Lucan's Egyptian civil war / Jonathan Tracy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Tracy, Jonathan, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Lucan, 39-65--Criticism and interpretation.

Lucan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 296 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book explores Lucan's highly original deployment of contradictory Greco-Roman stereotypes about Egypt (utopian vs. xenophobic) as a means of reflecting on the violent tensions within his own society (conservatism vs. Caesarism). Lucan shows the two distinct facets of first-century BC Egypt, namely its ancient Pharaonic heritage and its latter-day Hellenistic culture under the Ptolemies, not only in spiritual conflict with one another (via the opposed characters of Acoreus, priest of old Memphis, and the Alexandrian courtier Pothinus) but also inextricably entangled with the corresponding factions of the Roman civil war and of Nero's Rome. Dr Tracy also connects Lucan's portrayal of Egypt and the Nile to his critical engagement with Greco-Roman discourse on natural science, particularly the Naturales Quaestiones of his uncle Seneca the Younger. Lastly, he examines Lucan's attitude toward the value of cultural diversity within the increasingly monocultural environment of the Roman Mediterranean.

Contents:

Introduction: The comforts of distance

Part one: Pompey in Egypt

See Pompey run

The fatal case for Egypt

Memphis versus Alexandria

Part two: Caesar in Egypt

A pilgrim's progress?

The context of Acoreus

The lessons of Acoreus

Memphis versus Alexandria II

Conclusion: From seclusion to solidarity.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

1-316-12051-1

1-316-12160-7

1-316-13359-1

1-316-13032-0

1-316-13250-1

1-107-42065-2

1-139-68033-1

1-316-12814-8

1-316-12923-3

1-316-13141-6