A guide to Hellenistic literature

278 Pages·2.57 MB·English

by  Gutzwiller, Kathryn J

Gutswiller pb cover 19/10/05 16:27 Page 1
BLACKWELL GUIDES TO CLASSICAL LITERATURE BLACKWELL GUIDES TO CLASSICAL LITERATURE
"This thoughtfully designed guide not only provides background, play summaries, G
critical analysis, and bibliography, but also surveys modern approaches to Greek u
t
drama. Comprehensive, reliable, and enlightening, it will be a boon to students z
w
and their teachers."
Justina Gregory,Smith College il
l
e
r
This Blackwell Guide provides a broad-ranging introduction to ancient Greek
drama, which flourished principally in Athens from the sixth to the third century BC.
All three genres of Greek drama are discussed – tragedy, comedy, and satyr play –
HA
as well as the five surviving playwrights – Aeschylus, Sophokles, Euripides,
Aristophanes, and Menander, together with brief entries on lost playwrights.
E
G
L
The Guidealso addresses contextual issues, such as: the origins of the dramatic art
U
forms; the conventions of the festivals, the theater, and the performers; the L
relationship between drama and the worship of Dionysos; the political dimension; EI
D
and how to read and watch Greek drama. The final section consists of 46 one-page
N
synopses of each of the surviving plays. E
I
S
Ian C. Storeyis Professor of Classics and Ancient History and Principal of T
I
Otonabee College, Trent University, Ontario. He is the author ofEupolis: Poet of TO
Old Comedy(2003).
I

C
Arlene Allan is Assistant Professor of Classics and Ancient History, Trent University,
Ontario.
L
I
T
E
R A GUIDE TO HELLENISTIC
A
Cover illustration: Detail of actors from Apulian red-figure bell krater, attributed to the Choregos Painter,
T
ca. 380 BC. © The J. Paul Getty Museum, Villa Collection, Malibu, California
LITERATURE
U
Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford
R
Printed in the United Kingdom
E
Visit our website at
Kathryn Gutzwiller
www.blackwellpublishing.com
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page i 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
A Guide to Hellenistic Literature
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page ii 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
BLACKWELL GUIDES TO CLASSICAL LITERATURE
Each volumeoffers coverage ofpoliticaland cultural context, brief
essayson key authors, historical figures, and themost important literary
works, and a survey of crucial themes. The series provides the necessary
background to read classicalliterature with confidence.
Published
A Guide toHellenistic Literature
Kathryn Gutzwiller
AGuide to Ancient GreekDrama
Ian C. Storey and Arlene Allan
Inpreparation
A Guide toEpicPoetry
Brendon Reay and Timothy Hampton
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page iii 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
A Guide to
Hellenistic Literature
Kathryn Gutzwiller
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page iv 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
(cid:1)2007byKathrynGutzwiller
BLACKWELLPUBLISHING
350MainStreet,Malden,MA02148-5020,USA
9600GarsingtonRoad,OxfordOX42DQ,UK
550SwanstonStreet,Carlton,Victoria3053,Australia
TherightofKathrynGutzwillertobeidentifiedastheAuthorofthisWorkhasbeenasserted
inaccordancewiththeUKCopyright,Designs,andPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,
recordingorotherwise,exceptaspermittedbytheUKCopyright,Designs,andPatentsAct
1988,withoutthepriorpermissionofthepublisher.
Firstpublished2007byBlackwellPublishingLtd
1 2007
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Gutzwiller,KathrynJ.
AguidetoHellenisticliterature/KathrynGutzwiller.
p.cm.—(Blackwellguidestoclassicalliterature)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-631-23321-3(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-13:978-0-631-23322-0(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Greekliterature,Hellenistic—Historyandcriticism.I.Title.
PA3081.G882007
880.9’001–dc22
2006025004
AcataloguerecordforthistitleisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
Setin10/12.5Calisto
bySPiPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India
PrintedandboundinSingapore
byCOSPrintersPteLtd
Thepublisher’spolicyistousepermanentpaperfrommillsthatoperateasustainableforestry
policy,andwhichhasbeenmanufacturedfrompulpprocessedusingacid-freeandelemen-
tarychlorine-freepractices.Furthermore,thepublisherensuresthatthetextpaperandcover
boardusedhavemetacceptableenvironmentalaccreditationstandards.
Forfurtherinformationon
BlackwellPublishing,visitourwebsite:
www.blackwellpublishing.com
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page v 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
To Louise Price Hoy
and
In Memory ofBarbara Hughes Fowler
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_1_pretoc FinalProof page vi 27.1.2007 2:09pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_2_toc FinalProof page vii 27.1.2007 2:14pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
Contents
List of Figures ix
List of Maps x
Preface xi
1 History and Culture 1
1.1 The Successors 2
1.2 Macedonia and Greece 4
1.3 Seleucid Asia 8
1.4 Attalid Pergamum 12
1.5 Ptolemaic Egypt 16
2 Aesthetics and Style 26
2.1 Aesthetic Principles 29
2.2 Meter, Dialect, and Diction 36
2.3 Literature asArtefact 43
3 Authors and Genres 50
3.1 Menander 50
3.2 Callimachus 60
3.3 Apollonius ofRhodes 74
3.4 Theocritusand the Other BucolicPoets 84
3.5 DidacticPoetry 97
3.6 Epigrams 106
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_2_toc FinalProof page viii 27.1.2007 2:14pm CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
viii CONTENTS
3.7 Dramatic Poetry 120
3.8 Parodic and Philosophical Literature 131
3.9 Polybius 144
3.10 Technical Prose Writing 154
4 Topics inHellenistic Literature 168
4.1 Learning and Innovation 169
4.2 BookCulture and Performance 178
4.3 Social and Political Background 188
4.4 The Critical Impulse in Literatureand Art 202
4.5 Receptionin Rome 213
Notes 223
Chronological Tables 228
Suggested Reading 230
Bibliography 239
Index 251
Gutzwiller:GuidetoHellenisticLiterature 0631233213_3_posttoc FinalProof page ix 30.1.2007 10:57am CompositorName:PDjeapradaban
Figures
1.1 Tyche ofAntioch 10
1.2 Altar ofZeus at Pergamum, as restored inBerlin 13
1.3 Dancing Satyr 15
1.4 Coin portrait ofPtolemyI Soterand Berenice I 16
1.5 Terracotta figurine ofa young woman from Alexandria 19
1.6 Coin portrait ofPtolemyII and Arsinoe II 20
2.1 Girl with tablet on her knees 44
2.2 Writing materials 45
3.1 Manuscript illustration from Apollonius ofCitium’s OnJoints 164
4.1 Gem with portrait ofa Ptolemaic queen 196
4.2 Thetis and the shield ofAchilles 211