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E-book
Author Theocritus.

Title Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus / Theocritus ; text and translation with introduction and commentary by Richard Hunter
Published Berkeley : University of California Press, ©2003

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Description 1 online resource (xii, 226 pages)
Series Hellenistic culture and society ; 39
Hellenistic culture and society ; 39.
Contents Cover -- Contents -- Preface -- Conventions and Abbreviations -- INTRODUCTION -- 1. Beginning from Zeus -- 2. Genre -- 3. Poets and Patrons -- 4. An Egyptian Dimension? -- 5. The Language of the Encomium -- 6. The Meter of the Encomium -- 7. A Note on the Transmission of the Text -- SIGLA -- Encomium of Ptolemy Philadelphus: THEOCRITUS -- COMMENTARY -- References -- General Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- V -- W -- Z -- Index of Greek Words -- Index Locorum
Summary Under Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who ruled Egypt in the middle of the third century B.C.E., Alexandria became the brilliant multicultural capital of the Greek world. Theocritus's poem in praise of Philadelphus--at once a Greek king and an Egyptian pharaoh--is the only extended poetic tribute to this extraordinary ruler that survives. Combining the Greek text, an English translation, a full line-by-line commentary, and extensive introductory studies of the poem's historical and literary context, this volume also offers a wide-ranging and far-reaching consideration of the workings and representation of poetic patronage in the Ptolemaic age. In particular, the book explores the subtle and complex links among Theocritus's poem, modes of praise drawn from both Greek and Egyptian traditions, and the subsequent flowering of Latin poetry in the Augustan age. As the first detailed account of this important poem to show how Theocritus might have drawn on the pharaonic traditions of Egypt as well as earlier Greek poetry, this book affords unique insight into how praise poetry for Ptolemy and his wife may have helped to negotiate the adaptation of Greek culture that changed conditions of the new Hellenistic world. Invaluable for its clear translation and its commentary on genre, dialect, diction, and historical reference in relation to Theocritus's Encomium, the book is also significant for what it reveals about the poem's cultural and social contexts and about Theocritus' devices for addressing his several readerships. COVER IMAGE: The image on the front cover of this book is incorrectly identified on the jacket flap. The correct caption is: Gold Oktadrachm depicting Ptolemy II and Arsinoe (mid-third century BCE; by permission of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-218) and indexes
Notes Parallel text in Greek and English, with English introduction and commentary
Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed
Subject Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt -- Poetry
SUBJECT Ptolemy II Philadelphus, King of Egypt fast
Subject FICTION -- General.
LITERARY CRITICISM -- Ancient & Classical.
Genre/Form Poetry
Form Electronic book
Author Hunter, R. L. (Richard L.)
LC no. 2021696667
ISBN 9780520929371
0520929373
1417525665
9781417525669
9780520235601
0520235606
Other Titles Idylls. 17. English & Greek