Douglas L. Cairns – författare

This is the first study in English to examine across the range of Greek literature one of the most crucial terms in Greek ethical and social discourse, aidos. Commonly rendered `shame', `modesty', or `respect', aidos is also notoriously one of the most elusive and difficult Greek words to translate. In this book Dr Cairns discusses the nature and application of aidos and other relevant terms in a number of authors, with particular emphasis on their manifestations in epic, tragedy, and philosophy. He shows that the essence of the concept is to be found in its relationship with Greek values of honour, in which context it can recognize and respond to the honour of both the self and others. It thus involves both self- and other- regarding behaviour, competitive and co-operative values. Despite this crucial relationship with systems of honour, however, the possession of aidos at no stage rules out the sort of commitment to internalized standards or ideals which we might associate with conscience.

This anthology makes accessible to the reader sixteen of the most important studies of Homer and the Iliad to appear in the last forty years. The essays, by leading Homeric scholars from Great Britain, the United States, and Europe, deal not only with the aesthetics and artistry of the Iliad as a poetic artefact, but with its historical context, its cultural background, and its ethical and political framework. Other major topics include the relation between the Iliad and other early epics (the Odyssey, the Epic Cycle), the interface between epic and other genres, such as tragedy, and the complex interaction that exists between the Iliad and the wider traditions of oral poetry and mythical narrative in which it belongs.Two of the contributions have been translated especially for this volume; several have been thoroughly revised and updated, and others are provided with Addenda taking account of recent work in the field. In a detailed and wide-ranging introduction Douglas Cairns sets the contributions in the context of contemporary scholarship and explores significant connections between them. All Greek is translated and a glossary of transliterated Greek terms is provided.

This anthology makes accessible to the reader sixteen of the most important studies of Homer and the Iliad to appear in the last forty years. The essays, by leading Homeric scholars from Great Britain, the United States, and Europe, deal not only with the aesthetics and artistry of the Iliad as a poetic artefact, but with its historical context, its cultural background, and its ethical and political framework. Other major topics include the relation between the Iliad and other early epics (the Odyssey, the Epic Cycle), the interface between epic and other genres, such as tragedy, and the complex interaction that exists between the Iliad and the wider traditions of oral poetry and mythical narrative in which it belongs.Two of the contributions have been translated especially for this volume; several have been thoroughly revised and updated, and others are provided with Addenda taking account of recent work in the field. In a detailed and wide-ranging introduction Douglas Cairns sets the contributions in the context of contemporary scholarship and explores significant connections between them. All Greek is translated and a Glossary of transliterated Greek terms is provided.

A distinguished cast of scholars discusses models of gesture and non-verbal communication as they apply to Greek and Roman culture, literature and art. Topics include dress and costume in the Homeric poems; the importance of looking, eye-contact, and face-to-face orientation in Greek society; the construction of facial expression in Greek and Roman epic; the significance of gesture and body language in the visual meaning of ancient sculpture; the evidence for gesture and performance style in the texts of ancient drama; the erotic significance of feet and footprints; and the role of gesture in Roman law. The volume seeks to apply a sense of history as well as of theory in interpreting non-verbal communication. It looks both at the cross-cultural and at the culturally specific in its treatment of this important but long-neglected aspect of Classical Studies.