ABSTRACT
A Short History of Greek Literature provides a concise yet comprehensive survey of Greek literature - from Christian authors - over twelve centuries, from Homer's epics to the rich range of authors surviving from the imperial period up to Justinian. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to the extraordinary creativity of the archaic and classical age, when the major literary genres - epic, lyric, tragedy, comedy, history, oratory and philosophy - were invented and flourished. The second part covers the Hellenistic period, and the third covers the High Empire and Late Antiquity. At that tine the masters of the previous age were elevated to the rank of 'classics'. The works of the imperial period are replete with literary allusions, yet full of references to contemporary reality.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part |2 pages
Part 1 HOMER AND THE ARCHAIC PERIOD (EIGHTH TO FIFTH CENTURIES BC)
part |2 pages
Part 2 THE CLASSICAL AGE AND THE FLOWERING OF ATHENS (FIFTH TO FOURTH CENTURIES BC)
part |2 pages
PART 3 The Hellenistic Period: the age of distinction
part |2 pages
PART 4 The Roman Empire: from compromise to mutation