The Second Sophistic: A Cultural Phenomenon in the Roman Empire

ISBN-13: 9780415555012 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 306 str.

Graham Anderson

Opis

Graham Anderson provides a comprehensive view of the Second Sophistic, the single most important movement in second century literature. Texts from this period, unlike most contemporaneous prose, came to be written as entertainment literature rather than being confined to historical subjects.
Anderson describes the cultural aspirations sought by Greek sophists in the Roman Empire as well as their skills in public speaking which enabled them to broaden their areas of artistic activity. He presents the sophists' multiple roles as civic celebrities, transmitters of Hellenic culture and literary artists. Although he confirms the image of sophists as vain, contentious, and sometimes superficial, he shows that they were no less fascinating for it. Anderson also emphasizes the integrity of their attempts to preserve the idea of an independent Greek past.

Recenzje

`A.s new book will surely become a staple of reading lists, ...' - Classical Review

Spis treści

Preface Abbreviations Introduction: Roman Empire and Greek Renaissance 1. Sophists in Society 2. Preparation, Prologue, Performance 3. Communing with the Classics 4. Atticism and Antagonism 5. Hellenic Past, Graeco-Roman Present 6. Cookery and Confection: Sophistic Philosophy, Philosophic Sophistry 7. Some Sophistic Scene-painting 8. Logos Erotikos: The Sophist as Storyteller 9. Adoxa paradoxa: The Papaideumenos at play 10. Piety and Paideia: The Sophist and his Gods 11. Sophistic Self-Presentation: Some Studies 12. Conclusion: Values and Valuations Select Bibliography Index

O autorze

Graham Anderson