First published in 1934, this book covers a broad array of ancient Greek literature, taking into account the most acknowledged of the Greek authors as well as those less well known. H. J. Rose presents the latest findings of the time in terms of research into Greek literature and covers subjects from Homer, Comedy and Poetry, to Philosophy, Science, and the Empire.

According to Aristotle the main purpose of tragedy is the manipulation of emotions, and yet there are relatively few accessible studies of the precise dynamics of emotion in the Athenian theatre. In Greek Tragedy and the Emotions, first published in 1993, W.B. Stanford reviews the evidence for ‘emotionalism’ – as the great Attic playwrights presented it, as the actors and choruses expressed it, and as their audiences reacted to it. Sociological aspects of the issue are considered, and the whole range of emotions, not just ‘pity and fear’, is discussed. The aural, visual and stylistic methods of inciting emotion are analysed, and Aeschylus’ Oresteia is examined exclusively in terms of the emotions that it exploits. Finally, Stanford’s conclusions are contrasted with the accepted theories of tragic ‘catharsis’. Greek terms are transliterated and all quotations are in translation, so Greek Tragedy and the Emotions will appeal particularly to those unfamiliar with Classical Greek.

Interpretations of Greek Mythology, first published in1987, builds on the innovative work of Walter Burkert and the ‘Paris school’ of Jean-Pierre Vernant, and represents a renewal of interpretation of Greek mythology. The contributors to this volume present a variety of approaches to the Greek myths, all of which eschew a monolithic or exclusively structuralist hermeneutic method. Specifically, the notion that mythology can simply be read as a primitive mode of narrative history is rejected, with emphasis instead being placed on the relationships between mythology and history, ritual and political genealogy. The essays concentrate on some of the best known characters and themes – Oedipus, Orpheus, Narcissus – reflecting the complexity and fascination of the Greek imagination. The volume will long remain an indispensable tool for the study of Greek mythology, and it is of great interest to anyone interested in the development of Greek culture and civilisation and the nature of myth.

Greek Oracles, first published in 1967, presents an iintroduction to an often under-acknowledged aspect of the ancient world: its religion.From the individual with a reputation for divination to a priesthood officially recognised by the state, the wide field of prophecy was dominated by its traditional oracular centres, pre-eminently Delphi.Conclusions are based on an examination of this latter oracle throughout the thousand years when Graeco-Roman religious culture was oriented towards prophecy.

Mycenaean Greece, first published in 1976, investigates from an historical point of view some of the crucial periods in the Greek Bronze Age. The principal subject is the so-called ‘Mycenaean’ culture which arose during the sixteenth century BC, as assimilation of the previous ‘Helladic’ culture of mainland Greece with some of the developments of Minoan Crete. Many of the material aspects of the Mycenaean civilisation are examined, as are the extent of Mycenaean expansion overseas and the eventual destruction of Mycenaean sites which marked the end of their civilisation. The author also considers the evidence relating to the religious beliefs of the Mycenaeans and their social, political and economic organisations, and he relates the Mycenaean culture to the later civilisation of Archaic and Classical Greece. There is an Appendix containing a list of Mycenaean sites, with reference to excavation reports, and a full bibliography.

This study of Philostratus , first published in 1986, presents the Greek biographer’s treatment of both sophists and holy men in the social and intellectual life of the early Roman Empire, which also displays his own distinctive literary personality as a superficial dilettante and an engrossing snob. Through him we gain a glimpse of the rhetorical schools and their rivalries, as well as a bizarre portrayal of the celebrated first-century holy man Apollonius of Tyana, long loathed by his later Christian press as a Pagan Christ. Rarely does a biographer’s reputation revolve round the charge that he forged his principal source. Graham Anderson’s account produces new evidence which supports Philostratus’ credibility, but it also extends the charges of ignorance and bias in his handling of fellow-sophists. Philostratus is intended for any reader interested in the social, cultural and literary history of the Roman Empire as well as the professional classicist.

This study, first published in 1982, explores and demonstrates the ways in which an awareness of literary genre can illuminate works as diverse as Milton’s ‘Lycidas’ and Berryman’s Sonnets. The first book to offer a historical survey of genre theory, it traces the history from the Greek rhetoricians to such contemporary figures as Frye and Todorov. Particular emphasis is placed on the ways in which comments on genre reflect underlying aesthetic attitudes.

A remarkable number of Greek myths concern the plight of virgins – slaughtered, sacrificed, hanged, transformed into birds, cows, dear, bears, trees, and punished in Hades. Death and the Maiden, first published in 1989, contextualises this mythology in terms of geography, history and culture, and offers a comprehensive theory firmly grounded in an ubiquitous ritual: pubescent girls’ rites of passage. By means of comparative anthropology, it is argued that many local ceremonies are echoed throughout the whole range of myths, both famous and obscure. Further, Professor Dowden examines boys’ rites, as well as the renewal of entire communities at regular intervals. The first full-length work in English devoted to passage-rites in Greek myth, Death and the Maiden is an important contribution to the exciting developments in the study of the interrelation between myth and ritual: from it an innovative view on the origination of many Greek myths emerges.

Aristophanes and Women, first published in 1993, investigates the workings of the great Athenian comedian’s ‘women plays’ in an attempt to discern why they were in fact probably quite funny to their original audiences. It is argued that modern students, scholars, and dramatists need to consider much more closely the conditions of the plays’ ancient productions when evaluating their ostensible themes. Three plays are focused upon: Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, and Ecclesiazusae. All seem to speak quite eloquently to contemporary concerns about women’s rights, the value of women’s work, and the relationships between women and war, literary representation and politics. On the one hand, Professor Taaffe tries to retrieve what an ancient Athenian audience may have l appreciated about these plays and what their central theses may have meant within that culture. On the other hand, Aristophanes is discussed from the perspective of a late twentieth-century, specifically female, reader.