Epistolary Narratives in Ancient Greek Literature

The literary letter was one of the most versatile and popular forms of writing in Greek antiquity, yet one of the least widely studied today. The use of the letter within narrative or as narrative medium is something which the Ancient Greek literary tradition established as central to the western world (especially through the letters of Plato, Hippocrates and the Christian epistolographers). This volume presents detailed literary readings of a wide range of Greek literary letter collections. By comparison of the various narrative strategies taken within Greek epistolary texts across a range of genres, cultural backgrounds, and time periods, the volume takes a significant step towards the appreciation of Greek epistolary collections as a unique literary phenomenon.

Owen Hodkinson, D.Phil. (2009), Oxford University, is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Leeds. He has published several articles on Greek epistolary literature, and a monograph on Philostratus: Authority and Tradition in Philostratus’ Heroikos (Pensa Multimedia, 2011).

Patricia Rosenmeyer, Ph.D. (1987), Princeton University, is Professor of Classics at the University of Wisconsin. She has published widely on Greek poetry, and two books on epistolary fiction: Ancient Epistolary Fictions (Cambridge, 2001) and Ancient Greek Literary Letters (Routledge, 2006).

Evelien Bracke, Ph.D. (2009), National University of Ireland, Maynooth, is currently the Latin and Greek tutor at Swansea University.

Contributors: Silvio Bär, Angus Bowie, Deborah Gera, Pamela Gordon, Owen Hodkinson, Dmitri Kasprzyk, Jason König, Jane McLarty, John Morgan, A.D. Morrison, Ryan Olson, Orlando Poltera, Ian Repath, P.A. Rosenmeyer, Niall Slater, Tim Whitmarsh