From Abdera (an ancient city in Thrace) to Zeus (chief god of the Greeks), this authoritative handbook covers all the major aspects of Greek and Roman literature, mythology, and civilization. It features over 950 entries on ancient writers, philosophers, and historians like Homer, Vergil, and Plato; famous as well as lesser-known writings like The Iliad, The Aeneid, and The Bacchae; chief gods and characters of mythology like Aphrodite, Apollo, and Narcissus; important terms and genres like poetic meter, tragedy, and satire; and other topics necessary to understanding the often...

To probe the literary representation of the alienated mind, Lillian Feder examines mad protagonists of literature and the work of writers for whom madness is a vehicle of self-revelation. Ranging from ancient Greek myth and tragedy to contemporary poetry, fiction, and drama, Professor Feder shows how literary interpretations of madness, as well as madness itself, reflect the very cultural assumptions, values, and prohibitions they challenge.

V.S. Naipaul once described his purpose as an author as nothing less than a commitment to deliver the truth. One of the world's greatest, and most controversial, living writers, he has written extensively about the enduring economic, cultural and psychological effects of colonialism, particularly its assualts on individual identity. In Naipaul's Truth, Lillian Feder, author of several classic works of literary criticism, explores Naipaul's writings to deliver an original analysis of her subject. Feder describes Naipaul's methods for discovering the truth about himself and the world he...