Synopses & Reviews
This broad study of the Hellenistic poets of the third century B.C. provides a much-needed picture of the poetry of the period while demonstrating its quality and vitality. Hutchinson explores the works of such writers as Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes--developing a general conception of poetry that centers around the poets' handling of tone, level, and form--and offers a fresh analysis of the influence of Hellenistic poetry on the city of Rome.
Review
"All readers will enjoy the author's illuminating analyses of the effects these poets achieved by subtly subverting the conventions that governed classical Greek poetry; scholars will be interested in his revisionist account of the literary society of early Hellenistic Alexandria....An excellent work that has no rival in English. Highly recommended for purchase by all university and college libraries."--Choice
"Despite the enormous interest that Hellenistic verse has excited, both for its own sake and even more for its influence upon the greatest period of Latin poetry, we have until now lacked an up-to-date book combining broad sweep and detailed scholarship....[this is] a remarkable book, full of fresh thought and unparaded learning, from which we all have much to learn."--Richard Jenkyns, Times Higher Education Supplement