Sound, sense, and rhythm : listening to Greek and Latin poetry / Mark W. Edwards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edwards, Mark W.

Series:

Martin classical lectures.

Martin classical lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greek poetry--History and criticism.

Greek poetry.

Latin poetry--History and criticism.

Latin poetry.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (205 p.)

Edition:

Core Textbook

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press ; Chichester : UPCCP, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book concerns the way we read--or rather, imagine we are listening to--ancient Greek and Latin poetry. Through clear and penetrating analysis Mark Edwards shows how an understanding of the effects of word order and meter is vital for appreciating the meaning of classical poetry, composed for listening audiences. The first of four chapters examines Homer's emphasis of certain words by their positioning; a passage from the Iliad is analyzed, and a poem of Tennyson illustrates English parallels. The second considers Homer's techniques of disguising the break in the narrative when changing a scene's location or characters, to maintain his audience's attention. In the third we learn, partly through an English translation matching the rhythm, how Aeschylus chose and adapted meters to arouse listeners' emotions. The final chapter examines how Latin poets, particularly Propertius, infused their language with ambiguities and multiple meanings. An appendix examines the use of classical meters by twentieth-century American and English poets. Based on the author's Martin Classical Lectures at Oberlin College in 1998, this book will enrich the appreciation of classicists and their students for the immense possibilities of the languages they read, translate, and teach. Since the Greek and Latin "ations are translated into English, it will also be welcomed by non-classicists as an aid to understanding the enormous influence of ancient Greek and Latin poetry on modern Western literature.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER ONE. Homer I: Poetry and Speech

CHAPTER TWO. Homer II: Scenes and Summaries

CHAPTER THREE. Music and Meaning in Three Songs of Aeschylus

CHAPTER FOUR. Poetry in the Latin Language

AFTERWORD

APPENDIX A. Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur

APPENDIX B. Continuity in Mrs. Dalloway

APPENDIX C. The Performance of Homeric Episodes

APPENDIX D. Classical Meters in Modern English Verse

REFERENCES

INDEX

Notes:

Originally published: 2002.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612087134

9781282087132

1282087134

9781400824830

1400824834

OCLC:

367670601