Aelius Aristides and the Poetics of Lyric in Imperial Greek Culture

Analyses the presence of Greek lyric poetry in imperial culture, giving new perspectives on lyric reception and imperial Greek literature.

Francesca Modini (Author)

9781009518246, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 May 2025

327 pages, 7 b/w illus.
25 x 17.5 x 2.3 cm, 0.72 kg

This book is the first study of the persistence and significance of ancient lyric in imperial Greek culture. Redefining lyric reception as a phenomenon ranging from textual engagement with ancient poems to the appropriation of song traditions, Francesca Modini reconsiders the view of imperial culture (paideia) as dominated by Homer and fifth-century Attic literature. She argues that textual knowledge of lyric allowed imperial writers to show a more sophisticated level of paideia, and her analysis further reveals how lyric traditions mobilised distinctive discourses of self-fashioning, local identity, community-making and power crucial for Greeks under Rome. This is most evident in the works of Aelius Aristides, who reconfigured ancient lyric to shape his rhetorical persona and enhance his speeches to imperial communities. Exploring Aristides' lyric poetics also changes how we interpret his reconstruction of the classical tradition and his involvement in the complex politics of the Empire.

Introduction. Imperial Greek Literature, Rhetoric and Lyric: Why?
Part I. Imperial Phenomenology of Lyric: 1. Lyric as literature: locating lyric poetry in imperial Paideia
2. Coming (back) to life: materiality, locality and performance of lyric
Part II. Aelius Aristides' Lyric: 3. Princeps Sophistarum: Aristides' construction of lyric and his persona
4. A praise of two cities: local (and) lyric traditions for New Corinth
5. The politics of Harmonia: Stasis and political song in Rhodes
6. Musical Empires: Aristides' Athens and Rome
Epilogue. From lyric to Aristides and back, and forward.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]