Description
Book SynopsisElegy and iambus are major forms of Greek literature which are crucial to understanding the Archaic and early Classical periods in particular. This edition gathers work by ten poets: two iambic (Semonides and Hipponax), six elegiac (Callinus, Tyrtaeus, Mimnermus, Theognis, Xenophanes, Simonides), and two writing in both forms (Archilochus and Solon). It explores a representative sample of each poet''s surviving work, while also highlighting their variety, and provides an up-to-date commentary on major pieces, including recent discoveries such as Simonides'' Plataea elegy and Archilochus'' Telephus elegy. The wide-ranging Introduction discusses such issues as poet and persona, contexts of performance, and various cultural themes (expansion and contact with foreign cultures, social and political revolution, sexuality and gender, rationalism) as well as language, style, metre, and textual transmission. The volume will be of interest to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, as w
Trade Review'Readers with WA's book in hand will be well equipped to deal with the riches of Greek elegy and iambus.' Krystyna Bartol, Exemplaria Classica
'Allan's commentary is sensitive and well-edited and will offer good guidance to those who want to learn about, or embark on research on, aspects of the history of early Greek iambus and elegy.' Demetrios Yatromanolakes, EIRENE: Studia Graeca et Latina
Table of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Elegy and iambus as poetic forms; 2. Performance and mobility; 3. Poets and personae; 4. Society and culture; 5. Language, style, metre; 6. Transmission of the text; Greek elegy and Iambus: A Selection: Archilochus; Semonides; Callinus; Tyrtaeus; Mimnermus; Solon; Theognis; Xenophanes; Hipponax; Simonides; Commentary.
