Thalia Delighting in Song: Essays on Ancient Greek Poetry (Phoenix Supplementary Volumes) - Softcover

Robbins, Emmet I.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442613432 ISBN 13: 9781442613430

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 2013

Synopsis

Emmet I. Robbins earned an international reputation as a scholar of ancient Greek poetry, possessing a broad cultural background and a command of many languages that allowed him to

present sensitive and informed readings of poets from Homer to the tragedians. Thalia Delighting in Song assembles for the first time his work from 1975 through 1999, reflecting his close

reading of the Greek texts and his firm grasp of their literary, historical and mythological contexts.

Among the essays included in this volume are important reflections on the poetry of

Homer, Alcman, Sappho, Pindar and Aeschylus. Also featured are Robbins' writings that situate Greek texts in their wider contexts, comparing Greek poetry and modern opera, for example, or

assessing the enduring influence of myth in the Indo-European traditions, accounting for links between Greek literature and the poetry, sagas and songs of several other cultures. Thalia

Delighting in Song ensures that the next generation of Classicists will continue to benefit from the insights of one of the foremost scholars in the field.

About this title

About the Author

Emmet I. Robbins (1939–2011) was chair of the Department of Classics at the University of Toronto.

Review

“There is no other book I know of that can teach the reader so much about what it means to read Greek lyric poems literately, sensitively, and passionately

as Thalia Delighting in Song. These essays are among the very best writings on Greek lyric poetry from the last decades of the twentieth century, and to read through them all is not only profoundly instructive, but also profoundly moving. Robbins’s close readings and deft interpretations of individual poetic texts in his scholarly essays work splendidly together with his general articles on a number of Greek lyric poets: taken together, they provide both a larger framework and a detailed specification of the themes that Robbins has so acutely and sensitively identified.

Thalia Delighting in Song is a wonderful book.” (Glenn W. Most, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, and John U. Nef Committee on Social Thought, University of Chicago)

“Thalia Delighting in Song is a major contribution to research. The writing is beautifully clear and easy to read, and the book has many delightful twists.” (David A. Campbell, Department of Greek and Roman Studies, University of Victoria)

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1442613432
• ISBN 13: 9781442613430
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352
• Editor: MacLachlan Bonnie