Academic : Literature : Classical literature : Greek literature

Lombardo's Odyssey offers the distinctive speed, clarity, and boldness that so distinguished his 1997 Iliad . more...

Price: $11.95

In Works of Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns, highly acclaimed poet and translator Daryl Hine brings new life to the words of Hesiod and the world of Archaic Greece. Unlike most available prose renderings of their works, Hine's illuminating translations present these classics as they originally appeared, in verse. This volume includes Hesiod's Works and Days and Theogony, two of the oldest non-Homeric poems to survive. Works and Days is filled with cautionary tales and advice for managing harvests and maintaining a good work ethic. Theogony is the earliest comprehensive account of classical mythology—including the names and genealogies of the gods and monsters of Olympus, the sea, and the underworld. Hine captures Hesiod's gritty and persuasive voice, which provides a rare glimpse into the everyday life of ordinary people in the eighth century BCE. In contrast, the Homeric Hymns depict aristocratic life in voices whose polished tones reveal little of the narrators' personalities. These hymns (so named because they address the deities in short invocations at the beginning and end of each) are among the earliest examples of Greek epyllia, or short stories in the epic manner. more...

Price: $20.00

This is the only general introduction in English to Aeschylus' Oresteia, one of the most important and most influential of all Greek dramas. The volume's clear structure and guide to further reading will make this an invaluable guide for students and teachers alike. more...

Price: $13.00

Based on the conviction that only translators who write poetry themselves can properly recreate the celebrated Greek tragedies, the Greek Tragedy in New Translation series offers new translations that go beyond the literal meaning of the Greek in order to evoke the poetry of the originals. Under the general editorship of Peter Burian and Alan Shapiro, each volume includes a critical introduction, commentary on the text, full stage directions, and a glossary of the mythical and geographical references in the plays. Brought boldly to life by Herbert Golder and Richard Pevear's translation and contextualized by Herbert Golder's eloquent introduction, this early Sophoclean tragedy tells the story of the Homeric hero better known as Ajax, who was second only to Achilles among the Greek warriors. In Greek tradition, Aias figures as the archaic warrior who dies in shame after his betrayal by the Greeks. Sophocles turns tradition inside out, portraying Aias' suicide not as a disgrace but as heroism. He endows Aias suicide with a meaning radically different from previous versions of the Aias myth--Aias is not the hero whom time has passed by, but rather the man who steps beyond time. Most previous versions and interpretations have equivocated over Sophocles' bold vision. This edition of Aias translates precisely that transformation of the hero from the bygone figure to the man who transcends time. more...

Price: $14.95

The Greek text of Euripides' Alcestis has been critically edited for this bilingual edition; the prose translation attempts to follow it verse by verse. The commentary, which assumes no knowledge of Greek on the part of the reader, explains questions of content and interpretation. The comprehensive introduction provides information on the historical background, the motifs of 'life exchange' and 'sacrificial death and return' in Greek myth and in Euripides' work, and on adaptations and modern interpretations. more...

Price: $67.00