Kategoria BISAC: Literary Criticism >> Ancient and Classical

Greek myth-makers crafted the downfall of Troy and its rulers into an archetypal illustration of ruthless conquest, deceit, crime and punishment, and the variability of human fortunes. This book examines the major episodes in the archetypal myth--the murder of Priam, the rape of Kassandra, the reunion of Helen and Menelaos, and the escape of Alnelas--as witnessed in Archaic Greek epic, fifth-century Athenian drama, and Athenian black- and red-figure vase painting. It focuses in particular on the narrative artistry with which poets and painters balanced these episodes with one another and...

With an introduction and commentary.

The Making of the Iliad is intended for readers who have some knowledge of Greek and of Homer. After introductory chapters on the poet of the Iliad's date and homeland, the poetic traditions known to him, the way in which his work developed, and its early reception, Martin West provides a running commentary on the epic, distinguishing the different stages of the poet's workings, illuminating his aims and methods, and identifying techniques and motifs derived from ancestral Indo-European tradition or imported from the Near East.

The Late Mannerists were Athenian vase-painters working in the fifth-century BC. They specialized in shapes used during the symposium, and had a particular flair for story telling. Their unusual style of painting combines elements of the Late Archaic period with characteristics of the Classical period. This is a richly illustrated study of the workshop.