This volume contains four essays by Lennart Hakanson written between 1976 and 1982 that were never published because of his death. Hakanson offers a general presentation of the argumenta in the Pseudo-Quintilian Declamationes maiores, investigates their most important literary models (Cicero, Seneca, Declamationes minores), and explores the history of their transmission."

Book 9 of Silius Italicus' first-century Latin epic poem Punica begins the narrative of the Battle of Cannae (August 216 BC). This book is an integral part of the epic's three-book movement that narrates one of the largest battles in Roman history. It opens with the dispute between the consuls Paulus and Varro over giving battle, in the face of hostile omens and Hannibal's record of successful combat. On the eve of the battle, the Roman soldier Solymus accidentally kills his father Satricus, thereby presenting an omen of disaster for the Roman army. After Hannibal and Varro encourage their troops, the initial phase of the battle commences. The gods descend to the battlefield, and Mars and Minerva fight the sole full-scale theomachy in Latin epic. Aeolus summons the Vulturnus wind at Juno's request to devastate the Roman ranks. After the gods have departed, Hannibal's elephant troops advance and scatter the Roman forces. The book ends by recapitulating the opening episode: Varro admits his mistake in giving battle and flees the battlefield. This volume is the first full-scale commentary in English devoted exclusively to Punica 9. It features the Latin text with a critical apparatus and a parallel English translation. Detailed commentary notes provide information on literary style, use of language, poetic intertexts, and scholarly interpretation. The Introduction offers further context and background, including sections on Silius Italicus and his era, the historiographic and rhetorical traditions that he adopted, the inter- and intra-textuality of the Cannae episode, and the book's use of diction and metre.

The first in a series of volumes publishing the Sumerian literary texts in the Schoyen Collection, this book makes available, for the first time, editions of seventeen cuneiform tablets, dating to ca. 2000 BCE and containing works of Sumerian religious poetry. Edited, translated, and annotated by Christopher Metcalf, these poems shed light on the interaction between cult, scholarship, and scribal culture in Mesopotamia in the early second millennium BCE. The present volume contains fourteen songs composed in praise of the various gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon; it is believed that these songs were typically performed in temple cults. Among them are a song in praise of Sud, goddess of the ancient Mesopotamian city Shuruppak; a song describing the statue of the protective goddess Lamma-saga in the "Sacred City" temple complex at Girsu; and a previously unknown hymn dedicated to the creator god Enki. Each text is provided in transliteration and translation and accompanied by hand-copies and images of the tablets themselves. Expertly contextualizing each song in Babylonian religious and literary history, this thoroughly competent editio princeps will prove a valuable tool for scholars interested in the literary and religious traditions of ancient Mesopotamia.

This prose translation of the The Odyssey is so successful that is has taken its place as on the few really outstanding version of Homer's famous epic poem. It is the story of the return of Odysseus from the siege of Troy to his home in Ithaca, and of the vengeance he takes on the suitors of his wife Penelope. Odysseus' account of his adventures since leaving Troy includes his encounter with the huntress Circe, his visit to the Underworld, and the lure of the Sirens as he sails between Scylla and Charybdis.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Steinepigramme aus dem griechischen Osten (Stone epigrams from the Greek East) contains material from Asia Minor and the Orient, and provide texts carved in stone in an edition which includes translations, critical apparatus, commentary and bibliography. In volumes 1-4, 2122 Greek and Latin texts from Asia Minor and the Orient, of the period up to the 7th century A.D., have been reproduced, translated, annotated, and illustrated (approximately 700 illustrations). The index volume contains indexes of places, poems, poem beginnings, subjects, a concordance and above all, a list of personal names (pages 202 - 309) - Inscriptions are the best source of names (approximately 8000 occurring in our epigrams). Volume 5 also contains Addenda et Corrigenda (pages 17-49) with 29 new epigrams and an index of all additions and corrections (pages 1-16) with short additions.

This edition of Neidhart's lieder is not only a popular and widely-accepted reader much used in classes on the author, it also presents the text in its standard form, i.e. the form in which it is usually cited today. The revisions of this long-established edition since 1984 have all contained a critical apparatus notable for its elucidation of the relationship of the text to Aoeberlieferung R crucial for our image of Neidhart, and the extant melodies. This is the fifth revised edition. The text has been re-examined, the bibliography updated and errors removed.

Thinking of Death places Plato's Euthydemus among the dialogues that surround the trial and death of Socrates. A premonition of philosophy's fate arrives in the form of Socrates' encounter with the two-headed sophist pair, Euthydemus and Dionysodorus, who appear as if they are the ghost of the Socrates of Aristophanes' Thinkery. The pair vacillate between choral ode and rhapsody, as Plato vacillates between referring to them in the dual and plural number in Greek. Gwenda-lin Grewal's close reading explores how the structure of the dialogue and the pair's back-and-forth arguments bear a striking resemblance to thinking itself: in its immersive remove from reality, thinking simulates death even as it cannot conceive of its possibility. Euthydemus and Dionysodorus take this to an extreme, and so emerge as the philosophical dream and sophistic nightmare of being disembodied from substance. The Euthydemus is haunted by philosophy's tenuous relationship to political life. This is played out in the narration through Crito's implied criticism of Socrates-the phantom image of the Athenian laws-and in the drama itself, which appears to take place in Hades. Thinking of death thus brings with it a lurid parody of the death of thinking: the farce of perfect philosophy that bears the gravity of the city's sophistry. Grewal also provides a new translation of the Euthydemus that pays careful attention to grammatical ambiguities, nuances, and wit in ways that substantially expand the reader's access to the dialogue's mysteries.

The Solitary Sphere in the Age of Virgil uses an enriched tripartite model of Roman culture-touching not only the public and the private, but also the solitary-in order to present a radical re-interpretation of Latin literature and of the historical causes of this third sphere's relative invisibility in scholarship. By connecting Cosmos and Imperium to the Individual, the solitary sphere was not so much a way of avoiding politics, as a political education in itself. As re-imagined by literature in this age literature, this sphere was an essential space for the formation of the new Roman citizen of the Augustan revolution, and was behind many of the notable features of the literary revolution of Virgil's age: the expansion of the possibilities of the book of poetry, the birth of the literary cursus, new coordinations of cosmology and politics within strictly organized schemes, the attraction of first-person genres, and the subjective style. Through close readings of Cicero's late works and the oeuvres of Virgil, Horace, and Propertius and the works of other authors in the age of Virgil, The Solitary Sphere thus presents a revelatory reassessment of the classicism of classical Roman literature, and contributes to the study of pre-modern culture more generally, especially for traditions that have taken antiquity as too fixed a point in their own literary, religious, and cultural histories.

The Tale of Princess Fatima - the only Arabic epic named for a woman - recounts the thrilling adventures of a legendary warrior known throughout the Middle East. After being abandoned at birth, Princess Fatima, otherwise known as Dhat al-Himma, must rely on strength and cunning to take her to the head of a powerful army. Bitter tribal warfare, stealthy ambushes and globetrotting pursuits will eventually lead Fatima back to face her father, and to confront another fierce warrior woman in a mighty showdown . . . Published in English for the first time, The Tale of Princess Fatima wonderfully recreates medieval Arabia and introduces a formidable new feminist icon.

'Consider just this, and give your minds to this alone: whether or not what I say is just' Plato's account of Socrates' trial and death (399 BC) is a significant moment in Classical literature and the life of Classical Athens. In these four dialogues, Plato develops the Socratic belief in responsibility for one's self and shows Socrates living and dying under his philosophy. In Euthyphro, Socrates debates goodness outside the courthouse; Apology sees him in court, rebutting all charges of impiety; in Crito, he refuses an entreaty to escape from prison; and in Phaedo, Socrates faces his impending death with calmness and skilful discussion of immortality. Christopher Rowe's introduction to his powerful new translation examines the book's themes of identity and confrontation, and explores how its content is less historical fact than a promotion of Plato's Socratic philosophy.

This new volume in the Bloomsbury Ancient Comedy Companions series is perfect for students coming to one of Plautus' most whimsical, provocative, and influential plays for the first time, and a useful first point of reference for scholars less familiar with Roman comedy. Menaechmi is a tale of identical twin brothers who are separated as young children and reconnect as adults following a series of misadventures due to mistaken identity. A gluttonous parasite, manipulative courtesan, shrewish wife, crotchety father-in-law, bumbling cook, saucy handmaid, quack doctor, and band of thugs comprise the colourful cast of characters. Each encounter with a misidentified twin destabilizes the status quo and provides valuable insight into Roman domestic and social relationships. The book analyzes the power dynamics at play in the various relationships, especially between master and slave and husband and wife, in order to explore the meaning of freedom and the status of slaves and women in Roman culture and Roman comedy. These fundamental societal concerns gave Plautus' Menaechmi an enduring role in the classical tradition, which is also examined here, including notable adaptations by William Shakespeare, Jean Francois Regnard, Carlo Goldoni and Rodgers and Hart.

Dazzling modern lyrical poems from Catullus - by turns smutty, abusive, romantic and deeply moving. Introducing Little Black Classics: 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Catullus (c.84-54 BCE). Catullus's The Poems is available in Penguin Classics.

The two poems Descriptio S. Sophiae and Descriptio Ambonis of Paul the Silentiary, composed for the inauguration (562 AD) of the church of St. Sophia (Istanbul) after its partial rebuilding, are an invaluable source for the history of Byzantine arts and a beautiful piece of late Greek poetry. Silentiary's poems respectively describe the church and its (now lost) pulpit. The Descriptio S. Sophiae also contains a lavish praise of emperor Justinian and of the patriarch Eutichius. De Stefani s edition is based on a collation of the witness of the text, Heid. Pal. gr. 23, and takes into account all previous bibliography. Some corrupted passages of the poems have been emendated, thefew false readings still present in the text printed by the last, authoritative editor, P. Friedlander (1912), have been corrected."

War, glory, despair, and mourning: for 2,700 years, the Iliad has gripped listeners and readers with the story of Achilles' anger and Hector's death. It is a tale of many truths, speaking of powerful emotions, the failures of leadership, the destructive power of beauty, the quest for fame, the plight of women, and the cold callous laughter of the gods. Above all, it confronts us with war in all its brutality--and with fleeting images of peace, lovingly drawn, images which punctuate the poem as distant memories, startling comparisons, and doomed aspirations.
Anthony Verity's elegant and compelling new translation mirrors the directness, power, and dignity of Homer's poetry. Verity captures as well the essential features of oral poetry, such as repeated phrases and scenes, without sounding mannered or archaic, and his remarkably accurate verse hews closely to the original line numbers, which is invaluable for readers wishing to consult the secondary literature. Barbara Graziosi, an authority on Homeric poetry, offers a full introduction that illuminates the composition of the poem, its literary qualities, and the many different contexts in which it was performed and read. In addition, extensive notes offer book-by-book summaries and shed light on difficult words and passages, mythological allusions, references to ancient practices, and geographical names. An annotated bibliography offers a succinct guide to further scholarship in English; a full index of names enables the reader to trace particular characters through the text; and two maps elucidate the Catalogue of Ships and the Catalogue of the Trojans.
About the Series For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Studies on the Text of Seneca's De beneficiis is a companion volume to Kaster's Oxford Classical Texts critical edition of Seneca's De beneficiis, the first new edition in nearly a century. De beneficiis is the most detailed treatment surviving from antiquity of the proper ways to show favour to others and to express gratitude when one has been favoured. After a survey of the documentary resources (medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and earlier printed editions) on which our knowledge of the text depends, the core of the book-seven chapters, one for each of the treatise's seven books-treats 200 passages where the Latin text is or has been thought to be corrupt and clarifies the reasons for favouring the reading adopted in the new edition. Three appendices treat further matters of detail. Three indexes detailing passages discussed or cited, personal names, and manuscripts and editions provide a useful guide for the reader.

Cornelius Nepos' De viris illustribus was a collection of biographies of distinguished Romans and foreigners, originally arranged in at least sixteen books, of which only the Liber de excellentibus ducibus exterarum gentium has survived. In this volume, Francesco Ginelli provides a philological, stylistic, grammatical, and historical commentary on the first eight Vitae of the Liber, comprising Miltiades, Themistocles, Aristides, Pausanias, Cimon, Lysander, Alcibiades, and Thrasybulus, all eminent generals of the fifth century BCE. Ginelli also provides a substantial introduction, giving an overview of Nepos' life, the key features of his works, and the manuscript tradition of the De viris illustribus. As the first academic commentary on Nepos' biographies of the Greek commanders of the fifth century BCE, this book will fill a gap in Latin studies, providing a useful tool for both students and scholars interested in Nepos, as well as those interested in ancient biography and Latin historiography more generally.

This monograph provides a review of the history of praise of rulers composed in hexameters (so-called panegyric epic) from the fourth to the sixth century A.D. Panegyric epic is a form of literature that only came to be of particular importance in Late Antiquity, although it drew upon and adapted a variety of Graeco-Roman literary traditions. Following a general description of the literary and historical-cultural preconditions for the development of Late Antique panegyric, this study presents its most important practitioners and their works, as well as detailing the development of the various traditions of Late Antique verse panegyric.

Greek myth comes to us through many different channels. Our best source for the ways that local communities told and used these stories is a travel guide from the second century AD, the Periegesis of Pausanias. Pausanias gives us the clearest glimpse of ancient Greek myth as a living, local tradition. He shows us that the physical landscape was nothing without the stories of heroes and gods that made sense of it, and reveals what was at stake in claims to possess the past. He also demonstrates how myths guided curious travellers to particular places, the kinds of responses they provoked, and the ways they could be tested or disputed. The Periegesis attests to a form of cultural tourism we would still recognise: it is animated by the desire to see for oneself distant places previously only read about. It shows us how travellers might map the literary landscapes that they imagined on to the reality, and how locals might package their cities to meet the demands of travellers' expectations. In Pausanias in the World of Greek Myth, Greta Hawes uses Pausanias's text to illuminate the spatial dynamics of myth. She reveals the significance of local stories in an Empire connected by a shared literary repertoire, and the unifying power of a tradition made up paradoxically of narratives that took diverse, conflicting forms on the ground. We learn how storytelling and the physical infrastructures of the Greek mainland were intricately interwoven such that the decline or flourishing of the latter affected the archive of myth that Pausanias transmits.