A Commentary On Quintus Of Smyrna Posthomerica 13

The Posthomerica by Quintus of Smyrna, a Greek epic in fourteen books from the 3rd century AD, recounts the story of the Trojan War by covering the events between Hector?s burial and the departure of the Greeks after the destruction of the city. In book 13, we read about the sack of Troy, including famous episodes such as the death of Priam and Astyanax, the enslavement of Andromache, the escape of Aeneas, and the rape of Cassandra.0Stephan Renker offers the first full-scale commentary on Posthomerica 13. He introduces each episode with a discussion of the relevant literary tradition and Quintus' potential models. The following line-by-line commentary yields insights into aspects of language, literary technique, realia, and the main issues of interpretation. Thus, the reader is provided with an important tool for further investigations into this fascinating, yet understudied piece of Imperial Greek poetry.

The Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna is the only surviving Greek epic that gives a full narrative of the Trojan War between the Iliad and the Odyssey. Book V covers the contest between Ajax and Odysseus over the armour of Achilles, leading to Ajax' madness, suicide and funeral. The book gives balanced treatment to matters of text, language, literary qualities and sources. An introduction discusses the poem's main features. The commentary is punctuated by introductions to sections. There are indexes of subjects, ancient and mediaeval literature and Greek words. The work's major areas of interest are: influence of the Homeric epics, Quintus' use of later sources, the Trojan War in Greek and Latin literature, and Greek cultural history under the Roman Empire. This is the first full-length commentary on the book.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--University of St. Andrews, 1979)

In Quintus of Smyrna’s Posthomerica. A Study of Heroic Characterization and Heroism, Tine Scheijnen offers a thorough introduction to a late antique Greek epic poem notable for its critical Homer reception and creative (re)construction of Trojan War heroes and heroism.

The fifth volume of the Studies in Ancient Greek Narrative deals with speech: it discusses the types, modes and functions of speech in narrative, the boundaries between speech and narrative context, and the absence of speech (silence).

The volume provides a full literary and textual commentary on three of the verse epistles (Heroides) by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC. – AD. 17): the letter of Canace to her brother-lover Macareus; of Laodamia to the war-hero Protesilaus; and of Hypermestra to Lynceus, the cousin whose life she recently spared. These three poems, together with the letters of Medea (recently the subject of a commentary in the same series) and Sappho, formed the last of Ovid’s three books of heroine letters. The introduction discusses Ovid’s innovative use both of his sources and of the epistolary form. A text with selective apparatus is provided for each of the three poems, and the detailed commentary is fully indexed.

Composed in the third century A.D., the Trojan Epic is the earliest surviving literary evidence for many of the traditions of the Trojan War passed down from ancient Greece. Also known as the Posthomerica, or "sequel to Homer," the Trojan Epic chronicles the course of the war after the burial of Troy's greatest hero, Hektor. Quintus, believed to have been an educated Greek living in Roman Asia Minor, included some of the war's most legendary events: the death of Achilles, the Trojan Horse, and the destruction of Troy. But because Quintus deliberately imitated Homer's language and style, his work has been dismissed by many scholars as pastiche. A vivid and entertaining story in its own right, the Trojan Epic is also particularly significant for what it reveals about its sources—the much older, now lost Greek epics about the Trojan War known collectively as the Epic Cycle. Written in the Homeric era, these poems recounted events not included in the Iliad or the Odyssey. As Alan James makes clear in this vibrant and faithful new translation, Quintus's work deserves attention for its literary-historical importance and its narrative power. James's line-by-line verse translation in English reveals the original as an exciting and eloquent tale of gods and heroes, bravery and cunning, hubris and brutality. James includes a substantial introduction which places the work in its literary and historical context, a detailed and annotated book-by-book summary of the epic, a commentary dealing mainly with sources, and an explanatory index of proper names. Brilliantly revitalized by James, the Trojan Epic will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in Greek mythology and the legend of Troy.

Brilliantly revitalized by James, the Trojan Epic will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in Greek mythology and the legend of Troy.