Poems from Greek Antiquity

This book offers a comprehensive collection of Greek poetry, including works from ancient poets like Hesiod, Pindar, and Bacchylides, as well as selections from the Greek Anthology and the Anacreontea. Translations by renowned scholars and amateurs are included, spanning different periods and styles.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 01 October 2020
Publisher: Everyman

Greek poetry extends far beyond the Iliad and Odyssey, encompassing a vast array of shorter masterpieces. This collection presents an unparalleled sampling of lyrical and elegiac poems, odes, and epigrams, drawing from early Greek poets such as Hesiod, Pindar, Bacchylides, Alcaeus, and Sappho, as well as later Alexandrian poets like Theocritus, Bion, Apollonius of Rhodes, and many more. A dedicated section showcases poems from the renowned Greek Anthology, spanning a millennium from the Classical to the Byzantine era, and another highlights the delightful Anacreontea, a collection of odes celebrating the pleasures of drink, love, and beauty. Excerpts from longer poems include Percy Bysshe Shelley's Homeric Hymn to Mercury and the humorous Homeric pastiche The Battle of the Frogs and Mice. Paul Quarrie's selection of English translations draws from both lesser-known and renowned translators, including anonymous versions from Tudor England, the golden age of translation overseen by George Chapman in the seventeenth century, and modern translations by James Michie, Fleur Adcock, and Robert Fagles. The editor includes an informative preface, introductions to the Greek Anthology and the Anacreontea, and biographies of translators accompanied by captivating anecdotes.

Weight: 260g
Dimension: 114 x 165 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781841598208