Funerary Epigrams Of Ancient Greece

Taking a wide selection of Greek funerary epigrams from the 6th to 4th centuries BC, this volume considers their historical and chronological contexts to draw out information about the society that created them. Using both Hansen's corpus of epigrams and wider examples, it gives priority to those cases where the whole monument ensemble is preserved, both text and image, enabling a much better understanding of the significance of the texts. A thematic structure within a broader chronological framework provides a valuable lens on the epigrams, allowing readers to compare particular types across the time period. After introducing the funerary landscape in which the selected epigrams fit, González briefly considers the literary form of epigrams as a foil for the rest of the book. The remaining chapters focus on epitaphs of individuals in the most significant stages of life, where gender differences are most marked: themes include untimely death, women and wives, friendship, piety and non-kin love. All epigrams are offered in Greek, followed by an English translation. The analysis focuses on the literary aspects of the epigrams, as well as on the information they provide about both society and religion of ancient Greece.

Fourth-century Attic grave epigrams reflect a transitional phase in the evolution of the genre of epigram. They testify to a shift of interest towards social issues such as the family, the deceased’s age and profession. In a turbulent period of restlessness and uncertainty that followed the devastating Peloponnesian war, the commemoration of the departed in private monuments became an effective mechanism of displaying publicly a new set of social concerns. It is within these contexts that special emphasis has been put on the composition of sepulchral epigrams, their gradual autonomization and sophistication. This book explores this decisive phase in the evolution of the epigram by reconstructing as many ancient contexts as possible on the one hand, and studying sepulchral epigrams as a poetic art on the other.

Hidden Presences explores the inheritances of Hellenistic literary epigram from the sepulchral sub-genre of inscribed epigram. Divorced from the stone and the burial site, the literary form enjoys a new freedom, but exhibits this independence in a deliberate but creative use of out-of-date themes (notably roadside placement of the monument), subversive use of the inscribed epigrams' attempt to betray the "hidden presence" of the deceased, and exploitation of sepulchral conceits surrounding cenotaph. Indeed, this study shows not only that the fourth- and third-century poets at the headwaters of the literary tradition were interested in inscriptional precedents, but also that this interest was exercised down to the time of the epigrammatist Meleager. The poets within the variative community of literary epigram therefore carry on a literary conversation not simply between themselves, but between themselves and the inscribed tradition, and among themselves about the inscribed tradition.

This book offers a series of in-depth studies of the beliefs, attitudes, and rituals surrounding death in ancient Greece, from the Minoan and Mycenean period to the end of the classical age. Drawing on a wide range of evidence--from literary texts, to inscriptions, to images in art--Sourvinou-Inwood sheds light on many key, still problematic, aspects of Greek life, myth, and literature. She also looks at the problem of "reading" this material within the context of our own culturally-determined beliefs.

Provides an introduction as to what epigram means and why it matters. Short content excellent for undergraduates and researchers alike.

This book provides vocabulary and commentary to 85 Ancient Greek epigrams arranged chronologically from the end of the sixth century BCE to the middle of the first century CE. Sixteen named epigrammatists are included, as well as two anonymous works. Although this selection from the thousands of surviving Ancient Greek epigrams is a personal one, examples from the four main thematic areas of epigrammatic writing are represented: funerary/sepulchral; dedicatory; amatory/erotic; display/epideictic. Slightly more than half of the epigrams are by Callimachus, Meleager, and Philodemus (often considered the three "greatest" Ancient Greek epigrammatists), but there are many interesting and fascinating examples from other writers as well. In addition to complete vocabulary listings for each epigram, all poetic, Ionic, and Doric forms are given their Attic equivalents. The notes also explicate syntactical and grammatical aspects that may be challenging for intermediate students, point out many (not all!) of the various literary/rhetorical figures and tropes that are employed, and provide information on historical and cultural issues raised by the poems. In order to encourage reading of the texts out loud (an essential component of most epigrams' literary nature, and one that often works hand-in-glove with the literary/rhetorical figures and tropes used), a section is provided that describes both the nature of the standard meter used in epigrams, the elegiac couplet, and the basic rules regarding Ancient Greek scansion. Finally, English translations of certain epigrams (some of which are provided with two or more versions, for the purpose of further comparison) are included to demonstrate the variety of ways that these poems have been appropriated and reproduced linguistically, aesthetically and culturally in the past four centuries.

A delightful look at the epic literary history of the short, poetic genre of the epigram From Nestor’s inscribed cup to tombstones, bathroom walls, and Twitter tweets, the ability to express oneself concisely and elegantly, continues to be an important part of literary history unlike any other. This book examines the entire history of the epigram, from its beginnings as a purely epigraphic phenomenon in the Greek world, where it moved from being just a note attached to physical objects to an actual literary form of expression, to its zenith in late 1st century Rome, and further through a period of stagnation up to its last blooming, just before the beginning of the Dark Ages. A Companion to Ancient Epigram offers the first ever full-scale treatment of the genre from a broad international perspective. The book is divided into six parts, the first of which covers certain typical characteristics of the genre, examines aspects that are central to our understanding of epigram, and discusses its relation to other literary genres. The subsequent four parts present a diachronic history of epigram, from archaic Greece, Hellenistic Greece, and Latin and Greek epigrams at Rome, all the way up to late antiquity, with a concluding section looking at the heritage of ancient epigram from the Middle Ages up to modern times. Provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the epigram The first single-volume book to examine the entire history of the genre Scholarly interest in Greek and Roman epigram has steadily increased over the past fifty years Looks at not only the origins of the epigram but at the later literary tradition A Companion to Ancient Epigram will be of great interest to scholars and students of literature, world literature, and ancient and general history. It will also be an excellent addition to the shelf of any public and university library.

Demonstrates the central significance of rhetoric in ancient responses to and receptions of Roman art.