The Epic Journey in Greek and Roman Literature

Thomas Biggs is Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Georgia. He specializes in Roman literature and culture, especially poetry and poetics, and is completing a book on the First Punic War, the representation of history in Latin literature, and the development of the epic genre. Jessica Blum is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at the University of San Francisco. Her research focuses on imperial Latin poetry and the epic tradition, and she is completing a monograph on the interaction of visual effects, genre, and discourses of exemplarity in Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica, with a particular focus on the character of Hercules.

'This book is accessible to nonspecialists but is more likely to be appreciated by classical scholars, especially those focusing on epics, Greek and Roman history, and ancient views of gender and domestic life … Recommended.' S. E. Goins, Choice

• 1. Introduction Thomas Biggs and Jessica Blum; Part I. Odyssean Journeys: 2. In and out of the Golden Age – a Hesiodic reading of the Odyssey Egbert J. Bakker; 3. Pompē in the Odyssey Alexander C. Loney; 4. 'What country, friends, is this?' Geography and exemplarity in Valerius Flaccus' Argonautica Jessica Blum; Part II. Gendered Maps: 5. Wandering, love and home in Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica and Heliodorus' Aethiopica Silvia Montiglio; 6. Heroes and homemakers in Xenophon Emily Baragwanath; 7. Women's travels in the Aeneid Alison Keith; Part III. Rome's Journey – Construction of Rome through Travel: 8. Epic journeys on an urban scale – movement and travel in Virgil's Aeneid Timothy M. O'Sullivan; 9. Roman and Carthaginian journeys – Punic Pietas in Naevius' Bellum Punicum and Plautus' Poenulus Thomas Biggs; 10. Defining home, defining Rome – Germanicus' Eastern tour Cynthia Damon and Elizabeth Palazzolo; 11. Odyssean wanderings and Greek responses to Roman Empire Andrew C. Johnston; Part IV. Unearthly Journeys: 12. From Rome to the Moon – Rutilius Namatianus and the Late antique game of knowledge Martin Devecka 13. Looking back in wonder – contemplating Homer from the Iliad to Pale Blue Dot Karen ní Mheallaigh.