Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism

Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism PDF Author: Phillip Mitsis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197521991
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 848

Get Book Here

Book Description
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BCE), though often despised for his materialism, hedonism, and denial of the immortality of the soul during many periods of history, has at the same time been a source of inspiration to figures as diverse as Vergil, Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, and Bentham. This volume offers authoritative discussions of all aspects of Epicurus's philosophy and then traces out some of its most important subsequent influences throughout the Western intellectual tradition. Such a detailed and comprehensive study of Epicureanism is especially timely given the tremendous current revival of interest in Epicurus and his rivals, the Stoics. The thirty-one contributions in this volume offer an unmatched resource for all those wishing to deepen their knowledge of Epicurus' powerful arguments about happiness, death, and the nature of the material world and our place in it. At the same time, his arguments are carefully placed in the context of ancient and subsequent disputes, thus offering readers the opportunity of measuring Epicurean arguments against a wide range of opponents--from Platonists, Aristotelians and Stoics, to Hegel and Nietzsche, and finally on to such important contemporary philosophers as Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams. The volume offers separate and detailed discussions of two fascinating and ongoing sources of Epicurean arguments, the Herculaneum papyri and the inscription of Diogenes of Oenoanda. Our understanding of Epicureanism is continually being enriched by these new sources of evidence and the contributors to this volume have been able to make use of them in presenting the most current understanding of Epicurus's own views. By the same token, the second half of the volume is devoted to the extraordinary influence of Epicurean doctrines, often either neglected or misunderstood, in literature, political thinking, scientific innovation, personal conceptions of freedom and happiness, and in philosophy generally. Taken together, the contributions in this volume offer the most comprehensive and detailed account of Epicurus and Epicureanism available in English.

Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism

Oxford Handbook of Epicurus and Epicureanism PDF Author: Phillip Mitsis
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197521991
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 848

Get Book Here

Book Description
The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus (341-270 BCE), though often despised for his materialism, hedonism, and denial of the immortality of the soul during many periods of history, has at the same time been a source of inspiration to figures as diverse as Vergil, Hobbes, Thomas Jefferson, and Bentham. This volume offers authoritative discussions of all aspects of Epicurus's philosophy and then traces out some of its most important subsequent influences throughout the Western intellectual tradition. Such a detailed and comprehensive study of Epicureanism is especially timely given the tremendous current revival of interest in Epicurus and his rivals, the Stoics. The thirty-one contributions in this volume offer an unmatched resource for all those wishing to deepen their knowledge of Epicurus' powerful arguments about happiness, death, and the nature of the material world and our place in it. At the same time, his arguments are carefully placed in the context of ancient and subsequent disputes, thus offering readers the opportunity of measuring Epicurean arguments against a wide range of opponents--from Platonists, Aristotelians and Stoics, to Hegel and Nietzsche, and finally on to such important contemporary philosophers as Thomas Nagel and Bernard Williams. The volume offers separate and detailed discussions of two fascinating and ongoing sources of Epicurean arguments, the Herculaneum papyri and the inscription of Diogenes of Oenoanda. Our understanding of Epicureanism is continually being enriched by these new sources of evidence and the contributors to this volume have been able to make use of them in presenting the most current understanding of Epicurus's own views. By the same token, the second half of the volume is devoted to the extraordinary influence of Epicurean doctrines, often either neglected or misunderstood, in literature, political thinking, scientific innovation, personal conceptions of freedom and happiness, and in philosophy generally. Taken together, the contributions in this volume offer the most comprehensive and detailed account of Epicurus and Epicureanism available in English.

The Library of the Villa Dei Papiri at Herculaneum

The Library of the Villa Dei Papiri at Herculaneum PDF Author: David Sider
Publisher: Getty Publications
ISBN: 9780892367993
Category : Antiques & Collectibles
Languages : en
Pages : 136

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The recovery in the 1750s of more than a thousand scorched papyrus rolls from the Villa dei Papiri in ancient Herculaneum caused great excitement among contemporaries. The find held the tantalizing possibility of the rediscovery of lost masterpieces by classical writers. Although the papyrus rolls were charred, some quite severely, much of their contents could be read." "David Sider describes the long and difficult history of attempts to unwind the damaged rolls, a task made more frustrating because the hoped-for lost masterpieces have yet to emerge. He discusses the fragmentary Greek and Latin texts in those papyri that have been opened and deciphered, putting them in the context of writing and literacy in antiquity. Sider also describes the form of ancient Greek books and of the papyrus sheets on which they were written. He provides an account of attitudes toward books in Greece and Rome and surveys other libraries in the ancient world, both private and civic." "Written for the general reader, the book provides an overview of the only library to have come down to us from antiquity."--BOOK JACKET.

A New History of Classical Rhetoric

A New History of Classical Rhetoric PDF Author: George A. Kennedy
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400821479
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 314

Get Book Here

Book Description
George Kennedy's three volumes on classical rhetoric have long been regarded as authoritative treatments of the subject. This new volume, an extensive revision and abridgment of The Art of Persuasion in Greece, The Art of Rhetoric in the Roman World, and Greek Rhetoric under Christian Emperors, provides a comprehensive history of classical rhetoric, one that is sure to become a standard for its time. Kennedy begins by identifying the rhetorical features of early Greek literature that anticipated the formulation of "metarhetoric," or a theory of rhetoric, in the fifth and fourth centuries b.c.e. and then traces the development of that theory through the Greco-Roman period. He gives an account of the teaching of literary and oral composition in schools, and of Greek and Latin oratory as the primary rhetorical genre. He also discusses the overlapping disciplines of ancient philosophy and religion and their interaction with rhetoric. The result is a broad and engaging history of classical rhetoric that will prove especially useful for students and for others who want an overview of classical rhetoric in condensed form.

The Orator Demades

The Orator Demades PDF Author: Sviatoslav Dmitriev
Publisher:
ISBN: 019751782X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 369

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is the first monograph in English about Demades, an influential Athenian politician and a collaborator of many leaders of classical Greece, including Alexander the Great and Demosthenes. Reflecting that most of the available sources about Demades belong to the Roman imperial period, this book proceeds from presenting the figure of Demades as a later rhetorical construct to revealing the problematic nature of our overall knowledge about classical Greece.

Readings from Classical Rhetoric

Readings from Classical Rhetoric PDF Author: Patricia P. Matsen
Publisher: SIU Press
ISBN: 9780809315932
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book Here

Book Description
Here, for the first time in one volume, are all the extant writings focusing on rhetoric that were composed before the fall of Rome. This unique anthology of primary texts in classical rhetoric contains the work of 24 ancient writers from Homer through St. Augustine, including Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Quintilian, Tacitus, and Longinus. Along with many widely recognized translations, special features include the first English translations of works by Theon and Nicolaus, as well as new translations of two works by important sophists, Gorgias' encomium on Helen and Alcidamas' essay on composition. The writers are grouped chronologically into historical periods, allowing the reader to understand the scope and significance of rhetoric in antiquity. Introductions are included to each period, as well as to each writer, with writers' biographies, major works, and salient features of excerpts.

Creating the Ancient Rhetorical Tradition

Creating the Ancient Rhetorical Tradition PDF Author: Laura Viidebaum
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108836569
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 291

Get Book Here

Book Description
A new account of the emergence of the ancient rhetorical tradition, from Classical Athens to Augustan Rome.

A Companion to Hellenistic Literature

A Companion to Hellenistic Literature PDF Author: James J. Clauss
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118782909
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 578

Get Book Here

Book Description
Offering unparalleled scope, A Companion to Hellenistic Literature in 30 newly commissioned essays explores the social and intellectual contexts of literature production in the Hellenistic period, and examines the relationship between Hellenistic and earlier literature. Provides a wide ranging critical examination of Hellenistic literature, including the works of well-respected poets alongside lesser-known historical, philosophical, and scientific prose of the period Explores how the indigenous literatures of Hellenized lands influenced Greek literature and how Greek literature influenced Jewish, Near Eastern, Egyptian, and Roman literary works

The Presocratics at Herculaneum

The Presocratics at Herculaneum PDF Author: Christian Vassallo
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110727668
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 785

Get Book Here

Book Description
This volume analyses in depth the reception of early Greek philosophy in the Epicurean tradition and provides for the first time in scholarship a comprehensive edition, with translation and commentary, of all the Herculanean testimonia to the Presocratics. Among the most significant scientific outcomes, it provides elements for the attribution of an earlier date to the attested tradition of Xenophanes’ scepticism; a complete reconstruction of the Epicurean reception of Democritus; a new reconstruction of the testimonia to Nausiphanes’ concept of physiologia, Anaxagoras’ physics and theology, and Empedocles’ epistemology; new texts for better comparing the doxographical sections of Philodemus’ On Piety with those of Cicero’s On the Nature of the Gods, which update H. Diels’ treatment of this subject in his Doxographi Graeci.

Homeric Speech and the Origins of Rhetoric

Homeric Speech and the Origins of Rhetoric PDF Author: Rachel Ahern Knudsen
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421412268
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Get Book Here

Book Description
Knudsen argues that Homeric epics are the locus for the origins of rhetoric. Traditionally, Homer's epics have been the domain of scholars and students interested in ancient Greek poetry, and Aristotle's rhetorical theory has been the domain of those interested in ancient rhetoric. Rachel Ahern Knudsen believes that this academic distinction between poetry and rhetoric should be challenged. Based on a close analysis of persuasive speeches in the Iliad, Knudsen argues that Homeric poetry displays a systematic and technical concept of rhetoric and that many Iliadic speakers in fact employ the rhetorical techniques put forward by Aristotle. Rhetoric, in its earliest formulation in ancient Greece, was conceived as the power to change a listener’s actions or attitudes through words—particularly through persuasive techniques and argumentation. Rhetoric was thus a “technical” discipline in the ancient Greek world, a craft (technê) that was rule-governed, learned, and taught. This technical understanding of rhetoric can be traced back to the works of Plato and Aristotle, which provide the earliest formal explanations of rhetoric. But do such explanations constitute the true origins of rhetoric as an identifiable, systematic practice? If not, where does a technique-driven rhetoric first appear in literary and social history? Perhaps the answer is in Homeric epics. Homeric Speech and the Origins of Rhetoric demonstrates a remarkable congruence between the rhetorical techniques used by Iliadic speakers and those collected in Aristotle's seminal treatise on rhetoric. Knudsen's claim has implications for the fields of both Homeric poetry and the history of rhetoric. In the former field, it refines and extends previous scholarship on direct speech in Homer by identifying a new dimension within Homeric speech—namely, the consistent deployment of well-defined rhetorical arguments and techniques. In the latter field, it challenges the traditional account of the development of rhetoric, probing the boundaries that currently demarcate its origins, history, and relationship to poetry.

Gospels before the Book

Gospels before the Book PDF Author: Matthew Larsen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190848596
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book Here

Book Description
What does it look like to read the texts we now call the gospels like first- and second-century readers? There is no evidence of anyone regarding the gospel as a book published by an author until the end of the second century. So, put differently, what does it mean to read the gospels "before the book"? For centuries, the ways people discuss the gospels have been shaped by later ideas that have more to do with the printing press and modern notions of the author than ancient writing and reading practices. In Gospels before the Book, Matthew D. C. Larsen challenges several subtle yet problematic assumptions about authors, books, and publication at work in early Christian studies. He then explores a host of under-appreciated elements of ancient textual culture such as unfinished texts, accidental publication, post-publication revision, and the existence of multiple authorized versions of the same work. Turning to the gospels, he argues that the earliest readers and users of the text we now call the Gospel according to Mark treated it not as a book published by an author, but as an unfinished, open, and fluid collection of notes (hypomnmata). In such a scenario, the Gospel according to Matthew would not be regarded as a separate book published by a different author, but as a continuation of the same unfinished gospel tradition. Similarly it is not the case that, of the five different endings in the textual tradition we now call the Gospel according to Mark, one is "right" and the others are "wrong." Rather each represents its own effort to fill a perceived deficiency in the gospel. Larsen offers a new methodological framework for future scholarship on early Christian gospels.