T. Whitmarsh, Ancient Greek Literature - Other Literary Studies

French Literature Reviews - 2026

T. Whitmarsh, Ancient Greek Literature
Other Literary Studies

Tim Whitmarsh, Ancient Greek Literature

Cambridge, Polity Press, 2004. 284 p.

  • ISBN 9780745627922
  • $24.95 (pb)

Reviewed by Yun Lee Too (New York) in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.01.33.

Online excerpts: amazon.com.

Publisher's description:

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.

Whitmarsh offers new readings of some of the best-known and most influential authors of Greek antiquity, including Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Aristophanes and Plato, as well as introducing many lesser-known figures. Unlike conventional narrative histories, this volume focuses on the profound effects of literature within Greek society. Whitmarsh shows that literature, distributed via a range of social institutions, such as festivals, theatres, symposia and book production, played an important role in the legitimization - and challenging - of ideologies of gender, class and cultural identity. The volume also addresses the legacy of Greek literature: how the Victorian cult of Hellenism and its successors have structured the reception of ancient texts, and how and why the modern West has adopted the Greeks as its ancestors.

This book will be essential reading for undergraduates, from their first year and above, studying ancient Greek literature and culture. All texts in the volume are translated, and no prior knowledge of ancient Greek literature is assumed.

Table of Contents:

Preface.

Section one: concepts.

1) 'Greek literature' and cultural history.

2) The problem of tradition.

Section two: contexts.

3) Festival.

4) Symposium.

5) Theatre.

6) The power of speech.

7) Inventing the archive: Athens.

8) Building the archive: Alexandria.

9) Reading from the archive: Roman Greece.

Section three: conflicts.

10) Inventing the Greek.

11) A woman's place.

12) Sexing the text.

13) Status and slavery.

Notes.

Chronology of Greek Literature.

References.

Index of Greek Authors.

General Index.

Scholarly studies of classical antiquity often balance traditional philological analysis with broader cultural history. The field of classical scholarship encompasses the study of texts ranging from epic poetry and drama to philosophy and historical prose produced across the Mediterranean world. Introductions to this literature typically address the transmission of texts through antiquity, the mechanics of ancient performance and literacy, and the long-term reception of classical models in later European thought. Academic surveys also frequently examine how classical texts functioned within the civic, religious, and political institutions of the societies that produced them.

Tim Whitmarsh examines ancient Greek literature from Homer to late antiquity, discussing authors such as Sophocles, Euripides, Herodotus, Aristophanes, and Plato alongside lesser-known figures. The volume addresses the role of literature within Greek society, examining its distribution through institutions like festivals, theatres, symposia, and book production, and its relation to ideologies of gender, class, and cultural identity. It also considers the legacy of Greek literature, including the Victorian cult of Hellenism and modern receptions of ancient texts. Readers interested in classical studies and ancient cultural history may find it relevant.