G. O. Hutchinson - Böcker

The work of the Hellenistic poets in the third century BC has not only an important place in Greek literature, but also a particular significance for Latin poetry. Despite much technical work on the texts and language of these authors - Theocritus, Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius, and others - previous literary criticism on most of the major figures is limited in quantity and scope. Dr Hutchinson provides a much needed picture of the poetry of this period, and shows its quality and vitality. He explores the work of the individual writers in turn, while developing a general conception of the poetry as a whole, centred around the poets' handling of tone, level, and form. Of particualr interest to many readers, the book culminates in the presentation of a fresh approach to the influence of Hellenistic poets in Rome. All quotations in Greek or Latin have been translated by the author, making this important new approach to the subject readily accessible to everyone seriously interested in classics - those with simply a basic knowledge of the background as well as students and scholars in the field.

This book explores central aspects of the period in Latin literature often depreciatingly termed 'Silver'. It is unusual in embracing both poetry and prose, and in offering close literary discussion of a large number of particular passages. It is not a history, but a selective and comparative study--throwing fresh light on the period as a whole, on individual authors, and on differences and affinities between genres. Most space is given to epic and tragedy, and to the prose of Seneca and Tacitus; but Juvenal, Martial, the Younger Pliny, and other authors are also treated. The book also considers large features of genre and relates these to fundamental elements of style and to the treatment of some vital themes. It aims to give the reader a feeling for this brilliant, and extraordinary writing, and a sense of the excitement and fascination of the literary period. All Latin in the text is translated.

The work of the Hellenistic poets in the third century BC has not only an important place in Greek literature, but also a particular significance for Latin poetry. Despite much technical work on the texts and language of these authors - Theocritus, Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius, and others - previous literary criticism on most of the major figures is limited in quantity and scope.In this new paperback edition, Dr Hutchinson explores the work of the individual writers in turn, while developing a general conception of the poetry as a whole, centred around the poets' handling of tone, level, and form. The book culminates in the presentation of a fresh approach to the influence of Hellenistic poets in Rome. All quotations in Greek or Latin have been translated by the author.

A major edition of Aeschylus' play, the Septem Contra Thebas or Seven Against Thebes, providing a significantly new text, introduction, and full scale commentary. The book deals comprehensively with every important aspect of the play, both in detail and in overview, and offers a fresh approach to its overall interpretation. An invaluable tool for anyone studying Aeschylus or Greek tragedy more generally.

There has been a great revival of interest in the writings of Cicero, one of the most important Latin prose writers; his letters have remained unaccountably neglected, save for basic textual and explanatory work, and for detailed history. This study shows that Cicero's letters should be regarded as artistic works, the artistry no less real for being bound up with personal situations. With close analyses, extensive use of contemporary literature, and a new understanding of the role of rhythm in the letters, Prof Hutchinson reveals the value of approaching the letters as writing. Such an approach will be found of significance for history as well as literature. All Latin in the text is translated. translated.

Greek literature is divided, like many literatures, into poetry and prose, but in Greek the difference between them is not that all prose is devoid of firm rhythmic patterning. In the earlier Roman Empire, from 31 BC to about AD 300, much Greek (and Latin) prose was actually written to follow one organized rhythmic system. How much Greek prose adopted this patterning has hitherto been quite unclear; the present volume for the first time establishes an answer on an adequate basis: substantial data drawn from numerous authors. It constitutes the first extensive study of prose-rhythm in later Greek literature.The book focuses particularly on one of the greatest Imperial works: Plutarch's Lives. It rests on a scansion of the whole work, almost 100,000 phrases. Rhythm is seen to make a vital contribution to the literary analysis of Plutarch's writing, and prose-rhythm is revealed as a means of expression, which draws attention to words and word-groups. Some passages in the Lives pack rhythms together more closely than others; much of the discussion concentrates on such rhythmically dense passages, examining them in detail in commentary form. These passages do not occur randomly, but attract attention to themselves. They are marked out as climactic in the narrative, or as in other ways of highlighted significance: joyful summations, responses to catastrophe, husbands and wives, fathers and sons compared. These remarkable passages make apparent the greatness of Plutarch as a prose-writer - a side of him fairly little considered amid the huge resurgence of work on Plutarch as an author and as a major historical source. Some passages from three Greek novelists, both rhythmic and unrhythmic, are closely analysed too. The book demonstrates how rhythm can be integrated with other aspects of criticism, and how it has the ability to open up new vistas on three prolific centuries of literary history.

Classical literature is full of humans, gods, and animals in impressive motion. The specific features of this motion are expressive; it is closely intertwined with decisions, emotions, and character. However, although the importance of space has recently been realized with the advent of the 'spatial turn' in the humanities, motion has yet to receive such attention, for all its prominence in literature and its interest to ancient philosophy. This volume begins with an exploration of motion in particular works of visual art, and continues by examining the characteristics of literary depiction. Seven works are then used as case-studies: Homer's Iliad, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Tacitus' Annals, Sophocles' Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus, Parmenides' On Nature, and Seneca's Natural Questions. The two narrative poems diverge rewardingly, as do the philosophical poetry and prose. Important in the philosophical poem and the prose history are metaphorical motion and the absence of motion; the dramas scrutinize motion verbally and visually. Each study first pursues the general roles of motion in the particular work and provides detail on its language of motion. It then engages in close analysis of particular passages, to show how much emerges when motion is scrutinized. Among the aspects which emerge as important are speed, scale, and shape of movement; motion and fixity; the movement of one person and a group; motion willed and imposed; motion in images and in unrealized possibilities. The conclusion looks at these aspects across the works, and at differences of genre and period. This new and stimulating approach opens up extensive areas for interpretation; it can also be productively applied to the literature of successive eras.

This book presents a new text and a detailed commentary for many of the central pieces of Greek lyric poetry. For authors from Alcman to Simonides, the pieces chosen are usually the longest and best-preserved; a single large poem each is taken from Bacchylides and Pindar; two odes from tragedy illustrate the adoption of lyric into drama. The text and apparatus contain the results of fresh work on the papyri and numerous new suggestions. The commentary is chiefly literary, and there is an introduction to each poet which gives the works a context from a wide range of evidence. The book joins textual and literary criticism of the poets together, providing a close and sustained analysis of important poems across the genre, and enables the reader to see in detail the development and diversity of a remarkable body of poetry.

A comprehensive literary commentary on many of the central pieces of Greek lyric poetry, including works by Alcman, Stesichorus, Sappho, Alcaeus, Ibycus, Anacreon, Simonides, Bacchylides, Pindar, Sophocles, and Euripides. The pieces chosen are usually the longest and best-preserved; a single large poem each is taken from Bacchylides and Pindar; two odes from tragedy illustrate the adoption of lyric into drama. The volume includes the Greek texts and apparatus, which incorporate fresh work on the papyri and numerous new suggestions. Introductions to each poet set the poetry in its historical and literary context. The book brings textual and literary criticism of the poets together, providing a close and sustained analysis of important poems across the genre, and so enables the reader to see in detail the development and diversity of a remarkable body of poetry.

Increasing importance is being attached to how Greek and Latin books of poems were arranged, but such research has often been carried out with little attention to the physical fragments of actual ancient poetry-books. In this extensive study Gregory Hutchinson investigates the design of Greek and Latin books of poems in the light of papyri, including recent discoveries. A series of discussions of major poems and collections from two central periods of Greek and Latin literature is framed by a substantial and illustrated survey of poetry-books and reading, and by a more theoretical discussion of structures involving books. The main poets discussed are Callimachus, Apollonius, Posidippus, Catullus, Horace, and Ovid; a chapter on Latin didactic includes Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, and Manilius.

The relationship between Latin and Greek literature is one of the most fundamental questions for Latin literature, and for the reception of Greek literature. This innovative volume shows some of the contexts in which the interaction of the literatures should be viewed. Professor Hutchinson investigates Roman conceptions of their own literary history and Greek literary history as two chronological sequences, artificially separated, and takes the reader around the Mediterranean to see the different places where Romans encountered Greek art with words. The volume looks at Roman perceptions of the contrasting Greek and Latin languages, and compares in detail Latin adaptation of Greek writing with Latin adaptation of Latin. It views the different approaches to Greek material, ideas, and works between three prose 'super-genres', and within the poetic 'super-genre' of hexameters. It is based on an independent collection of evidence, and draws extensively on inscriptions, archaeology, papyri, scholia, and a wide range of texts.

Polybius is one of the most remarkable ancient historians, excelling as source, theorist and writer. Book 8 shows many sides of this extraordinary author: the superb narrator, recounting the tragic end of the potentate Achaeus and Hannibal's diverting capture of Tarentum with the aid of wild boar; the technical writer on Archimedes' sensational machines for destroying Roman ships; the zestful polemicist, railing against Theopompus' diatribe on the friends of Philip II; the thinker about history and the interconnection of world events. This edition, the first of its kind, includes a new text of Book 8 and an introduction to the book and Polybius as a whole. The commentary provides a wealth of historical and archaeological material and will enable readers to understand Polybius' Hellenistic Greek and appreciate his expression and artistry. It will help intermediate and advanced students, as well as scholars, enjoy Polybius as a writer.