Overview

Brilliantly applying insights and methodologies from anthropology, literary theory, and the social sciences to the historical study of archaic lyric, Poetry and Its Public in Ancient Greece, winner of Italy's prestigious Viareggio Prize, develops a new Picture of the literary history of Greece. An essentially practical art, ancient Greek poetry was clocely linked to the realities of social and political life and to the actual behavior of individuals within a community. Its mythological content was didactic and pedagogical. But Greek poetry differs radically from modern forms in its mode of communication: it was designed not for reading but for performance, with musical accompaniment, before an audience. In analyzing the formal and social aspects of this performance context, Gentili illuminates such topics as oral composition and improvisation, oral transmission and memory, the connections betweek poetry and music, the changing socioeconomic situation of the artist, and the relations among poets, patrons, and the public.

Full Product Details

Author:   Bruno Gentili ,  A. Thomas Cole
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.567kg
ISBN:  

9780801840197

ISBN 10:   0801840198
Pages:   408
Publication Date:   29 March 1990
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

Preface to the English Language Edition Translator's Introduction Abbreviations Part I. Chapter 1. Orality and Archaic Culture Chapter 2. Poetry and Music Chapter 3. Modes and Forms of Communication Chapter 4. The Poetics of Mimesis Chapter 5. The Sociology of Meaning Chapter 6. The Ways of Love in the Poetry of Thiasos and Symposium Part II. Chapter 7. Praise and Blame Chapter 8. Poet-Patron-Public: The Norm of the Polyp Chapter 9. Intellectual Activity and Socioeconomic Situation Part III. Chapter 10. Archilochus and the Levels of Reality Chapter 11. The Ship of State: Allegory and Its Workings Chapter 12. Holy Sappho Appendix: The Art of Philology Notes Bibliogpraphy of Works Cited Index of Words and Subjects Index of Passages Cited

Reviews

This is a stimulaing, informative book. Do not be deterred by the many pages given to theoretical and methodological discussions early on: they undergrind the specific readings that follow, of Archilochus and Pindar, Sappho and Anacreon, and the rest; and Gentili enlivens the more abstract considerations suggested in his titles ('the poetry of mimesis,' 'the sociology of meaning') with incisive illustrations and analogies. He keeps us aware of contexts: social and political, economic and cultural. His sense of poet and audience is acute, imaginative, philologically responsible, and humane. * Kenneth J. Reckford, UNC Chapel Hill in The Classical Outlook, Winter 1989-1990. * This superb and fascinating book insists upon trying to place the poetry of Sappho, Alcaeus, Pindar, Archilochus, and others within its social and ritual contexts: oral performance, patron/poet relationship, and religious or communal function. Considering the evidence, such efforts must at times rely upon inspiration, but the close textual readings of individual poems, judicious use of anthropological method, and inclusion of many of the recently discovered fragments creates a vivid picture. A book that will be with us for years to come. * Library Journal, September 1, 1988 *

This is a stimulaing, informative book. Do not be deterred by the many pages given to theoretical and methodological discussions early on: they undergrind the specific readings that follow, of Archilochus and Pindar, Sappho and Anacreon, and the rest; and Gentili enlivens the more abstract considerations suggested in his titles ('the poetry of mimesis,' 'the sociology of meaning') with incisive illustrations and analogies. He keeps us aware of contexts: social and political, economic and cultural. His sense of poet and audience is acute, imaginative, philologically responsible, and humane. --Kenneth J. Reckford, UNC Chapel Hill in 'The Classical Outlook', Winter 1989-1990. This superb and fascinating book insists upon trying to place the poetry of Sappho, Alcaeus, Pindar, Archilochus, and others within its social and ritual contexts: oral performance, patron/poet relationship, and religious or communal function. Considering the evidence, such efforts must at times rely upon inspiration, but the close textual readings of individual poems, judicious use of anthropological method, and inclusion of many of the recently discovered fragments creates a vivid picture. A book that will be with us for years to come. --'Library Journal', September 1, 1988

This is a stimulaing, informative book. Do not be deterred by the many pages given to theoretical and methodological discussions early on: they undergrind the specific readings that follow, of Archilochus and Pindar, Sappho and Anacreon, and the rest; and Gentili enlivens the more abstract considerations suggested in his titles ('the poetry of mimesis,' 'the sociology of meaning') with incisive illustrations and analogies. He keeps us aware of contexts: social and political, economic and cultural. His sense of poet and audience is acute, imaginative, philologically responsible, and humane. Kenneth J. Reckford, UNC Chapel Hill in The Classical Outlook, Winter 1989-1990. This superb and fascinating book insists upon trying to place the poetry of Sappho, Alcaeus, Pindar, Archilochus, and others within its social and ritual contexts: oral performance, patron/poet relationship, and religious or communal function. Considering the evidence, such efforts must at times rely upon inspiration, but the close textual readings of individual poems, judicious use of anthropological method, and inclusion of many of the recently discovered fragments creates a vivid picture. A book that will be with us for years to come. Library Journal, September 1, 1988

Author Information

Thomas Cole is professor of Greek and Latin at Yale University.

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