Product Information
In the wake of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey , poets of the seventh and sixth centuries BC composed epics which covered other parts of the Trojan War story or different areas of Greek mythology. Quotations from them and other testimonies as to their content survive in later authors and the evidence thus assembled allows us to reconstruct something of the poems' contents. Collectively these poems came to be known by Hellenistic scholars in Alexandria as 'The Epic Cycle'. With their often grotesque and fantastic tales, the cyclic poems were an important source for later writers of epic. Yet they also present a wealth of fascinating mythological details in their own right and provide absorbing variation on the traditional themes presented in Homer. Why are certain themes frequently used, while others are neglected in various poems? Such considerations enhance an overall appreciation of epic theme and outlook. This short study provides an introduction to the Cycle for students and scholars of Greek epic, and of Classical civilisation and mythology more generally. All quotations are translated, making the material accessible to those with little or no Greek.Product Identifiers
PublisherBloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN-139781853990397
eBay Product ID (ePID)96322477
Product Key Features
Book TitleThe Greek Epic Cycle
AuthorMalcolm Davies
FormatPaperback
LanguageEnglish
TopicLiterature
Publication Year2001
Dimensions
Item Height216mm
Item Width140mm
Additional Product Features
Title_AuthorMalcolm Davies
Country/Region of ManufactureUnited Kingdom