Late Hellenistic Greek Literature in Dialogue

Late Hellenistic Greek literature is rich and diverse, but recent work has underestimated its interconnectedness. This book offers new readings of a wide range of texts and genres, revealing how they engaged with their social, cultural, and political contexts and revising standard narratives of the relationship between late Hellenistic and imperial Greek literary culture. It prompts us to rethink the place of late Hellenistic literature within Greek and Roman literary history.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 430 pages
Publication date: 21 December 2023
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Late Hellenistic Greek literature, encompassing both prose and poetry, is renowned for its remarkable richness and diversity. However, recent scholarship has tended to adopt an author-by-author approach, which fails to fully appreciate the interconnectedness of the literary culture of this period. This book aims to rectify that by presenting fresh interpretations of a diverse array of late Hellenistic texts and genres, including historiography, geography, rhetoric, and philosophy, alongside numerous verse texts and inscriptions. Through these new readings, the chapters herein shed light on the various ways in which late Hellenistic literature engaged with its social, cultural, and political contexts, while also challenging and revising some of the established narratives regarding the relationship between late Hellenistic and imperial Greek literary cultures, which are often studied in isolation from each other.

As a comprehensive work, this book encourages us to reevaluate the position of late Hellenistic literature within the broader context of Greek and Roman literary history. It prompts us to explore the intricate connections and influences that shaped this remarkable period of literary production and to appreciate the enduring significance of late Hellenistic Greek literature in the world of classical studies.

ISBN-13: 9781009015950