Bøger af Jasper Griffin

This handy guide to The Odyssey will introduce students to a text, which has been fundamental to literature for nearly 3000 years. Readers will be introduced to the world in that the Odyssey was produced, to the text itself and to its origins in oral poetry. This volume gives a summary of the poem and examines its structure. The unity, values and techniques of the poem are clearly outlined, as are the reasons for its longstanding appeal. This guide delves into the diverse world of the story; that of monsters, gods, and enchantresses which interacts with the very different world of the home, marriage and the family. Students will be introduced to the essential themes of loyalty and betrayal, and guided through the narrative of Odysseus' adventures, which also illustrate the workings of the world and the justice of heaven. Readers will also find a very helpful guide to further reading.

Virgil lived through the fall of the Roman Republic and the establishment of the Empire. This text studies his poems and the way they attempt to combine technical brilliance and beauty with profound meditation on the nature of imperialism and the relation of the individual to the State.

"The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" stand at the very beginning of Greek literature. This book is concerned with the ideas of these poems and shows that each of the two epics has its own coherent and suggestive view of the world and of man's place in it.

The `Iliad' and `Odyssey' are not just good stories. Homeric poetry manages to confer significance on the persons and actions, and to interpret the world and human life and death. This book shows how this is done.