EPINICIAN ODES AND DITHYRAMBS OF BACCHYLIDES; translated by .

SLAVITT, David R.

ISBN 10: 0812234472 / ISBN 13: 9780812234473

Published by University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1998

About this Item

8vo, pp. 83. A fine in dj. . Inscribed by the author to poet William Jay Smith and his wife: "For Bill & Sonja | love | David | Cummington, MA | 7/22/01" Translations of the work of the 5th century Greek poet. Seller Inventory # 58574

Bibliographic Details

Title: EPINICIAN ODES AND DITHYRAMBS OF BACCHYLIDES...

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia

Publication Date: 1998

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: First Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Until a century ago, the fifth-century Greek poet Bacchylides was known only by 107 nonsequential lines buried as quotations in the writings of other ancient authors. With the discovery in 1896 of a papyrus containing his work, 1,382 lines were reassembled and the poems of Bacchylides finally began to take shape for the modern reader. Slavitt argues in the Introduction to this collection that, although Bacchylides is often considered a "lesser Pindar," he is a poet who warrants consideration. "He deserves attention not because he is beetling, like Pindar, but because he is not. He relies on craftsmanship and reliably displays an attractive grace and elegance."

About the Author:

David R. Slavitt was educated at Andover and Yale and has published more than seventy books: original poetry, translations, novels, critical works, and short stories. He worked for seven years as a journalist at Newsweek and continues to do freelance reporting and reviewing. With Palmer Bovie he coedited the Penn Greek Drama series and the Complete Roman Drama in Translation.