Epigram

Provides an introduction as to what epigram means and why it matters. Short content excellent for undergraduates and researchers alike.

Niall Livingstone (Author), Gideon Nisbet (Author)

9780521145701, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 April 2010

190 pages
23.4 x 15.7 x 0.8 cm, 0.29 kg

This is an introduction to the ancient genre of epigram, short poems literally written or inscribed 'on' an object or figuratively 'on' a topic. The authors set out what epigram means and why it matters, exploring its roots in inscriptions on stone and its literary flourishing in the Hellenistic world after Alexander. They trace its migration from Greece to Rome, where its most famous exponent was Martial, and consider the continuation of Greek epigram under the Roman empire in the so-called 'Second Sophistic'. The final chapter shows how Greek epigram achieved new importance in the nineteenth century as raw material for stories about the classical past.

Prologue: at the symposium
Introduction
Part I. The Inscriptional Beginnings of Literary Epigram
Part II. Epigram in the Hellenistic World
Part III. Epigram from Greece to Rome
Part IV. Epigram in the Second Sophistic and After
Part V. Ancient Epigram in Reception
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB]