Epigram Volume 38 [Paperback]

Provides an introduction as to what epigram means and why it matters. Short content excellent for undergraduates and researchers alike.This book provides an introduction as to what epigram means and why it matters. Subjects covered include the roots in inscriptions on stone, the continuation of Greek epigram under the Roman empire and a chapter discussing new importance in the nineteenth century as material for stories about the classical past.This book provides an introduction as to what epigram means and why it matters. Subjects covered include the roots in inscriptions on stone, the continuation of Greek epigram under the Roman empire and a chapter discussing new importance in the nineteenth century as material for stories about the classical past.This is an introduction to the ancient genre of epigram, short poems literally written or inscribed on' an object or figuratively on' a topic. The authors set out what epigram means and why it matters, exploring its roots in inscriptions on stone and its literary flourishing in the Hellenistic world after Alexander. They trace its migration from Greece to Rome, where its most famous exponent was Martial, and consider the continuation of Greek epigram under the Roman empire in the so-called Second Sophistic'. The final chapter shows how Greek epigram achieved new importance in the nineteenth century as raw material for stories about the classical past.Prologue: at the symposium; Introduction; Part I. The Inscriptional Beginnings of Literary Epigram; Part II. Epigram in the Hellenistic World; Part III. Epigram from Greece to Rome; Part IV. Epigram in the Second Sophistic and After; Part V. Ancient Epigram in Reception; Bibliography; Index.