Companion to Ancient Epigram

A delightful look at the epic literary history of the short, poetic genre of the epigram

From Nestor's inscribed cup to tombstones, bathroom walls, and Twitter tweets, the ability to express oneself concisely and elegantly, continues to be an important part of literary history unlike any other. This book examines the entire history of the epigram, from its beginnings as a purely epigraphic phenomenon in the Greek world, where it moved from being just a note attached to physical objects to an actual literary form of expression, to its zenith in late 1st century Rome, and further through a period of stagnation up to its last blooming, just before the beginning of the Dark Ages.

A Companion to Ancient Epigram offers the first ever full-scale treatment of the genre from a broad international perspective. The book is divided into six parts, the first of which covers certain typical characteristics of the genre, examines aspects that are central to our understanding of epigram, and discusses its relation to other literary genres. The subsequent four parts present a diachronic history of epigram, from archaic Greece, Hellenistic Greece, and Latin and Greek epigrams at Rome, all the way up to late antiquity, with a concluding section looking at the heritage of ancient epigram from the Middle Ages up to modern times.

• Provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the epigram

• The first single-volume book to examine the entire history of the genre

• Scholarly interest in Greek and Roman epigram has steadily increased over the past fifty years

• Looks at not only the origins of the epigram but at the later literary tradition

A Companion to Ancient Epigram will be of great interest to scholars and students of literature, world literature, and ancient and general history. It will also be an excellent addition to the shelf of any public and university library.

Autorentext

Christer Henriksén, PhD, is a Professor of Latin in the Department of Linguistics and Philology at Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.

Klappentext
A COMPANION TO ANCIENT EPIGRAM An in-depth look at the epic literary history of the short, poetic genre of the epigram From Nestor's inscribed cup to tombstones, bathroom walls, and Twitter tweets, the ability to express oneself concisely and elegantly, continues to be an important part of literary history unlike any other. This book examines the entire history of the epigram, from its beginnings as a purely epigraphic phenomenon in the Greek world, where it moved from being just a note attached to physical objects to an actual literary form of expression, to its zenith in late 1st century Rome, and further through a period of stagnation up to its last blooming, just before the beginning of the Dark Ages. A Companion to Ancient Epigram offers the first ever full-scale treatment of the genre from a broad international perspective. The book is divided into six parts, the first of which covers certain typical characteristics of the genre, examines aspects that are central to our understanding of epigram, and discusses its relation to other literary genres. The subsequent four parts present a diachronic history of epigram, from archaic Greece, the Hellenistic world, and Latin and Greek epigrams at Rome, all the way up to late antiquity, with a concluding section looking at the heritage of ancient epigram from the Middle Ages up to modern times. Provides a comprehensive overview of the history of the epigram The first single-volume book to examine the entire history of the genre Scholarly interest in Greek and Roman epigram has steadily increased over the past fifty years Looks at not only the origins of the epigram but at the later literary tradition A Companion to Ancient Epigram will be of great interest to scholars and students of literature, world literature, and ancient and general history. It will also be an excellent addition to the shelf of any public and university library.

Inhalt
Notes on Contributors ix

Abbreviations xvii

Introduction 1

Christer Henriksén

PART I Epigram: Features and Definitions 19

1 What Is an Epigram?: Defining a Genre 21
Mario Citroni

2 A Gallery of Characters: Real Persons and Fictitious Types in Epigram 43
Patricia Watson

3 Epigram, Society, and Political Power 59
Kathleen M. Coleman

4 Hidden Figures: The Women Who Wrote Epigrams 77
Laurel Bowman

5 The Masculine and the Feminine in Epigram 93
Lindsay Watson

6 Obscenity in Epigram 111
Bret Mulligan

7 The Meters of Epigram: Elegy and Its Rivals 127
Llewelyn Morgan

8 Epigram in Epic and Greek Tragedy: Generic Interactions 145
Martin T. Dinter

9 Epigram and Satire 163
Rosario Cortés Tovar

10 Immanent Genre Theory in Greek and Roman Epigram 179
Margot Neger

11 Epigram and Rhetoric 195
Nina Mindt

12 Greek Anthologies from the Hellenistic Age to the Byzantine Era: A Survey 211
Francesca Maltomini

PART II Epigram in PreHellenistic Greece 229

13 The Origins of Greek Epigram: The Unity of Inscription and Object 231
Joseph W. Day

14 Simonides of Ceos and Epigram in Classical Greece 24
Luigi Bravi

PART III Epigram in the Hellenistic World 265

15 The Development of Epigram into a Literary Genre 267
Valentina Garulli

16 Anyte's Feminine Voice: Tradition and Innovation 287
Ellen Greene

17 Leonidas of Tarentum 303
Jacqueline Klooster

18 Callimachus on the Death of a Friend: A Short Study of Callimachean Epigram 319
Benjamin AcostaHughes

19 Asclepiades of Samos 337
Alexander Sens

20 Posidippus and Ancient Epigram Books 351
Kathryn Gutzwiller

21 Taking Position: Later Hellenistic Epigrammatists 371
Annette Harder

22 Meleager of Gadara 389
Évelyne Prioux

23 Moving to Rome: Antipater of Sidon, Archias of Antiocheia, Philodemus, and Others 407
Annemarie Ambühl

PART IV Latin and Greek Epigram at Rome 423

24 The Beginnings of Roman Epigram and Its Relationship with Hellenistic Poetry 425
Alfredo Mario Morelli

25 Catullus as Epigrammatist 441
Niklas Holzberg

26 Latin Epigram in the Early Empire 459
Christer Henriksén

27 Greek Epigram in Rome in the First Century ce 475
Regina Höschele

28 Epigrams in the Graffiti of Pompeii 491
Kristina Milnor

29 Martial's Early Works: The Liber Spectaculorum, Xenia, and Apophoreta 505
T. J. Leary

30 Micro to Macro: Martial's Twelve Books of Epigrams 521
Sven Lorenz

31 Carminis Incompti Lusus: The Carmina Priapea 541
Eugene O'Connor

32 PseudoSenecan Epigrams 557
Alfred Breitenbach

PART V Epigram in Late Antiquity 575

33 The Late Latin Literary Epigram (Third to Fifth Centuries ce) 577
Luca Mondin

34 Greek Epigram in Late Antiquity 597
Gianfranco Agosti

35 Damasus and the Christian Epigram in the West 615
Dennis Trout

36 Gregory of Nazianzus and the Christian Epigram in the East 633
Christos Simelidis

37 Inter Romulidas et Tyrias Manus: Luxorius and Epigram in Vandal Africa 649
Anna Maria Wasyl **PART VI The Fortleben of An...