Synopses & Reviews
This is an edited collection by a distinguished team of scholars on the philosopher and poet Philodemus of Gadara (ca. 110-40 BC). The discovery of his library at Herculaneum, and the editing and gradual publication of the material, has reawakened interest in the philosophical and historical importance of his work. Philodemus presents us with a poetic theory of interest in itself, and several of his treatises provide us with instances of how poetry was seen as providing moral paradigms and guidance. These essays explore the many facets of Philodemus's work and the relationship between them, offering a critical survey of recent trends and developments in scholarship on Philodemus in particular and Hellenistic literary theory in general.
Review
"an indispensable tool for scholars beginning to delve into what may be Herculaneum's most valuable treasures."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review.
"An extremely useful discussion of the poetics of Philodemus of Gadara...Highly recommended."--Religious Studies Review
Synopsis
Building on recent advances in the reconstruction of the charred papyri of Philodemus of Gadara (ca. 110-40 B.C.) excavated from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, this volume presents eleven new chapters in the history of literary criticism in antiquity. The essays, written by noted scholars, treat the papyrus texts of Philodemus' treatises on poetry and the related subjects of rhetoric and music, establishing links with his Roman contemporaries Lucretius, Catullus, Horace, and Vergil. The study offers a critical survey of current trends and developments in recent scholarship on Philodemus in particular and Hellenistic literary theory in general. The volume contains a complete translation of a new text of Philodemus' On Poems book 5. Individual essays evaluate the philosophical and historical importance of these Epicurean treatises and of Philodemus as a literary theorist, as they document connections between Greek philosophy and Roman literary production in the first century B.C. The recent papyrus discoveries of Ennius, Lucretius, and Posidippus make this an especially topical volume.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 282-288) and index.
Table of Contents
Framing the margins of Philodemus and poetry / D. Clay -- Epicurean poetics / E. Asmis -- Epicurean poetics : response and dialogue / D. Sider -- The Epicurean philosopher as Hellenistic poet / D. Sider -- The alleged impossibility of philosophical poetry / M. Wigodsky -- Reconstructing Philodemus' On poems / R. Janko -- Content and form in Philodemus : the history of an evasion / J. Porter -- Philodemus on censorship, moral utility, and formalism in poetry / E. Asmis -- Philodemus on the technicity of rhetoric / D. Blank -- How to read poetry about gods / D. Obbink -- The impossibility of metathesis : Philodemus and Lucretius on form and content in poetry / D. Armstrong -- Satire as poetry and the impossibility of metathesis in Horace's Satires / S. Oberhelman, D. Armstrong