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Epistolary Narratives in Ancient Greek Literature
Series: - Mnemosyne, Supplements, Volume: 359
The literary letter was one of the most versatile and popular forms of writing in Greek antiquity, yet one of the least widely studied today. The use of the letter within narrative or as narrative medium is something which the Ancient Greek literary tradition established as central to the western world (especially through the letters of Plato, Hippocrates and the Christian epistolographers). This volume presents detailed literary readings of a wide range of Greek literary letter collections. By comparison of the various narrative strategies taken within Greek epistolary texts across a range of genres, cultural backgrounds, and time periods, the volume takes a significant step towards the appreciation of Greek epistolary collections as a unique literary phenomenon.
Owen Hodkinson, D.Phil. (2009), Oxford University, is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Leeds. He has published several articles on Greek epistolary literature, and a monograph on Philostratus: Authority and Tradition in Philostratus' Heroikos (Pensa Multimedia, 2011).
Patricia Rosenmeyer, Ph.D. (1987), Princeton University, is Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin. She has published widely on Greek poetry, and two books on epistolary fiction: Ancient Epistolary Fictions (Cambridge, 2001) and Ancient Greek Literary Letters (Routledge, 2006).
Evelien Bracke, Ph.D. (2009), National University of Ireland, Maynooth, is currently the Latin and Greek tutor at Swansea University.
Contributors: Silvio Bär, Angus Bowie, Deborah Gera, Pamela Gordon, Owen Hodkinson, Dmitri Kasprzyk, Jason König, Jane McLarty, John Morgan, A.D. Morrison, Ryan Olson, Orlando Poltera, Ian Repath, P.A. Rosenmeyer, Niall Slater, Tim Whitmarsh
Patricia Rosenmeyer, Ph.D. (1987), Princeton University, is Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin. She has published widely on Greek poetry, and two books on epistolary fiction: Ancient Epistolary Fictions (Cambridge, 2001) and Ancient Greek Literary Letters (Routledge, 2006).
Evelien Bracke, Ph.D. (2009), National University of Ireland, Maynooth, is currently the Latin and Greek tutor at Swansea University.
Contributors: Silvio Bär, Angus Bowie, Deborah Gera, Pamela Gordon, Owen Hodkinson, Dmitri Kasprzyk, Jason König, Jane McLarty, John Morgan, A.D. Morrison, Ryan Olson, Orlando Poltera, Ian Repath, P.A. Rosenmeyer, Niall Slater, Tim Whitmarsh
"[T]he volume has the potential to draw the attention of ancient historians working on texts as diverse and chronologically separate as Herodotus and Josephus to the importance of letters embedded in historiographical narratives, and it sheds innovative light on late antique martyrdom accounts cast in the form of a letter." Lieve Van Hoof, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2014.08.47.
Acknowledgments
Introduction, Owen Hodkinson and Patricia A. Rosenmeyer
I. Epistolary Forms: Letters in Narrative, Letters as Narrative
A. Epistolary Writing in Extended Narratives: Letters in Euripides, Herodotus, and Xenophon
1) The Appearance of Letters on Stages and Vases, Patricia A. Rosenmeyer
2) Letters in Herodotus, Angus Bowie
3) Letters in Xenophon, Deborah Gera
B. Correspondences of Historical Figures: Authentic and Pseudonymous
4) Narrative and Epistolarity in the ‘Platonic’ Epistles, Andrew D. Morrison
5) Epistolary Epicureans, Pamela Gordon
6) The Letters of Euripides, Orlando Poltera
II. Innovation and Experimentation in Epistolary Narratives
A. Epistolarity and Other Narrative Forms: Generic Hybridity
7) Addressing Power: Fictional Letters Between Alexander and Darius, Tim Whitmarsh
8) Alciphron and the Sympotic Letter Tradition, Jason König
9) Lucian’s Saturnalian Epistolarity, Niall Slater
B. Embedded Letters in Longer Fictions
10) Odysseus’ Letter to Kalypso in Lucian’s Verae Historiae, Silvio F. Bär
11) Yours Truly? Letters in Achilles Tatius, Ian Repath
12) Letters in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Dimitri Kasprzyk
C. Short Stories in Epistolary Form
13) The Epistolary Ghost Story in Phlegon of Tralles, John Morgan
14) Epistolarity and Narrative in ps.-Aeschines Epistle 10, Owen Hodkinson
III. Jewish and Early Christian Epistolary Narratives
15) Letters in the War between Rome and Judaea, Ryan Olson
16) The Function of the Letter Form in Christian Martyrdom Accounts, Jane Mclarty
Bibliography
Indices
Introduction, Owen Hodkinson and Patricia A. Rosenmeyer
I. Epistolary Forms: Letters in Narrative, Letters as Narrative
A. Epistolary Writing in Extended Narratives: Letters in Euripides, Herodotus, and Xenophon
1) The Appearance of Letters on Stages and Vases, Patricia A. Rosenmeyer
2) Letters in Herodotus, Angus Bowie
3) Letters in Xenophon, Deborah Gera
B. Correspondences of Historical Figures: Authentic and Pseudonymous
4) Narrative and Epistolarity in the ‘Platonic’ Epistles, Andrew D. Morrison
5) Epistolary Epicureans, Pamela Gordon
6) The Letters of Euripides, Orlando Poltera
II. Innovation and Experimentation in Epistolary Narratives
A. Epistolarity and Other Narrative Forms: Generic Hybridity
7) Addressing Power: Fictional Letters Between Alexander and Darius, Tim Whitmarsh
8) Alciphron and the Sympotic Letter Tradition, Jason König
9) Lucian’s Saturnalian Epistolarity, Niall Slater
B. Embedded Letters in Longer Fictions
10) Odysseus’ Letter to Kalypso in Lucian’s Verae Historiae, Silvio F. Bär
11) Yours Truly? Letters in Achilles Tatius, Ian Repath
12) Letters in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana, Dimitri Kasprzyk
C. Short Stories in Epistolary Form
13) The Epistolary Ghost Story in Phlegon of Tralles, John Morgan
14) Epistolarity and Narrative in ps.-Aeschines Epistle 10, Owen Hodkinson
III. Jewish and Early Christian Epistolary Narratives
15) Letters in the War between Rome and Judaea, Ryan Olson
16) The Function of the Letter Form in Christian Martyrdom Accounts, Jane Mclarty
Bibliography
Indices
All interested in ancient and especially Greek epistolography, Greek narrative and fiction; also those interested in letters in historiography, epistolary pseudepigrapha and (auto-) biography (especially of philosophers, sages and martyrs).