Richard Jenkyns

A rollicking journey through Classical literatureranging from poetry and philosophy through epic and historythat offers delights for experts and lay readers alike.The writings of the Greeks and Romans form the bedrock of Western culture. Inventing the molds for histories, tragedies, and philosophies, while pioneering radical new forms of epic and poetry, the Greeks and Romans created the literary world we still inhabit today. Writing with verve and insight, distinguished classicist Richard Jenkyns explores a thousand years of classical civilization, carrying readers from the depths of the Greek dark ages through the glittering heights of Rome's empire.Jenkyns begins with Homer and the birth of epic poetry before exploring the hypnotic poetry of Pindar, Sappho, and others from the Greek dark ages. Later, in Athens's classical age, Jenkyns shows the radical nature of Sophocles's choice to portray Ajax as a psychologically wounded warrior, how Aeschylus developed tragedy, and how Herodotus, in "inventing history," brought to narrative an epic and tragic quality. We meet the strikingly modern figure of Virgil, struggling to mirror epic art in an age of empire, and experience the love poems of Catullus, who imbued verse with obsessive passion as never before. Even St. Paul and other early Christian writers are artfully grounded here in their classical literary context.A dynamic and comprehensive introduction to Greek and Roman literature, Jenkyns's Classical Literature is essential reading for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the classicsand the extraordinary origins of Western culture.

Why is Greek and Roman literature so great?How has classical literature influenced Western culture?What did Greek and Roman authors learn from each other?Richard Jenkyns is emeritus Professor of the Classical Tradition and the Public Orator at the University of Oxford. His books include Virgil's Experience and The Victorians and Ancient Greece, acclaimed as 'masterly' by History Today.

Guía de lectura de las mayores obras clásicas.Las obras maestras de la literatura de Grecia y de Roma no solo son el fundamento de nuestra civilización, sino cimas del arte de todos los tiempos. En ellas, nos dice Richard Jenkyns, hay brillantez, profundidad, originalidad y una variedad y un atrevimiento que sorprenderan a quienes piensan queclasicoes un termino que se refiere a una correccion marmorea. Este libro no es una historia de la literatura al estilo tradicional, sino una guia de lectura que nos presenta las grandes obras literarias del mundo clasico, desde Homero hasta Apuleyo, situandolas en su contexto, y nos proporciona las claves necesarias para disfrutar plenamente de su contenido. Su proposito, nos dice Jenkyns, ha sido presentarnos lo mejor de lo que los griegos y los romanos escribieron y enseñarnos a apreciar que es lo que hace que estas obras figuren entre las mejores de cualquier tiempo y cultura.