Parthenius of Nicaea Extant Works Edited with Introduction and Notes

by Lightfoot, J. L.

• ISBN13: 9780198152538
• ISBN10: 0198152531
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-30
• Publisher: Clarendon Press

Summary

This is the first study of all the extant remains of the important Hellenistic poet and mythographer, Parthenius of Nicaea, reputed to have been Virgil's tutor in Greek and a major literary figure in his own right. A new edition of his poetic fragments, it presents the first commentary on themsince the work of August Meineke (1843); it also attempts to contextualize Parthenius within the traditions of Hellenistic poetry and within the 'neoteric revolution' of late Republican Rome. It is also the first detailed study of and commentary on the extant collection of love-stories, the ErotikaPathemata, showing their roots in Hellenistic historiography, on the one hand, and their connection to the increasingly popular genre of the novel, on the other. It uses narratology to illustrate the hitherto entirely unrecognised skill and artistry with which the stories are told, and offers aclose linguistic analysis of a work of prose from a singularly badly documented period. The detailed commentary considers each story in terms of structure, literary and mythological affiliations, and parallel treatments; and a new text aims to provide an improved apparatus criticus with a goodnumber of new suggestions. The prime importance of the work is that it aims to be a comprehensive treatment of a relatively neglected and marginalized figure; and that it sets Parthenius' poetry and prose side by side to illustrate and contextualize a literary personality who was unusual inantiquity as an accomplished writer in both genres.

Author Biography

Jane Lightfoot is Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.

Table of Contents

References and Abbreviations	xi
Introduction	1	(16)
Preliminaries	1	(2)
Testimonia	3	(6)
Life	9	(8)
The Poet	17	(80)
Parthenius and Hellenistic Poerty	17	(33)
Background	17	(14)
CEuvre	31	(11)
Metre	42	(5)
Conclusion	47	(3)
Parthenius in Rome	50	(26)
Posthumous Reputation and Influence	76	(21)
The Fragments	97	(118)
Comparatio Numerorum	98	(2)
Fragmenta	100	(34)
Commentary	134	(81)
The Mythographer	215	(88)
Date	215	(2)
`After the Fashion of a Little Note-Book'	217	(5)
The Epistolary Preface	222	(2)
Mythography	224	(16)
Motif-Index?	240	(6)
Sources and Manchettes	246	(10)
Fiction	256	(7)
Style and Narrative	263	(20)
Language	283	(14)
Dialect	285	(1)
Morphology	286	(2)
Syntax	288	(7)
Diction	295	(2)
Influence and Survival	297	(4)
Conclusions	301	(2)
The Text	303	(64)
The Manuscript	303	(3)
Editions	306	(1)
Παρ&thetas;ενρov Περl ερωτlκων πα&thetas;ημα&tauων	307	(60)
The Stories	367	(195)
Appendices
I. Echoes of and Allusions to Earlier Hellenistic Poets	559	(2)
II. Imitations of and Allusions to Parthenius in Later Poets	561	(1)
Bibliography	562	(23)
Indexes	585