ancient daily life. Its influence echoes not merely in the classic tradition of the English epigram (Pope, Dryden) but in Rudyard Kipling, Ezra Pound, Virgina Woolf, T. S. Eliot, H.D., and the poets of the First World War. Its variety is almost infinite. Victorious armies, ruined cities, and Olympic champions share space with lovers'' quarrels and laments for the untimely dead - but also with jokes and riddles, art appreciation, potted biographies of authors, and scenes from country life and the workplace.This selection of more than 600 epigrams in verse is the first major translation from the Greek Anthology in nearly a century. Each of the Anthology''s books of epigrams is represented here, in manuscript order, an
Trade ReviewThis new edition of Greek epigrams, translated by Gideon Nisbet ... must be counted as a service to society as well as a significant literary achievement. * Robert S. Erickson, The New Criterion *
The verse translations are elegant, often witty, and amazingly faithful, and all the explanatory material helpful. * Professor Simon Hornblower, University of Oxford *
This lively, learned, witty, yet sometimes melancholy, translation is a thing of great beauty. Dipping in and out of it has been a joy. * Professor Llloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University *
My quibbles with Nisbet often concern the Greek text being translated. He accepts that of W.R. Paton, The Greek Anthology, Loeb Classical Library, 5 vols (Cambridge MA 1916-1918), but a look at subsequent textual work might have repaid the effort: for example, Tueller's revision of Paton for the difficult texts of book 3. Nisbet wisely avoids burdening his book with scholarly detail, although the endnotes are helpful on mythical and historical matters, and sometimes on stylistic points hard to convey in translation. He provides further guidance in the introduction and index. Especially for those new to the subject, the introduction (vii-xlii) outlines the history of Greek epigram and the Anthology, reviews its content, sketches modern reception and offers a helpful bibliography. * Joseph W. Day, JHS *
Table of ContentsIntroduction The Christian epigrams Epigrams at Cyzicus Erotic epigrams by various poets The dedicatory epigrams Epigrams on tombs Epigrams of Saint Gregory the Theologian Rhetorical epigrams Advisory epigrams Sympotic and scoptic epigrams Strato's Boyish Muse Epigrams in assorted metres Arithmetical problems, riddles, and oracles Miscellaneous epigrams The Planudean Appendix Explantory Notes
