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Margaret Alexiou's The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition, first published in 1974, has long since been established as a classic in several fields. This is the only generic and diachronic study of learned and popular lament and its socio-cultural contexts throughout Greek tradition in which a great diversity of sources are integrated to offer a comprehensive and penetrating synthesis. Its interdisciplinary orientation and broad scope have rendered The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition an indispensable reference work for classicists, byzantinists, neohellenists, folklorists, and anthropologists. Now a second edition, revised by Dimitrios Yatromanolakis and Panagiotis Roilos, has been made available. This new edition also includes a valuable up-to-date bibliography on ritual lament and death in Greek culture.
List of contents
Part 1 Lament and ritual: tradition and change in antiquity; from paganism to Christianity; modern survivals. Part 2 Gods, cities, and men: the ritual lament for gods and heroes; the historical lament for the fall or destruction of cities; the classification of ancient and modern laments and songs to the dead. Part 3 The common tradition: antiphonal structure and antithetical thought; conventions, themes, and formulae; the allusive method.
About the author
Margaret Alexiou is Professor Emerita of Modern Greek Studies at the Department of the Classics, Harvard University. Panagiotis Roilos is Assistant Professor of Modern Greek Studies at the Department of the Classics, Harvard University. Dimitrios Yatromanolakis is Junior Fellow in Classics at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University.
Summary
First published in 1974, this is a generic and diachronic study of learned and popular lament and its socio-cultural contexts throughout Greek tradition, and a variety of sources are integrated to offer a comprehensive synthesis. This edition includes an updated bibliography.
