Aristotle is justly famed as the founder of literary criticism, but he was not its inventor: his approach was shaped, not only by the ideas newly current in the fourth century, but also by the literature, critical attitudes and language which he inherited. It is this inheritance which concerns the author of Poetry and Criticism Before Plato, first published in 1969: setting the words of poets and critics side by side. The relationship between the poets and the Muses, and Plato's account of poetic inspiration and metaphorical language are both discussed. In the later chapters Professor...

To many people Aristophanes is the most immediately attractive and enjoyable of the Greek dramatists. No other comedies from the great age of Attic drama survive in a complete state, and the vigour of his fictions and the brilliance of his humour maintain their power to stimulate and entertain even after two thousand years. Aristophanes: Poet and Dramatist, first published in 1986, offers an account of the early comedies and Frogs, the most famous of his works. It avoids theorising and abstraction, keeping close to individual passages and scenes, whilst also shunning a pedestrian approach in...

Aristotle is justly famed as the founder of literary criticism, but he was not its inventor: his approach was shaped, not only by the ideas newly current in the fourth century, but also by the literature, critical attitudes and language which he inherited. It is this inheritance which concerns the author of Poetry and Criticism Before Plato, first published in 1969: setting the words of poets and critics side by side.

The relationship between the poets and the Muses, and Plato's account of poetic inspiration and metaphorical language are both discussed. In the later chapters...