Ebook: Reading Epic: an Introduction to the Ancient Narratives

Readers new to ancient epic are hampered in two ways: they do not know the ancient languages, and they are unfamiliar with the ancient world. This survey addresses the needs of these readers by offering guidance through the major classical writers of epic: it begins with Homer and concludes with an overview of the development of late ancient epic and of the interface between the epic and the novel.;Book Cover -- Title -- Contents -- Introduction -- EPIC: THE GENRE, ITS CHARACTERISTICS -- HOMER, ILIAD -- HOMER, ODYSSEY -- APOLLONIUS OF RHODES, ARGONAUTICA -- BEGINNING EPIC IN ROME -- THE ALEXANDRIAN MINIATURE EPIC -- VIRGIL, AENEID -- OVID, METAMORPHOSES -- LUCAN, THE CIVIL WAR -- ROMAN EPIC AND THE EMPEROR DOMITIAN -- ENDS AND BEGINNINGS: LATE ANCIENT EPIC -- APPENDIX: THE EPIC AND THE NOVEL -- Bibliography -- Index.