This novel, ground-breaking study aims to define Hesiod's place in early Greek intellectual history by exploring his conception of language and the ways in which it represents reality. Divided into three parts, it addresses a network of issues related to etymology, word-play, and semantics, and examines how these contribute to the development of the argument and the concepts of knowledge and authority in the Theogony and the Works and Days. Part I demonstrates how much we can learn about the poet's craft and his relation to the poetic tradition if we read his etymologies carefully, while Part II takes the discussion of the 'correctness of language' further - this correctness does not amount to a naïvely assumed one-to-one correspondence between signifier and signified. Correct names and correct language are 'true' because they reveal something particular about the concept or entity named, as numerous examples show; more importantly, however, correct language is imitative of reality, in that language becomes more opaque, ambiguous, and indeterminate as we delve deeper into the exploration of the condicio humana and the ambiguities and contradictions that characterize it in the Works and Days. Part III addresses three moments of Hesiodic reception, with individual chapters comparing Hesiod's implicit theory of language and cognition with the more explicit statements found in early mythographers and genealogists, demonstrating the importance of Hesiod's poetry for Plato's etymological project in the Cratylus, and discussing the ways in which some ancient philologists treat Hesiod as one of their own. What emerges is a new and invaluable perspective on a hitherto under-explored chapter in early Greek linguistic thought which ascertains more clearly Hesiod's place in Greek intellectual history as a serious thinker who introduced some of the questions that occupied early Greek philosophy.

This fascinating volume rethinks the relationship between early Greek philosophers and the epic poet Hesiod, by presenting fifteen studies that offer different perspectives on matters of style, genre, intertextuality and the history of ideas.

This collection brings together twenty eight chapters written by Stephen Harrison’s colleagues and former students from around the globe to celebrate both his distinguished teaching and research career as a classicist and his outstanding and admirable service to the international classical community. The wide variety of original contributions on topics ranging from Greek to Latin and ancient literature’s reception in opera and contemporary writing is divided into five parts. Each corresponds to the staggering publication record of the honorand, encompassing, as it does, a broad literary spectrum, starting from the literature of the end of the Roman Republic and coming down to Neo-Latin and the reception of Classics in Irish, in English poetry and in European literature and culture in general. This corpus of compelling chapters is hoped to match Stephen Harrison’s rich research output in an illuminating dialogue with it.

Harnesses the insights generated by 30 years of reception studies to enhance the study of classical Greek literature.

While the field of classics has informed and influenced the early developments of the field of psychology, these two disciplines presently enjoy fewer fruitful cross-fertilizations than one would expect. This book shows how the study of classics can help psychologists anchor their scientific findings in a historical, literary and philosophical framework, while insights of contemporary psychology offer new hermeneutic methods and explanations to classicists. This book is the first to date to offer a wide-ranging overview of the possibilities of marrying contemporary trends in psychology and classical studies. Advocating a critical dialogue between both disciplines, it offers novel reflections on psychotherapy, ancient philosophy, social psychology, literature and its theory, historiography, psychoanalysis, tragedy, the philosophy of mind, linguistics and reception. With twenty contributions by specialists in different fields, it promotes the combination of classical and psychological perspectives, and demonstrates the methods and rewards of such an endeavour through concrete case studies. This pioneering book is thus intended for all readers who seek inspiration for their readings, research, or therapeutic practice.

This book delves into the intricate and, as argued, essential relationship between poetics and religion in Pindar. It explores how performance, cult, and religious attitudes intersect, offering readers a nuanced approach to Pindaric poetry concerning the relationship between mortals and the divine. Marinis approaches the world of Pindaric poetry within its historical context, enabling readers to explore the cultural and religious foundations of Pindar’s lyric verse. The chapters examine both epinician poetry and cultic songs, the two major genres of the Pindaric corpus. This monograph focuses on the interconnectedness of poetics and religion, a central question that is essential for understanding the distinctive nature of Pindaric poetry. It examines the diverse ways in which Pindaric poetic tropes intersect with religious themes through detailed analysis and scholarly research. Readers gain an understanding of the significance of performance and cult in the public enactment of Pindar’s works, exploring the relations between mortals – the composer of the song, its performer, and the victor in the case of epinician poetry – and the divine, highlighting the complexities of ancient Greek literature regarding religious practices and attitudes. Through its rigorous examination of Pindaric poetics and religious themes, this book offers readers a profound insight into the religious dimensions of ancient Greek poetry and the enduring legacy of Pindar’s oeuvre. Poetics and Religion in Pindar is suitable for scholars and students working on ancient Greek literature, particularly the works of Pindar and lyric poetry, as well as those interested in classical literature and ancient Greek religion and culture more broadly.

Argues that Greek thinkers engaged with linguistic concepts developed by Mesopotamian scribes in a process leading to new discoveries.

The Homeric Centos, a poem that is Homeric in style and biblical in theme, is a dramatic illustration of the creative cultural and religious dialogue between Classical Antiquity and Christianity taking place in the Roman Empire during the fifth century CE. The text is attributed to Eudocia, empress and poet, who died in exile in the Holy Land ca. 460. With lines drawn verbatim from Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the poem begins with the Creation and Fall and ends with Jesus' Resurrection and Ascension. In this blend of Homeric style and Christian themes, there are also echoes of Classical and classicising literature, stretching from Homer and drama to imperial literature. Equally prominent are echoes of earlier Christian canonical and apocryphal works, verse models, and theological works. In The Homeric Centos: Homer and the Bible Interwoven, Anna Lefteratou analyzes the double inspiration of the poem by both classical and Christian traditions. This book explores the works relationship with the cultural milieu of the fifth century CE and offers in-depth analysis of the scenes of Creation and Fall, and Jesus' Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension. This book exposes the work's debt to centuries of Homeric reception and interpretation as well as Christian literature and exegesis, and places it at the crossroads of Christian and pagan literary traditions.

The Cambridge Companion to Archaic Greece provides a wide-ranging synthesis of history, society, and culture during the formative period of Ancient Greece, from the Age of Homer in the late eighth century to the Persian Wars of 490–480 BC. In ten clearly written and succinct chapters, leading scholars from around the English-speaking world treat all aspects of the civilization of Archaic Greece, from social, political, and military history to early achievements in poetry, philosophy, and the visual arts. Archaic Greece was an age of experimentation and intellectual ferment that laid the foundations for much of Western thought and culture. Individual Greek city-states rose to great power and wealth, and after a long period of isolation, many cities sent out colonies that spread Hellenism to all corners of the Mediterranean world. This Companion offers a vivid and fully documented account of this critical stage in the history of the West.

This first in-depth account of Euripides' relationship with the visual arts demonstrates how frequently the tragedian used language to visual effect, whether through allusion or actual references to objects, motifs built around real or imaginary objects, or the use of technical terminology.