The Lives of the Greek Poets

Mary R. Lefkowitz

ISBN 10: 1780930895 / ISBN 13: 9781780930893

Published by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, GB, 2012

About this Item

Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revised and rewritten her classic study to introduce a new generation of students to the lives of the Greek poets. Thoroughly updated with references to the most recent scholarship, this second edition includes new material and fresh analysis of the ancient biographies of Greece's most famous poets.With little or no independent historical information to draw on, ancient writers searched for biographical data in the poets' own works and in comic poetry about them. Lefkowitz describes how biographical mythology was created and offers a sympathetic account of how individual biographers reconstructed the poets' lives. She argues that the life stories of Greek poets, even though primarily fictional, still merit close consideration, as they provide modern readers with insight into ancient notions about the creative process and the purpose of poetic composition.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781780930893

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Lives of the Greek Poets
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, GB
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1780930895
• ISBN 13: 9781780930893
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: 2nd Edition
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.24W x 1.27H x 22.86D centimeters 15.24 centimeters width by 1.27 centimeters height by 22.86 centimeters depth
• Weight: 394 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Mary R. Lefkowitz has extensively revised and rewritten her classic study to introduce a new generation of students to the lives of the Greek poets. Thoroughly updated with references to the most recent scholarship, this second edition includes new material and fresh analysis of the ancient biographies of Greece's most famous poets.
With little or no independent historical information to draw on, ancient writers searched for biographical data in the poets' own works and in comic poetry about them. Lefkowitz describes how biographical mythology was created and offers a sympathetic account of how individual biographers reconstructed the poets' lives. She argues that the life stories of Greek poets, even though primarily fictional, still merit close consideration, as they provide modern readers with insight into ancient notions about the creative process and the purpose of poetic composition.

About the Author

Mary R. Lefkowitz is Mellon Professor in the Humanities, Emerita, Wellesley College, USA. She is the author of First-Person Fictions (1991), Not Out of Africa (1997), Greek Gods, Human Lives (2003) and Women in Greek Myth (Bloomsbury, 2007),. She is co-editor of Black Athena Revisited (revised edition, 1996) and Women's Life in Greece and Rome (Bloomsbury, 4th edition, 2015).