What role did the performance of poetry, music, song, and dance play in the political life of the ancient city? How has philosophy positioned itself and articulated its own ambitions in relation to the poet tradition? The Polis and the Stage poses such questions through a reading of Plato last, longest, and unfinished work, the Laws. Plato's engagement with the Greek poetic tradition has long been recognized as foundational in the history of literary criticism, but the broader critical and philosophical significance of the Laws has been largely ignored. Although Plato is often thought hostile to mimetic art, famously banishing poets from the ideal city of the Republic, this book shows that in his final dialogue Plato made a striking about-face, proposing to rehabilitate Athenian performance culture and envisioning a city, in which poetry, music, song, and dance are instrumental in the cultivation of philosophical virtues. The psychological underpinnings of aesthetic experience and the power of mimetic art to predispose a society to specific kinds of constitutions are central themes throughout this study. Plato's views of the performative properties of language and genre receives systematic treatment in this study for the first time. Performance as a mechanism of sexual construction-a network of social practices uniquely suited to communicate and enforce normative conceptions of gender and erotic pleasure-is another focus, with special attention given to positions occupied by women in the culture envisaged in the Laws. As a whole, Marcus Folch's book provides an integrated interpretation of Plato's final dialogue with the Greek poetic tradition, an exploration of the dialectic between philosophy and mimetic art, which will be of interest to anyone concerned with understanding ancient Greek performance and the emergence of philosophical discourse in fourth-century Athens.

Manmade marvels of the later medieval courts--animated golden birds, mechanical angels, and other fantastic machines--were not merely amusing distractions, but also agents of social negotiation and political import. In "Manmade Marvels," the dancing metal peacocks, animated statuary, and spectacular illusions of the romance tradition are disembedded from traditional literary representation as supernatural fictions, and situated in the political culture where mechanical marvels were fashioned to delight courts, garner prestige, and symbolize power. This book provides a synthesis of court politics and technological history, intellectual traditions, and the practices of everyday life. Lightsey restores these marvels to the cultural roles they played as they were created by craftsmen and consumed by elite culture, invigorating our understanding of the role of craft in embellishing noble lives with the marvelous.

Amidon offers the first English translation of Books 10 and 11 of Rufinus' Church History. Books 1-9 comprise a Latin translation of Eusebius' history. Books 10 and 11 are Rufinus' own continuation, covering the period 325-395. As the first Latin church history, this work exerted great influence over the subsequent scholarship of the Western Church.

This book is the much awaited English translation of Liu Zaifu's book, Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber. The book consists of three parts-reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber, comments on Dream of the Red Chamber, and discussions on Dream of the Red Chamber. There is also an appendix, "A Discussion of the Philosophy in Dream of the Red Chamber," a speech delivered by Liu Zaifu at the Institute of Philosophy, Central University and at the Chinese Department of Tunghai University, Taiwan, in December 2005. The first part comprises two hundred and four personal reflections on all aspects of Dream of the Red Chamber, the undisputed best traditional novel in China. The second part contains three essays on the spiritual value of the novel, the feeling of repentance and the transcendental philosophical viewpoint in the novel. The third part includes thirteen discussions of various characters and episodes in the novel. The appendix discusses the philosophy in the novel. As the best traditional novel in Chinese literature, Dream of the Red Chamber has attracted a tremendous amount of critical attention over the last hundred years and has given rise to a scholarly field commonly referred to as "redology." In contrast to the works on the novel by other scholars, Liu's book stands out with its personal, intuitive approach. Instead of engaging himself in evidential research, as many scholars in the field have done, Liu reflects on the spiritual orientation and the philosophical implications in the novel from a personal perspective. In so doing he infuses his reflections with his personal experience, his interpretations of works in Chinese literature and world literature, and hisphilosophical views. Influenced by Zen, Liu's book makes a connection between Dream of the Red Chamber and real life as it exalts the values and philosophical understandings in the novel. Reflections on Dream of the Red Chamber, with its highly original approach to its subject, will be an essential resource for English-speaking readers interested in the classical novel as well as those interested in contemporary literary criticism in China.

Known as "the Theologian", St Gregory of Nazianzus (in the eastern part of Turkey) is, with St Basil and St Gregory of Nyssa, one of the celebrated Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth-century Christian Church. Highly educated in both Christian theology and classical Greek literature, he found himself torn between a solitary, contemplative life and the reluctantly accepted, though in actuality relished, public figure of bishop, vigorous in defence of orthodoxy against the attacks of the Arians. He was even, briefly, Bishop of Constantinople and chairman of the Council in 381 which produced what we now know as the Nicene Creed. This edition of his poems brings together his theological acumen in a formative period and shows his ability to operate in the genre of didactic verse going back to the eighth century BC. The poems cover a range of topics, from the strictly theological to others dealing more broadly with the creation of the world, providence, the world of spiritual beings, and the human soul. They give a unique new insight both on the theological ideas of the period and on the uneasy emergence of Christian culture from the pagan past.

In Stagecraft in Euripides, first published in 1985, Professor Michael Halleran examines certain aspects of the dramaturgy of the most extensively preserved Attic tragedian. Although the ancient dramatic texts do not contain performance directions, they do imply stage actions. This work explores the ways Euripides utilises the latter to make a point: to underline some issue, to suggest a contrast, or to shift the focus of the drama. Specifically, Halleran investigates the rearrangement of characters on stage at the major structural junctures of the play: entrances and their announcements; preparation for and surprise in entrances; and dramatic connections between exits and entrances. Three plays from the same era - Herakles, Trojan Women and Ion - are discussed in greater detail to reveal the potential of this approach for illuminating Euripides' 'grammar of dramatic technique'. Stagecraft in Euripides will thus appeal to students of theatre and drama as well as classicists.

Despite the relevance of Eustathios to both Classical and Byzantine studies, no monograph and no collective volume in English has yet been devoted to his figure. This book attempts to fill in this gap by addressing the various facets of his output - above all his commentaries on Homer, Dionysius the Periegete, Pindar, and the Iambic Canon on the Pentecost; but also his historiographical work, his speeches and his theological production receive due attention. The book also tackles several aspects of Eustathios' style (proverbs, allusions, etc.), and the meaning of his work in the context of his historical moment. Addressed at specialists but also at graduate students with an interest in the reception of Classical antiquity and in Byzantine civilisation, the volume gathers papers by leading scholars from various countries, and it opens up new paths of research in several areas of philology and history, above all by interweaving and juxtaposing Eustathios' dimension as an Homerist and an immensely learned classical scholar with his capacities as an orator, a highly praised teacher, a rhetorically refined writer of Greek prose, an historian of his own turbulent times, and an archbishop who had to fulfil his everyday duties.

This is an invaluable introduction to ancient Greek tragedy which discusses every surviving play in detail and provides all the background information necessary for understanding the context and content of the plays. Edith Hall argues that the essential feature of the genre is that it always depicts terrible human suffering and death, but in a way that invites philosophical enquiry into their causes and effects, This enquiry was played out in the bright sunlight of open-air theatre, which became a key marker of the boundary between living and dead. The first half of the book is divided into four chapters which address the social and physical contexts in which the plays were performed, the contribution of the poets, actors, funders, and audiences, the poetic composition of the texts, their performance conventions, main themes, and focus on religion, politics, and the family. The second half consists of individual essays on each of the surviving thirty-three plays by the Greek tragedians, and an account of the recent performance of Greek tragic theatre and tragic fragments. An up-to-date 'Suggestions for further reading' is included.

The study of the ancient Egyptian military and warfare now encompasses the background court society in which the various eulogies drawn up for the glorification of the kings were composed. This study proceeds from a previous analysis of the leadership characteristics of the military pharaohs to their underlying war records to the literary compositions that the pharaohs had drawn up for their glorification. A study of these court-inspired accounts fits within the overarching new perspectives of royally directed and inspired ancient Egyptian literature. The historical background covers the New Kingdom pharaohs Kamose, Thutmose III, Ramesses II and III, with Merenptah, plus Pianchy. The concentration is primarily upon the narrative structures employed in each of these king's monumental inscriptions.

Two thousand years after his death Horace is still recognised as a unique poet, having exerted marked influence on later European literature. This collection, first published in 1973, explores the different aspects of Horace's poetic achievement in his main works: the Odes, Epistles Satires and Ars Poetica. The essays, written by internationally-known scholars, include a discussion of the three worlds of the Satires, and a study of Horace's poetic craft in the Odes - his greatest technical accomplishment. The final chapter is devoted entirely to Horace's reputation in England up to the seventeenth century as 'The Best of Lyrick Poets', and concentrates on the many English translations which he inspired. The expert criticism is illustrated throughout by English translations from the original Latin texts. Horace will appeal to students and scholars of Latin poetry alike, as well as to those interested in the reception of classical literature throughout European history.

"Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People" was completed in 731 AD and still ranks among the most popular of history books. By the end of the 8th century, copies of it were to be found in many parts of England and on the Continent, some of which are still extant. If it were not for Bede's work, little would be known about the Anglo-Saxon invasion and the beginnings of Christianity in England, and such familiar names as Edwin and Oswald, Cuthbert and Chad, Hilda and Caedmon would be almost forgotten. This corrected reissue of the work makes use for the first time of a mid-8th-century manuscript discovered in Leningrad, provides a survey of the extant manuscripts and a new translation. It also attempts to bring up to date Plummer's edition of the work, published 80 years ago. It has been corrected to take into account J.M. Wallace-Hadrill's "Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People: A Historical Commentary" and to enable the reader to use the two in conjunction.

This book is a major new critical study of the greatest comic writer of ancient Greece. It relates Aristophanes' work to modern literature and modern theory. It offers a new theory of comedy. It will be essential reading for students and specialists of ancient Greek drama and poetry, and also many students and specialists of modern literature.

Identifies and investigates international medievalism through three distinct strands: "Internationally Nationalist", "Someone Else's Past?", and "Activist Medievalism". Medievalism - the reception of the Middle Ages - often invokes a set of tropes generally considered 'medieval', rather than consciously engaging with medieval cultures and societies. International medievalism offers an additional interpretative layer by juxtaposing two or more national cultures, at least one of which is medieval. 'National' can be aspirational: it might refer to the area within agreed borders, or to the people who live there, but it might also describe the people who understand, or imagine, themselves to constitute a nation. And once 'medieval' becomes simply a collection of ideas, it can be re-formed as desired, cast as more geographically than historically specific, or function as a gateway to an even more nebulous past. This collection identifies and investigates international medievalism through three distinct strands, 'Internationally Nationalist', 'Someone Else's Past?', and 'Activist Medievalism', exploring medievalist media from the textual to the architectural. Subjects range from The Green Children of Woolpit to Refugee Tales, and from Viking metal to Joan of Arc. As the contributors to each section make clear, for centuries the medieval has provided material for countless competing causes and cannot be contained within historical, political, or national borders. The essays show how the medieval is repeatedly co-opted and recreated, formed as much as formative: inviting us to ask why, and in service of what.

This volume explores Gregory Of Nyssa's concept of human nature. It argues that the frequent use Gregory makes of phusis-terminology is not only a terminological predilection, but rather the key to the philosophical and theological foundations of his thought. Starting from an overview of the theological landscape in the early 360's the study first demonstrates the meaning and relevance of universal human nature as an analogy for the Trinity in Cappadocian theology. The second part explores Gregory's use of this same notion in his teaching on the divine economy. It is argued that Gregory takes this philosophical theory into the service of his own theology. Ultimately the book provides an example for the mutual interaction of philosophy and Christian theology in the fourth century.

This concise book is a complete and contemporary introduction to Homer and his two master-works, the Iliad and the Odyssey. It explains the "Homeric Question," illuminating its current status, and critiques the literary qualities of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," analyzing and contrasting their plotting, narrative technique, and characterization.
Provides historical background and literary readings of "The" "Iliad" and "The Odyssey"
New to the second edition: a section on Homer's reception in ancient Greece; a chapter on Homer and archaeology; additional maps; an updated bibliography; a glossary of key terms; and information on the oral composition of the poems
Text is updated throughout
Assumes no prior knowledge of Greek

Queer Love in the Middle Ages points out queer themes in the works of the French canon, including "Perceval," "Romance of the Rose, " and "Roman d'Eneas." It brings out less known works that prominently feature same-sex themes: Yde and Olive, a romance with a cross-dressed heroine who marries a princess; and many others. The book combines an interest in contemporary French theory (Kristeva, Barthes, psychoanalysis) with a close reading of medieval texts. It discusses important recent publications in pre-modern queer studies in the US. It is the first major contribution to queer studies in medieval French literature.

First published in 1963, this book provides an account of Chaucer's poetry written before The Canterbury Tales. W. H. Clemen gives full, comprehensive and intriguing accounts of three major poems including The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, and The Parliament of Fowls in addition to some other, more minor poems from Chaucer's oeuvre.

In an expansion of his 2012 Robson Classical Lectures, Clifford Ando examines the connection between the nature of the Latin language and Roman thinking about law, society, and empire. Drawing on innovative work in cognitive linguistics and anthropology, Roman Social Imaginaries considers how metaphor, metonymy, analogy, and ideation helped create the structures of thought that shaped the Roman Empire as a political construct. Beginning in early Roman history, Ando shows how the expansion of the empire into new territories led the Romans to develop and exploit Latin's extraordinary capacity for abstraction. In this way, laws and institutions invented for use in a single Mediterranean city-state could be deployed across a remarkably heterogeneous empire. Lucid, insightful, and innovative, the essays in Roman Social Imaginaries constitute some of today's most original thinking about the power of language in the ancient world.

Plato's Phaedo has never failed to attract the attention of philosophers and scholars. Yet the history of its reception in Antiquity has been little studied. The present volume therefore proposes to examine not only the Platonic exegetical tradition surrounding this dialogue, which culminates in the commentaries of Damascius and Olympiodorus, but also its place in the reflections of the rival Peripatetic, Stoic, and Sceptical schools. This volume thus aims to shed light on the surviving commentaries and their sources, as well as on less familiar aspects of the history of the Phaedo's ancient reception. By doing so, it may help to clarify what ancient interpreters of Plato can and cannot offer their contemporary counterparts.

In 13 studies of representations of rape in medieval and early modern literature by such authors as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Spenser, this innovative book argues that some form of sexual violence against women has always served as a foundation of Western culture. The book has two purposes: to explore the resistance these pervasive representations generate for readers--especially for female readers--and to explore what these representations tell us about the relationships between men and women. Rose and Robertson focus in particular on the way depictions of rape make manifest a culture’s understanding of the female subject in society.

This volume contains word-for-word commentaries on Pindar's Olympian Odes 10 and 11, and on Nemean 11 and Isthmian 2. These are preceded by a large number of notes on Olympian 1, intended to form a supplement to D.E. Gerber's edition (1982). The author has tried to explain peculiarities of grammar and nuances of meaning as fully as possible, but due attention is paid to figures of style and problems of poetic structure. The interpretations proposed by the author - many of which are new - are accompanied by an adequate documentation, including a critical examination of other views. This documentation has been made more easily accessible by detailed indexes, one of subjects and one of Greek words. The book forms a sequel to volume I, which contains commentaries on Olympians 3, 7, 12, 14. A third volume on Pythians 1, 8, 10 is intended to conclude the series.

This contribution by Gesine Manuwald provides an introduction to all varieties of 'Roman comedy', including primarily fabula palliata ('New Comedy', as represented by Plautus and Terence) as well as fabula togata, fabula Atellana, mimus and pantomimus. It examines the major developments in the establishment of these dramatic genres, their main characteristics, the performance contexts for them in Republican Rome, and their reception. The presentation of the key facts is accompanied by a description of the influential turns and recent trends in scholarship on Roman comedy. The essay is designed for scholars, teachers and (graduate) students who have some familiarity with Roman literature and are looking for (further) orientation in the area of Roman comedy.

Troubled Vision is an interdisciplinary collection of essays that explores the interface between gender, sexuality and vision in medieval culture. The volume represents an exciting array of scholarship dealing with visual and textual cultures from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Bringing together a range of theoretical approaches that address the troubling effects of vision on medieval texts and images, the book mediates between medieval and modern constructions of gender and sexuality.

Richard Rolle, the Yorkshire hermit and scholar (d. 1349) wrote two commentaries on the Psalms, one in Latin and one in English. Some fifty years after he died, his English commentary was revised by a series of Lollard writers, and this redaction was itself subsequently modified by other revisers, having a similar radical outlook. This edition presents for the first time a full edition of the first of the Lollard revision, and gives detailed evidence for the second. It is based on a full study of all manuscripts of both versions, and includes the commentaries on the twelve Canticles which accompanied the Psalter commentary, and seem to have been regarded as a part of the whole. This first Lollard revision reveals the work of a complex organisation: an academic team which worked on the text for a considerable time, and whose work was not in every respect complete. This is the first of a three-volume edition. Volume 1 contains the Introduction and Psalms 1-34; the remaining two volumes (to appear as O.S. 341 and 343) will contain the remainder of the text, Explanatory Notes, and Glossary.