Epigram

by Niall Livingstone , Gideon Nisbet

• ISBN13: 9780521145701
• ISBN10: 0521145708
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-06-07
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This is an introduction to the ancient genre of epigram, short poems literally written or inscribed 'on' an object or figuratively 'on' a topic. The authors set out what epigram means and why it matters, exploring its roots in inscriptions on stone and its literary flourishing in the Hellenistic world after Alexander. They trace its migration from Greece to Rome, where its most famous exponent was Martial, and consider the continuation of Greek epigram under the Roman empire in the so-called 'Second Sophistic'. The final chapter shows how Greek epigram achieved new importance in the nineteenth century as raw material for stories about the classical past.

Table of Contents

Prologue: at the symposium

Introduction

The Inscriptional Beginnings of Literary Epigram

Epigram in the Hellenistic World

Epigram from Greece to Rome

Epigram in the Second Sophistic and After

Ancient Epigram in Reception

Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.