Under the Roman Empire Greek literature experienced a renaissance. This flowering of interest in the Classics was in part a revival of the traditional culture associated with the glorious past and in part a development of new forms such as the novel, the classical lecture and the erotic letter. This literature has traditionally been considerably underrated and the essays in this 1982 volume of Yale Classical Studies were collected in an attempt to draw attention to the literary excellence of some undeservedly neglected authors and to inspire more readers to take them seriously. As the editors say in their introduction: 'nowadays we look to papyrology for ocasional revelations of exciting new pieces of ancient literature, but there are masterpieces already on the shelves waiting to be noticed'. This book will be of interest to students of Greek literature and ancient hsitory, especially to those concerned with post-Hellenistic Greek culture.
