Duckworth Classical Essays – serie

Ancient Greek poetry, even at its most sophisticated, presupposed a degree of familiarity with and assimilation of many more elementary types of song. The continuous if uneven interplay between high-flown literature, on the one hand, and sub-literary popular oral song types, on the other, cannot be underestimated in any account of ancient Greek poetry. In "Eroticism in Ancient and Medieval Greek Poetry", John Petropoulos discusses the features of ancient Greek poetry, particularly amatory poetry, that can be attributed to the influence of popular song and, conversely, looks at how 'higher' poetry affected 'lower' genres in antiquity and medieval times. He goes on to investigate the relation between certain types of modern Greek folk song and their medieval - even ancient - predecessors. Concentrating on four cases that illuminate the evolution of the imagery, motifs and formal traits of love songs, this wide-ranging interdisciplinary study will be of interest to classicists and non-classicists alike, and particularly those concerned with popular eroticism and the colourful history of love songs in the Greek world.

In a poem written in exile, Ovid pictures his latest book in conversation with his previous volumes, united in the bookcase containing his collected works back in Rome. One can imagine their dialogue - in the protected space of the whispering bookcase - as loaded with allusion and intertextuality. "Speaking Volumes", a collection of essays by the classicist Alessandro Barchiesi examines Ovid and his 'rationalistic art of illusion' along with intertextuality in Latin literature more generally, and in the wider context of the Graeco-Roman tradition. Professor Barchiesi provides perspectives on the literary selfconsciousness of the Latin poets, the allusive density of their texts, and the conflict between poetry and power in the Augustan age. The conflict between classicists and the texts they comment on, argue over and theorise about is also examined. Among the recurring topics in this book are the impact of intertextuality on the form of epic and epistle, the strategic significance of allusive poetics in a political context, and the importance of reading and interpretation as poetic themes.

Ethical dilemmas and heated arguments on abortion very similar to our own, exercised Greek and Roman doctors, philosophers, historians, theologians, dramatists, novelists and poets. In this study, Professor Kapparis extrapolates the views of ancient physicians on abortion from a detailed investigation of the medical facts, medical and philosophical theories concerning the human status of the unborn in antiquity, the Hippocratic Oath, and other important documents on Greek medical ethics. He explores the reasons why women in antiquity sought abortions, male concerns and attitudes towards abortion, and religious, social, cultural and demographic trends influencing the legal status of abortion in antiquity. "Abortion in the Ancient World" thus presents the ancient debate on abortion and its ethics against its historical, legal, economic, social and cultural background, and links it to the modern debate.

Decimus Magnus Ausonius of Bordeaux, whose life spanned the greater part of the fourth century AD, was one of the most significant literary and political figures of his age. After an academic career in his native Gaul he was appointed tutor to the future emperor Gratian, a position through which he achieved great power for himself and his family. He was made consul in 379 and later lived to enjoy a ripe old age as the grand old man of Latin letters. In this modern edition of Ausonius' short poems, collected together under the general heading of epigrams, N.M. Kay gives a line-by-line commentary dealing with points of literary, linguistic, historical and other interest. The epigrams throw light on many aspects of Ausonius' life, career and attitudes as well as on fourth-century Latin literature, and will thus be of interest to students of the fourth-century western world, of Latin literature, and of the epigram form in particular. This edition includes both Latin text and translation.

How should I interpret a classical text? However I interpret it, someone else will so do differently, and even the nature of the interpreter's task is a matter of dispute; consensus is not a realistic prospect. Malcolm Heath sees the inevitability of such disagreements, not as a problem to be deplored, but as a constructive force, at once an essential part of the process of enquiry and a reflection of the endless diversity of the questions that interest the readers of classical texts. Accordingly he argues for an approach to interpretation that is theoretically reflective and committed to an open-ended, yet rigorously critical, pluralism. Against that background he examines a range of issues in literary theory, including the nature and significance of authorial intention, the relevance of context and reception, and the possibility and value of historically oriented interpretation.

Slavery was a fundamental institution in the world of the ancient Greeks and Romans. It has attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, but little agreement. The modern debate has sometimes been bitter - unsurprisingly, given its background in the abolitionist atmosphere of the 19th century. As we enter the 21st century the battleground has started to shift: can the historian hope to reconstruct the life of ancient slaves, or just fragments of their image in Greek and Roman literature? More than most topics, the ancient slave has therefore attracted constant modern redefinition. But how far do we see the slave better, and how far do we, like the ancient Greeks and Romans, use the idea of the slave to offer a refracted image of ourselves?