Haunted Greece and Rome : ghost stories from classical antiquity / D. Felton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Felton, Debbie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ghost stories, Classical--History and criticism.

Ghost stories, Classical.

Literature and folklore--Greece.

Literature and folklore.

Literature and folklore--Rome.

Ghosts--Greece.

Ghosts.

Ghosts--Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (169 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Austin, Texas : University of Texas Press, 1999.

Summary:

Stories of ghostly spirits who return to this world to warn of danger, to prophesy, to take revenge, to request proper burial, or to comfort the living fascinated people in ancient times just as they do today. In this innovative, interdisciplinary study, the author combines a modern folkloric perspective with literary analysis of ghost stories from classical antiquity to shed new light on the stories' folk roots. The author begins by examining ancient Greek and Roman beliefs about death and the departed and the various kinds of ghost stories which arose from these beliefs. She then focuses on the longer stories of Plautus, Pliny, and Lucian, which concern haunted houses. Her analysis illuminates the oral and literary transmission and adaptation of folkloric motifs and the development of the ghost story as a literary form. In her concluding chapter, the author also traces the influence of ancient ghost stories on modern ghost story writers, a topic that will interest all readers and scholars of tales of hauntings.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Introduction

ONE The Folklore of Ghosts

TWO Problems of Definition and Classification

THREE Haunted Houses

FOUR Plautus's Haunted House

FIVE The Supernatural in Pliny's Letters

Six Lucian's Ghost Stories

SEVEN The Fate of the Ghost Story

Notes

Bibliography

Index of Passages Cited

General Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780292757325

0292757328

OCLC:

1286806031