Best of
Classical-Studies

2011

Phoenician Secrets: Exploring the Ancient Mediterranean


Sanford Holst - 2011
    (There is a new edition of this book, see "Phoenicians".) Instead of seeing darkness in the years before classical Greece, we now see glimmers of light revealing a continuous parade of remarkable societies, great leaders and epic events. Drawing back the veil of secrecy surrounding the Phoenicians uncovers new glimpses of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and people of other societies. Sanford Holst is one of the world's leading authorities on the Phoenicians, and appears in the BBC series Ancient Worlds. Elected a member of the prestigious Royal Historical Society for his work in this field, Holst has presented academic papers on the Phoenicians at universities around the world. Working with respected experts, often on-site, he has added photos, sources, and five years of additional research to his previous work. This is a walk through the idyllic ancient Mediterranean you will long remember.

Cities of the Classical World: An Atlas and Gazetteer of 120 Centres of Ancient Civilization


Colin McEvedy - 2011
    Every map is to the same scale, allowing readers for the first time to appreciate visually the relative sizes of Babylon and Paris, London and Constantinople. There is also a clear, incisive commentary on each city's development, strategic importance, rulers and ordinary inhabitants.This compelling and elegant atlas opens a new window on to the ancient world, and will transform the way we see it.

Love Poems, Letters, and Remedies of Ovid


Ovid - 2011
    Slavitt returns to Ovid, once again bringing to the contemporary ear the spirited, idiomatic, audacious charms of this master poet.The love described here is the anguished, ruinous kind, for which Ovid was among the first to find expression. In the Amores, he testifies to the male experience, and in the companion Heroides--through a series of dramatic monologues addressed to absent lovers--he imagines how love goes for women. "You think she is ardent with you? So was she ardent with him," cries Oenone to Paris. Sappho, revisiting the forest where she lay with Phaon, sighs, "The place / without your presence is just another place. / You were what made it magic." The Remedia Amoris sees love as a sickness, and offers curative advice: "The beginning is your best chance to resist"; "Try to avoid onions, / imported or domestic. And arugula is bad. / Whatever may incline your body to Venus / keep away from." The voices of men and women produce a volley of extravagant laments over love's inconstancy and confusions, as though elegance and vigor of expression might compensate for heartache.Though these love poems come to us across millennia, Slavitt's translations, introduced by Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Dirda, ensure that their sentiments have not faded with the passage of time. They delight us with their wit, even as we weep a little in recognition.

A Small Greek World: Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean


Irad Malkin - 2011
    It emerged during the Archaic period when Greeks founded coastal city states and trading stations in ever-widening horizons from the Ukraine to Spain. No center directed theirdiffusion: mother cities were numerous and the new settlements (colonies) would often engender more settlements. The Greek center was at sea; it was formed through back-ripple effects of cultural convergence, following the physical divergence of independent settlements. The shores of Greece arelike hems stitched onto the lands of Barbarian peoples (Cicero). Overall, and regardless of distance, settlement practices became Greek in the making and Greek communities far more resembled each other than any of their particular neighbors like the Etruscans, Iberians, Scythians, or Libyans. Thecontrast between center and periphery hardly mattered (all was peri-, around), nor was a bi-polar contrast with Barbarians of much significance. Should we admire the Greeks for having created their civilization in spite of the enormous distances and discontinuous territories separating their independent communities? Or did the salient aspects of their civilization form and crystallize because of its architecture as a de-centralized network?This book claims that the answer lies in network attributes shaping a Small Greek World, where separation is measured by degrees of contact rather than by physical dimensions.

Eros at the Banquet: Reviewing Greek with Plato's Symposium


Louise Pratt - 2011
    She includes the remaining portion of the dialogue in its entirety to give students the experience of reading Plato's imaginative dialogue in all its richness. All readings are glossed, with explanatory notes appearing on the same page as the relevant texts.Enlivened by twenty-five illustrations, Eros at the Banquet also features an introduction explaining the Symposium's historical and philosophical significance, a comprehensive glossary, and an up-to-date bibliography. Instructors may also supplement this volume with Pratt's The Essentials of Greek Grammar: A Reference for Intermediate Readers of Attic Greek, which includes many examples from the Symposium.

Herakles


Emma Stafford - 2011
    His story has many more episodes than those of other heroes, concerning his life and death as well as his battles with myriad monsters and other opponents. In literature, he appears in our earliest Greek epic and lyric poetry, is reinvented for the tragic and comic stage, and later finds his way into such unlikely areas as philosophical writing and love poetry.  In art, his exploits are amongst the earliest identifiable mythological scenes, and his easily-recognisable figure with lionskin and club was a familiar sight throughout antiquity in sculpture, vase-painting and other media. He was held up as an ancestor and role-model for both Greek and Roman rulers, and widely worshipped as a god, his unusual status as a hero-god being reinforced by the story of his apotheosis. Often referred to by his Roman name Hercules, he has continued to fascinate writers and artists right up to the present day.In Herakles, Emma Stafford has successfully tackled the ‘Herculean task’ of surveying both the ancient sources and the extensive modern scholarship in order to present a hugely accessible account of this important mythical figure. Covering both Greek and Roman material, the book highlights areas of consensus and dissent, indicating avenues for further study on both details and broader issues. Easy to read, Herakles is perfectly suited to students of classics and related disciplines, and of interest to anyone looking for an insight into ancient Greece’s most popular hero.

A Little Latin Reader


Mary C. English - 2011
    It presents vivid, unadapted passages, each two to ten lines in length, drawn from the poetry and prose of various Classical authors--including Caesar, Catullus, Cicero, Martial, Ovid, and Vergil--and from inscriptions. The selections are arranged according to the specific points of grammar and syntax that they demonstrate. By introducing unadapted Latin at the earliest stage of language instruction, A Little Latin Reader helps students transition more easily from beginning and intermediate Latin textbooks to authentic Latin prose and poetry.FEATURES: * Selections are annotated and arranged for maximum classroom flexibility* Brief introductions to each reading provide students with narrative context* Extensive vocabulary notes below each selection enable students to read entire passages without consulting a dictionary* Twelve extended prose and poetry passages serve as a challenge for advanced students and a preview of further Latin study* Appendices contain short biographies of the authors included in the text; guides to Latin meter and epigraphy; an index organized by theme; and maps of locations associated with the readings* Latin texts include macrons that aid students in correct pronunciation and in the recognition of difficult forms