Product Description

Product Description
'Not only does this book contain a good translation of Phlegon's Book of Marvels, but Hansen has also added translations of fragments of two other works by Phlegon, Olympiads (recounting the foundation of the Olympic Games), and Long-Lived Persons (which uses Roman census documents).As such we get a truly representative feel for the literary output of this Greek freedman which certainly seems to have had an eager market . . .Hanson's commentary is superb for a book of the scale of the Exeter Studies in History series.Each section is sanely analysed, with references to the Greek vocabulary chosen, parallel versions and their differences, and helpful modern bibliography.The commentary makes interesting reading and reminds one of how immensely popular such collections were in the early empire. . .Exeter University Press are to be commended for supporting the publication of what might appear at first sight a risky text with limited appeal.I trust that its affordability and clear presentation will garner it wider attention.'- Classical Review, Vol xlIx no 2. 1999

'Characteristic of Hansen's work is not only that he places Phlegon's efforts in the context of the literature of the Roman empire, but also that he compares the reports by this author with similar miraculous reports from later, even modern times. . .Hansen has put us in his debt by making this neglected material accessible in such a convenient way.'- Mnemosyne, Vol. LII, 1999

'Within the relics of paradoxography, the fragments of Phlegon of Tralleis, a freedman of the emperor Hadrian, are untypical and, for that very reason, of uncommon interest.William Hansen has done a valuable service in placing them within easy reach of the Greekless reader or student toiling in either of the neighbouring fields . . . anyone who needs to know about Phlegon has no hesitation in acquiring this handsomely produced and reasonably priced book.It is exactly the kind of resource needed to introduce students to the intriguing margins of ancient historiography.'- Histos 1998 ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

With these marvels, who needs "The Weekly World News"?
Phlegon's writings are fascinating.It's to Bill Hansen's great credit that he edited this marvelous collection of factoids, records, and odd claims from the Ancient Greek freedman, Phlegon of Tralles, who served on the staff of the Roman emperor Hadrian sometime between 117-38.It's not exactly clear what his main duties were, but Phlegon compiled some amazing lists.The result is this book of marvels, or a form of popular literature that reads something like a cross between the "Guiness Book of World Records" and "Ripley's Believe it or Not."Hansen provides an excellent introduction to this little-known literary genre.He then gives us Phlegon's odd assortment of something close to Classical trivia.I found the reading intriguing.This compilation provides excellent information that is especially relevant for gaining an idea of what ancient people believed was possible two centuries ago.It's also intriguing that the idea of marvels has remained a largely overlooked part of intellectual history throughout the years.Some of these marvels show up prominently in Medieval and Renaissance literature.Michel de Montaigne, for example, includes a discussion of marvels in his writing, especially, for example in his class essay "Of the Power of the Imagination."It's to Hansen's credit that he recognized the importance of Phlegon's writing and gives us a highly entertaining example of popular literature from antiquity.

A useful volume
Phlegon of Tralles was a freedman of the emperor Hadrian, and wrote a number of compilations, which are listed in the Suda.Among them was an example of ancient paradoxography (a modern term), where the author collects examples of strange or marvellous events, such as ghosts, women turning into men, and the like.

William Hansen has done everyone a favour by making this text available in English.To it he has joined translations of another work by Phlegon, "On long lived persons", and a fragment (Fr.1) of his "Olympiad Chronicle", all found in the single 10th century manuscript that alone has transmitted the text to us (it also is the sole source for two other paradoxographies).Finally he has added a translation of fragment 12 of the "Olympiad Chronicle."

Many people will be interested in the "Olympiad Chronicle" since it seems to have preserved a record of the darkness at the time of the crucifixion of Christ.It is a pity, thus, that the author did not translate all the fragments listed in F.Jacoby "Die fragmente der griechischen Historiker," as this would have made the book of greater interest.

Sources are sometimes not referenced, which is frustrating when a particularly interesting statement is made.For instance it is a great pity that the single manuscript isn't identified or discussed.Hansen does say that the beginning of the manuscript has been lost, which means that "On Marvels" begins part way through a story.

The translation is good, and readable.The general appearance of the volume is fine.A commentary (longer than the text) appears at the end, although I for one would appreciate references at least at the foot of each page.It is irritating to have to flip to and fro, without which the commentary is unreadable, and I do wonder whether anyone will.

One defect throughout is the use of Greekified names -- Hippokrates rather than Hippocrates -- which forces the reader to mentally translate before understanding.While the conventions of the renaissance may be idiosyncratic, they are found in all literature, and to attempt a change merely interposes a barrier between the reader and the text.No doubt the snobbishness of the salaried and tenured is responsible, and Mr. Hansen has merely complied; but it is a pity, and not the first example.

All these are areas for improvement, from a possibly rather academic point of view.But frankly we should all be deeply grateful that Mr. Hansen has made so obscure a text widely available.Well done!

Ancient Latin Tabloid?!
Phlegon of Tralles' Book of Marvels is really a curious book. Suetonius has been called by some as a Tabloid-like historian, but he pales in comparison to Phlegon of Tralles.

The book itself is rather short and somewhat segmented, but has several ghost stories, legends about sex-changers and hermaphrodites, stories of giant bones being found, odd birth stories, and stories of mythical beasts. It also mentions the Emperor's menagerie, where mythical beasts and some of the giant bones were kept. There is also a list of people that lived to be 100 years old or older, and also a brief history of the Olympics, as well as a retelling of the 177th Olympics games.

Though the book is short, the commentary provided is truly thorough. William Hansen, the translator and commentator, provides important information to understanding the anecdotes given--not just a line by line breakdown of the action therein, but an overview of the stories and its context in terms of folktales and Roman superstition. The first anecdote alone has 15 pages of thoughtful, insightful commentary associated with it, including mention of other, similar myths in other cultures.

The book also includes Goethe's vampire ballad, The Bride of Corinth, which was inspired by a story in this fine book.

This is an excellent, well researched and easily read book. Some translations of Greek and Roman literature aren't really very accessible, and can be very daunting to an average reader...and Phlegon of Tralles' Book of Marvels is not. ... Read more

Product Description
"...welcome addition to the field of Valerian studies,. . . an important contribution to the study of Valerius and, more generally, to the place of exemplarity and the anecdote in the transmission of ideological values in Roman culture."- Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. LXXXVII, 1997 ... Read more

Product Description
This volume completes Donald Hill's distinguished edition of the Metamorphoses. Of the previous volume it was said: 'It is all we could hope for, with excellent translation, fuller understanding from the notes and an extensive bibliography. The text is attractively and conveniently laid out, with Latin and translation en face. The translation is in blank verse for the English reader while being stimulating and thought-provoking for the Latinist. The notes too make interesting reading at any level, with a vast store of information from a multitude of sources...' - LACT. ... Read more

Product Description
Samuel Butler, scholar, painter, pioneer photographer and novelist (author ofErewhon and The Way of All Flesh) was one of the less orthodox of Victorian intellectual provocateurs, who confronted powerful orthodoxies such as the Church, the academic establishment, and scientific Darwinism. During the last decade of his productive life his main concern became the 'Homeric question'. In his youth he had been a classical scholar at Cambridge; but this work of 1897 is unlike any work of mainstream Victorian classicism. His theory - that the Odyssey was written by a woman and (even more startlingly) by one who configured herself in the epic as the Phaeacian princess, Nausicaa - set him on collision course with all the 'authordoxies' of the stuffy, patriarchal establishment of'Oxbridge' scholarship. His exposition hesitates in a grey area between closely reasoned argument, eccentric tomfoolery and knowing polemicism. The establishment never could determine whether to take it seriously or as an elaborate spoof of their own methodologies. Certainly, Butler himself never let on what his intentions were.Now, in an age when gender studies and reception theory have a compelling influence on readings of the classical world, it is appropriate to make this book available again. The issues involved are examined by Whitmarsh in a totally new introduction. Butler's work continues to challenge, provoke and amuse. ... Read more

Product Description
Mock wills were astonishingly popular in France in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. They could be written by poets - or creatures like mules or birds; they could convey repentance or satire; they could be comic or tragic, clever or caustic. They could serve a political purpose - or simply raise a belly-laugh in the tavern. In this lucid and broad-ranging study, Jacqueline Cerquiglini-Toulet, whose knowledge of the period is unparalleled, traces the history and poetics of an intriguing sub-genre whose best-known exponent is, of course, Fran?ois Villon. ... Read more

Product Description
The primary purpose of the Checklist is to provide for scholars and librarians a ready bibliography of all monographic volumes, both current and out-of-print, of Greek, Latin, Demotic and Coptic texts on papyrus, parchment, ostraca or wood tablets. A secondary purpose of the original checklist (published in 1974) was to establish a standard list of abbreviations for editions of Greek texts. Now this has been largely achieved, this edition aims to expand standardized abbreviations to cover Coptic and Demotic material. In general, this volume offers more complete coverage of demotic material than ever attempted before; especially valuable since this is a growing area of study which lacks such bibliographic resources. ... Read more

Product Description
In dieser Publikation werden zwei Ritualszenen aus dem Chonstempel in Karnak, die kurz vor der Zeitenwende entstanden sind, untersucht. Beide Szenen zeigen den Konig, der die Figur der Gottin Maat jeweils einer Gruppe von 15 bzw. 11 Gottheiten uberreicht. Die fur thebanische Ritualszenen ungewohnlich langen Begleitinschriften (51 und 31 Zeilen) geben eine spate Version der ortlichen Kosmogonie wieder, in die sowohl lokale als auch uberregionale Gottheiten einbezogen sind.Wahrend Ausschnitte von einer der beiden Szenen schon langer bekannt sind (erste Veroffentlichung von Daressy 1884, uberarbeitete Abschrift von Sethe 1929), liegen in der vorliegenden Publikation jetzt erstmals Umzeichnungen der beiden Szenen vor. Das Kernstuck des Bandes ist eine neue Ubersetzung und ein ausfuhrlicher Kommentar dieser thebanischen Kosmogonie.Das eigentlich Besondere der Inschriften ist dabei die Zusammenstellung konventioneller Topoi mit singularen Textabschnitten, die einen Einblick in die auaerst kreative theologische Arbeit gewahren, die die Priester der griechisch-romischen Epoche geleistet haben. Sie verbanden altere Uberlieferungen mit neu entwickelten Vorstellungen, um den aktuellen Stand des theologischen Diskurses wiederzugeben. Eine Reihung ungewohnlicher Aussagen in einem der beiden Texte macht es schliealich moglich, diesen mit einem spateren Bericht des Porphyrios (um 300 n. Chr.) in Verbindung zu setzen, was einen Einblick in die antike Agyptenrezeption ermoglicht. ... Read more

Product Description
(Aris and Phillips 1988) ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
Text with facing translation, commentary and notes. ... Read more

Product Description

Product Description
For a work written more than two thousand years ago, in a society in many ways quite alien to our own, Lucretius' De Rerum Natura contains much of striking, even startling, contemporary relevance. This is true, above all, of the fifth book, which begins by putting a strong case against what it has recently become fashionable to call 'intelligent design', and ends with an account of human evolution and the development of society in which the limitations of technological progress form a strong and occasionally explicit subtext. Along the way, the poet touches on many themes which may strike a chord with the twenty-first century reader: the fragility of our ecosystem, the corruption of political life, the futility of consumerism and the desirability of limiting our acquisitive instincts are all highly topical issues for us, as for the poem's original audience. Book V also offers a fascinating introduction to the world-view of the upper-class Roman of the first century BC. This edition (which complements existing Aris and Phillips commentaries on books 3, 4 and 6) will help to make Lucretius' urgent and impassioned argument, and something of his remarkable poetic style, accessible to a wider audience, including those with little or no knowledge of Latin. Both the translation and commentary aim to explain the scientific argument of the book as clearly as possible; and to convey at least some impression of the poetic texture of Lucretius' Latin. ... Read more

Product Description
This edition of Books I & II of St Augustine's City of God is the only edition in English to provide a text and translation as well as a detailed commentary of this most influential document in the history of western Christianity. In these books, written in the aftermath of the sack of Rome in AD 410 by the Goths, Augustine replies to the pagans, who attributed the fall of Rome to the Christian religion and its prohibition of the worship of the pagan gods. ... Read more

Product Description
Hunting with dogs is first documented on 4th millennium BC seal impressions from Iraq and from Egypt slightly later. The earliest surviving instruction manual is that of Xenophon, which outlines the practice of hunting with dogs and seeks to justify its use in education and training for war. Arrian's treatise some 500 years later is a commentary on Xenophon and marks a revolution in the practice of hunting. The Greek texts are given along with an English translation and commentary. Includes a good illustrated introduction. ... Read more

Product Description
New facing-page Greek/English translation of perhaps the earliest surviving tragedy by Sophocles. With introduction and extensive commentary. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Sophocles on whether or not Ajax deserves a hero's burial
I have always thought of the character of Ajax from the Trojan War to be the prototype of the "dumb jock" stereotype. Next to Achilles he was the best of the Achean warriors, but Ajax was deeply flawed in that he was stubborn and egotistical. I think his intelligence is further called into question by the myth regarding his death, which is the subject of this play by Sophocles. After the death of Achilles it is decided his glorious armor, forged by Hephaestus, will be given to the worthiest of the chieftains. Ajax expects the prize to come to him, but instead the other chieftains vote to give it to "wily" Odysseus. The inference to be drawn is that craftiness and intelligence are to be prize more than brute strength, which is why I tend to identify Odysseus and Ajax with that distinction between brains and brawn. Enraged by this slight, Ajax decides to kill Odysseus and the other chieftains who have slighted him, but Athena clouds his sight and he thinks the camp's livestock are his intended victims. When he comes to his senses, butchering a sheep he thought was Odysseus, Ajax is humiliated to the point he chooses to kill himself. The climax of this play, the oldest of the seven surviving plays written by Sophocles, is not the suicide of Ajax but rather a debate amongst the Achean leaders as to whether or not Ajax should be buried.

The issue central to the play "Ajax" is whether the title character should or should not be considered a true hero by the Greek audience attending the play. Homer, of course, has nothing to say regarding Ajax's fate in the "Iliad," although in the "Odyssey" when Odysseus encounters the shade of Ajax, the dead hero refuses to speak and turns away. However, in his telling of the tale Sophocles adds an important element to the suicide of Ajax. In his first scene when he is discovered amongst the slaughtered livestock, Ajax realizes that his intentions were wrong and that what he has done will make him look ridiculous; he decides to kill himself, ignores the pleas of the chorus, says his farewells to his son and departs. However, in the next episode Ajax returns, apparently reconciled to life; instead of killing himself he will bury his unlucky sword and live a peaceful life. Then a messenger brings the warning of Calchas that Ajax must be kept out of the battle that day. The next thing we know Ajax is cursing the Atreidae and falling on his sword. The change is significant because it makes Ajax's suicide a more rational act. Instead of taking his life in the heat of his embarrassment over what he has done, Sophocles has the character changing his mind twice and ending his life in the grips of a cold hatred against the chieftains.

This sets the stage for the debate amongst the chieftains regarding the burial of Ajax. When Teucer wants to bury the body he is forbidden to do so by Menelaus, who calls Ajax his murderer, focusing on the intentions behind his rampage. Agamemnon also forbids the burial, making an impassioned argument for the rule of law and warning against the reliance of the army upon the strength of a single man, whether he be Ajax or Achilles. Ironically (and we surely expect no less from Sophocles), it is Odysseus who makes the argument in favor of burial. For Odysseus the good outweighs the bad and it is not right to do a man injury when he is dead. This argument certainly echoes the moral at the end of the "Iliad" with regards to way Achilles treats the corpse of Hector. Certainly Ajax was a arrogant brute, obsessed with self-glorification and unfeeling towards his family and people. But when the Trojan army almost succeeded in burning the Achean ships, it was Ajax who stemmed their attack. For Odysseus, and for Sophocles, it is clear that such a man deserves to be considered a hero and demands an appropriate burial. "Ajax" is a minor play by Sophocles, relative to what little has survived of his work, but it does speak to one of the playwright central themes, which is to find that which is heroic in a tragic situation. Having found that spark in the life of Ajax, Sophocles seeks to redeem the tragic figure in this play. ... Read more