Aristotle:Poetics.; Longinus: On the Sublime; Demetrius: On Style (Loeb Classical Library No. 199) - Hardcover

Aristotle; Longinus; Demetrius

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674995635 ISBN 13: 9780674995635

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 1995

Synopsis

This volume brings together the three most influential ancient Greek treatises on literature. Aristotle’s Poetics contains his treatment of Greek tragedy: its history, nature, and conventions, with details on poetic diction. Stephen Halliwell makes this seminal work newly accessible with a reliable text and a translation that is both accurate and readable. His authoritative introduction traces the work’s debt to earlier theorists (especially Plato), its distinctive argument, and the reasons behind its enduring relevance.
The essay On the Sublime, usually attributed to “Longinus” (identity uncertain), was probably composed in the first century CE; its subject is the appreciation of greatness (“the sublime”) in writing, with analysis of illustrative passages ranging from Homer and Sappho to Plato. In this edition, Donald A. Russell has revised and newly annotated the text and translation by W. Hamilton Fyfe, and supplied a new introduction.
The treatise On Style, ascribed to an (again unidentifiable) “Demetrius”, was perhaps composed during the secod century BCE. It is notable particularly for its theory and analysis of four distinct styles (grand, elegant, plain, and forceful). Doreen Innes’s fresh rendering of the work is based on the earlier Loeb translation by W. Rhys Roberts. Her new introduction and notes represent the latest scholarship.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Halliwell is Professor of Greek at the University of St Andrews.

Donald A. Russell is Emeritus Professor of Classical Literature, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Fellow of St. John's College, Oxford.

Doreen C. Innes is a Fellow in Classics at St Hilda’s College, University of Oxford.

Review

“This volume completely supercedes its predecessor... The Loeb editors have chosen the world's best scholars on these difficult authors for the revisions... Each ancient text is given a clear, informative introduction, outlining for general readers and specialists alike the basic problems and concerns of each essay, backed up with helpful bibliographical notes... In sum, this is an excellent, if overdue, revision of seminal criticism... Congratulations to the contributors and to the series editors for another splendidly produced volume which any scholar of classical literature should now possess.”―Richard Hawley, Classical Review

“This re-edition cum revision of the three most seminal ancient Greek treatises in the aesthetics of literature is much to be welcomed. Together with a new translation of Aristotle's Poetics by Stephen Halliwell, it provides a spruced up version of W. H. Fyfe's spirited rendering of On the Sublime, and a comprehensive revision of W. Rhys Roberts' 1927 edition and translation of On Style. In all three cases new introductions and generous annotations bring the reader up to date with recent scholarship... The volume as a whole succeeds in meeting both the needs of non-classically trained readers and the requirements of scholars. For that reason it cannot be recommended too warmly.”―Suzanne Stern-Gillet, British Journal of Aesthetics

“Under the general editorship of George Gould, the careful revision of the Loeb series continues, with this volume 23 of Aristotle. The Poetics is, of course, the jewel in this crown... It is a tall enough order, at the end of the twentieth century to attempt one translation of Aristotle's Poetics, but Stephen Halliwell has now produced two... This new Loeb edition is, by design, noticeably closer to the Greek than Halliwell's earlier translation. The Greek text itself is a vast improvement over that of Hamilton Fyfe's Loeb, which was based on Vahlen's edition of 1885.”―

“For this edition [of the treatise On Style], Doreen Innes has quite extensively revised that version―with notably favorable results―and has provided a generous introduction, once again with a structural synopsis and bibliographic notes.”―

“This set of revisions was past due, and its arrival is most welcome. The result is a useful and physically very beautiful little volume that, I predict, will see very heavy use.”―John T. Kirby, Classical Outlook

“Possibly the next most important work of literary theory and criticism to survive the wreck of antiquity...is the brilliant treatise Peri hupseos, attributed to someone called Longinus... In this second Loeb edition, the earlier Hamilton Fyfe translation has been overhauled by Donald Russell, surely the greatest living authority on Longinus.”―

Edition details

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0674995635
• ISBN 13: 9780674995635
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 544