Narrative and Identity in the Ancient Greek Novel - Returning Romance

This book explores the popularity of the Greek romances during the Roman Empire and their contribution to understanding Greek identity.

List of contents

Introduction; Part I. Returning Romance; 1. First romances: Chariton and Xenophon; 2. Transforming romance: Achilles Tatius and Longus; 3. Hellenism at the edge: Heliodorus; Part II. Narrative and Identity: 4. Pothos; 5. Telos; 6. Limen; Conclusion; Appendix: the extant romances and the larger fragments.

About the author

Tim Whitmarsh is a leading literary and cultural critic of the Greek world during the time of the Roman Empire. A specialist in both ancient texts and modern theories, he has written over fifty articles and five books, including Greek Literature and the Roman Empire (2001) and The Second Sophistic (2005). He has also edited or coedited four books, and edits two book series.

Summary

Romance was the dominant Greek literary genre of the Roman Empire. This book explores its distinctive qualities and the reasons for its popularity. Using cultural and narrative theory, it argues that the romance was simultaneously primal and malleable enough to capture the tensions in Greek identity during this era.

Additional text

'A highly intelligent study that is indubitably the result of profound meditation on the texts Anyone studying the history of the novel should take a look at Whitmarsh's book.' The Observer

Product details

• Authors: Tim Whitmarsh, Tim (Corpus Christi College Whitmarsh, Whitmarsh Tim
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 29.01.2015
• EAN: 9781107491021
• ISBN: 978-1-107-49102-1
• No. of pages: 312
• Series: Greek Culture in the Roman World; Greek Culture in the Roman World
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > Classical linguistics / literary studies; HISTORY / Europe / General, Ancient Greece, HISTORY / Ancient / Greece, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Ancient & Classical, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Ancient History, Classical history / classical civilisation, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Ancient (Classical) Greek, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, BCE period – Protohistory, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form