Tim Whitemarsh è un distinto studioso della cultura greca, il cui lavoro approfondisce la letteratura e la società dei periodi ellenistico e romano. Le sue analisi penetrano nelle profondità del pensiero antico, esplorando temi come la credenza, lo scetticismo e la ricerca di significato in un mondo in evoluzione. Lo stile di Whitemarsh è noto per la sua erudizione e la sua capacità di far rivivere il passato al lettore moderno, offrendo una visione avvincente delle vite e delle menti dei nostri antichi predecessori.
In this book, Tim Whitmarsh offers an innovative new introduction to ancient Greek literature. The volume integrates cutting--edge cultural theory with the latest research in classical scholarship, providing a comprehensive, sophisticated and accessible account of literature from Homer to late antiquity.
Focusing on the Greek romances of the Roman Empire, the book delves into their significance in shaping and reflecting Greek identity. It examines how these narratives not only captivated audiences but also provided insights into cultural values and societal norms of the time, highlighting their lasting impact on literature and identity formation.
How new is atheism?Long before the Enlightenment sowed seeds of disbelief in a deeply Christian Europe, atheism was a matter of serious public debate in the Greek world.
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With Special Reference to Early Greek Poetry - Second Edition
This path-breaking book has made an unusual and original contribution to literary theory by means of a study of the literature of ancient Greece. It investigates an aspect of poetic imagery in the practical context of Greek lyric and drama up to and including Aeschylus and Pindar. Several hundred passages are systematically examined, with many passages from English verse introduced to provide illustration. Using these, Michael Silk formulates a new critical concept, 'interaction', which characterises certain features of metaphor and other imagery and explores in detail their nature and significance. He then proceeds to discuss related issues in the fields of stylistics and literary theory, give fresh insights into several features of ancient literature, and - above all - make important contributions to the theory and practice of 'literary lexicography' in a dead language. This reissue contains a substantial new Introduction engaging with critical and scholarly developments since first publication.
How did Christianity, starting out as a minor offshoot of Judaism, grow into an international faith that shaped the world as we know it? Rome’s Age of Revolution corrects the triumphalist narrative that the Christian message was so persuasive, and indeed superior, that people converted in huge numbers, abandoning their pagan beliefs, thereby turning a small persecuted sect into the state religion of the Roman Empire.Tim Whitmarsh shows that Christianity would never have succeeded if it had not taken advantage of the infrastructure and culture of the Roman Empire; in turn the new religion was indelibly shaped and transformed by Roman beliefs and ideas, especially those circulating in the Greek-speaking, or Hellenistic, eastern parts of the empire. This radical transformation, Tim argues, can only be described as a revolution. The consequences are with us to this day.
Focusing on the interplay between Greek identity and literary expression during the Roman Empire, this work delves into the sophisticated writings that emerged amidst a backdrop of cultural conflict. It employs contemporary literary and cultural theories to analyze how these texts reflect the struggles for identity within the diverse Roman Empire, highlighting the significance of this literary surge in understanding Greek heritage during this transformative period.
The “Second Sophistic” traditionally refers to a period at the height of the Roman Empire’s power that witnessed a flourishing of Greek rhetoric and oratory, and since the 19th century it has often been viewed as a defense of Hellenic civilization against the domination of Rome. This book proposes a very different model. Covering popular fiction, poetry and Greco-Jewish material, it argues for a rich, dynamic, and diverse culture, which cannot be reduced to a simple model of continuity. Shining new light on a series of playful, imaginative texts that are left out of the traditional accounts of Greek literature, Whitmarsh models a more adventurous, exploratory approach to later Greek culture. Beyond the Second Sophistic offers not only a new way of looking at Greek literature from 300 BCE onwards, but also a challenge to the Eurocentric, aristocratic constructions placed on the Greek heritage. Accessible and lively, it will appeal to students and scholars of Greek literature and culture, Hellenistic Judaism, world literature, and cultural theory.
This book explores the popularity of the Greek romances during the Roman Empire and their contribution to understanding Greek identity.