Greek Epitaphic Poetry
A Selection

The first accessible modern commentary on a selection of Greek inscribed epitaphs from c. 600 BC until late antiquity.

Richard Hunter (Edited by)

9781108926041, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 13 January 2022

294 pages, 10 b/w illus. 2 maps
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.7 cm, 0.37 kg

'… it represents extremely good value, and is strongly recommended.' Colin Leach, Classics for All

Thousands of Greek verse epitaphs, covering a millennium of history, survive inscribed or painted on stone. These largely anonymous poems shed rich light on areas such as ancient moral values, religious ideas, gender relations and attitudes, as well as on the transmission and reception of 'canonical' poetry; many of these poems are of very high literary quality. This is the first modern commentary on a selection of these poems. Problems of syntax, metre and language are fully explained, accompanied by sophisticated literary discussion of the poems. There is a full introduction to the nature of these poems and to their context within Greek ideas of death and the afterlife. This comprehensive edition will be of interest to advanced undergraduates and graduate students studying Greek literature, as well as to scholars.

Introduction: 1. Funerary verse-inscriptions
2. The style of Greek epitaphic verse
3. Who wrote Greek verse-inscriptions?
4. Ideas of death in Greek verse-inscriptions
5. About this edition
Source Text: Greek Epitaphic Poetry. A Selection
Editorial Matter: Commentary.

Subject Areas: Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Poetry anthologies [various poets DCQ], Translation & interpretation [CFP]