Haunted Greece and Rome : Ghost Stories from Classical Antiquity

by Felton, D.

• ISBN13: 9780292725089
• ISBN10: 0292725086
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

Stories of ghostly spirits who return to this world to warn of danger, to prophesy, to take revenge, to request proper burial, or to comfort the living fascinated people in ancient times just as they do today. In this innovative, interdisciplinary study, the author combines a modern folkloric perspective with literary analysis of ghost stories from classical antiquity to shed new light on the stories' folk roots. The author begins by examining ancient Greek and Roman beliefs about death and the departed and the various kinds of ghost stories which arose from these beliefs. She then focuses on the longer stories of Plautus, Pliny, and Lucian, which concern haunted houses. Her analysis illuminates the oral and literary transmission and adaptation of folkloric motifs and the development of the ghost story as a literary form. In her concluding chapter, the author also traces the influence of ancient ghost stories on modern ghost story writers, a topic that will interest all readers and scholars of tales of hauntings.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Folklore of Ghosts

Problems of Definition and Classification

Haunted Houses

Plautus's Haunted House

The Supernatural in Pliny's Letters

Lucian's Ghost Stories

The Fate of the Ghost Story

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Passages Cited

General Index

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