Kategoria BISAC: Poetry >> Ancient & Classical

The saintly austerities of Mary of Egypt so impressed early monks that they recorded her life to edify their brethren. Many versions circulated and the tale traveled from Palestine to Europe, from Greek to Latin to French to Spanish, from prose to poetry, from hagiography to literature, and from the monastery into the world outside. Here we see Mary through the eyes of three medieval poets: Flodoard, a canon of Reims ( 966), Hildebert of Lavardin, a bishop, ( 1134), and an Anonymous Spaniard.

Ronald E. Pepin received his Ph.D. in Classics from Fordham University. After serving as...

This edition of the seventh book of Lucan's De Bello Civili, also known as Pharsalia, was published by Cambridge University Press in 1960 and later reprinted by Bristol Classical Press. It is a revision by O.A.W. Dilke ofJ.P. Postgate's original 1896 edition. The introduction includes a life of Lucan and takes account of the large literature that exists on the topography of Pharsalia. The Latin text is supplemented by a commentary and there is a critical appendix.

This edition contains an introduction giving the necessary background and setting Book III in the context of the Iliad as a whole, the Greek text, explanatory notes and a vocabulary.

This edition of one of the most enduringly popular and familiar books of the Odyssey - the encounter of Odysseus and his men with the cannibal Cyclops Polyphemos - grew out of the classes taken at the Joint Association of Classics Greek Summer School, where students who had completed a beginners' course were making their first acquaintance with Homeric verse.

The complete text of the book, with generous narrative headings, and illustrations from Greek art, is complemented by a running vocabulary and translation assistance on facing pages. The brief introduction deals with the...

This book brings into print editions, translations, and commentaries for more than two dozen unique poems (in Latin) from the late eleventh and early twelfth century, preserved in Houghton Library's anthology known as MS Lat 300. This book offers unparalleled access to the anthology, previously unavailable in English.

From a literary point of view, those interested in lyric poetry composed in Old French and Old Provençal have paid increasing attention to Latin poetry that circulated in France, and of course those wishing to trace the background of the...

The history of Homer and his works is lost in doubtful obscurity, as is the history of many of the first minds who have done honor to humanity because they rose amidst darkness. The majestic stream of his song, blessing and fertilizing, flows like a river through many lands and nations.

The creations of genius always seem like miracles, because they are, for the most part, created far out of the reach of observation. If we were in possession of all the historical testimonies, we never could wholly explain the origin of the Iliad and the Odyssey. But it must be noted that Homer's great...

An eccentric classic of Zen poetry

When Zen master Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) was appointed headmaster of the great temple at Kyoto, he lasted nine days before denouncing the rampant hypocrisy he saw among the monks there. He in turn invited them to look for him in the sake parlors of the Pleasure Quarters. A Zen monk-poet-calligrapher-musician, he dared to write about the joys of erotic love, along with more traditional Zen themes. He was an eccentric and genius who dared to defy authority and despised corruption. Although he lived during times plagued by war, famine, rioting, and...