The Letters of Alciphron, Aelian and Philostratus

by Alciphron; Aelian; Philostratus; Warmington, E. H.

• ISBN13: 9780674994218
• ISBN10: 0674994213
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1979-06-01
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library

Summary

The Letters of Alciphron (second century CE ) constitute one of the most attractive products of the Second Sophistic. They are fictitious compositions based on an astonishingly wide variety of circumstances, though the theme of erotic love is constantly sounded. The imagination shown by the author and his convincing realism win him a place of distinction in the early development of romantic prose. The letters, which are highly literary, owing much to the New Comedy of Menander, purport to give us a sketch of the social life of Athens in the fourth century BCE . The collection is arranged in four divisions: Letters of Fishermen; Farmers; Parasites; Courtesans. Senders and addressees are mostly invented characters, but in the last section Alciphron presents us with several attempts at historical fiction, the most engaging being an exchange of letters between Menander and Glycera.This volume also includes twenty Letters of Farmers ascribed to Aelian (c.170-235 CE ) and a collection of seventy-three Erotic Epistles of Philostratus (probably Flavius of that name, also born c. 170 CE ). In style and subject matter these resemble those of Alciphron, by whom they may have been influenced.

Table of Contents

Prefatory Note

Abbreviations

Alciphron

Introduction

General

The Date of Alciphron

Manuscripts

The Growth of the Corpus

The Present Edition and its Dependence on the Editions of Schepers

Bibliography

Sigla

The Letters

Letters of Fishermen

Letters of Farmers

Letters of Parasites

Letters of Courtesans

Index Of Proper Names

Greek Index

Aelian

Introduction

General

Manuscripts

Bibliography

Sigla

The Letters

Index Of Proper Names

Greek Index

Philostratus

Introduction

The Philostrati and Their Works

The Authenticity of the Letters

Manuscripts

The Growth of the Corpus

The Present Edition and its Dependence on the Editions of Kayser

Bibliography

Sigla

The Letters

Index Of Proper Names

Greek Index

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