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Literature

Literature

A History of Greek Literature

Albin Lesky; James Willis (translator); Cornelis de Heer (translator)

A comprehensive history of ancient Greek literature by the Austrian classicist Albin Lesky, translated from the second German edition. It surveys authors and genres from the earliest poetry to the literature of the Roman imperial period, combining literary judgement with an account of the scholarly problems surrounding each author and text.

Prerequisites: Reading of major Greek texts in translation and a general knowledge of ancient history; Greek is helpful but not required.

Difficulty Level
Advanced
Academic Level
Advanced
greek literatureliterary historyclassicsancient greeceReference

01 / Reading Guide

Reading Guide

Citation

Lesky, A. (1996). A History of Greek Literature (J. Willis & C. de Heer, Trans.). Hackett Publishing. (Reprint of the Methuen translation of 1966, made from the second German edition.)

Chapter Summary

The book is a one-volume history of Greek literature of about 920 pages. It was first published in German in 1958 and extensively rewritten for the second edition of 1963, the version from which James Willis and Cornelis de Heer made this translation, first published by Methuen in 1966. The publisher's description presents it as a continuous account of the whole of Greek literature, with careful summaries of the works discussed and judicious accounts of scholarly controversy on the more hotly debated points. The catalogue contents show a preface to the second edition, an introduction to the first edition and seven chapters, arranged by period and, within each period, by author and genre.

Preface and Introduction

The volume opens with a preface to the second edition and an introduction to the first edition.

I: The Transmission of Greek Literature

The first chapter deals with the transmission of Greek literature, that is, how the texts reached the present, before any author is discussed.

II: The Beginnings

This chapter treats the beginnings of Greek literature and includes a section on epic poetry before Homer.

III: The Homeric Epic

Four sections cover the Iliad and the Odyssey, the epic cycle, the Homeric hymns, and other works attributed to Homer.

IV: The Archaic Period

The longest of the early chapters runs through Hesiod; archaic epic after Hesiod; early lyric poetry; folk-tales; religious literature; the beginnings of philosophy; mature archaic lyric (Theognis, the epigram and the scolion, Anacreon, songwriters on the mainland, choral lyric); philosophy at the end of the archaic period; the beginnings of science and historiography; and the beginnings of drama.

V: The Flowering of the Greek City State

The chapter is divided into three sections. The first covers the beginning and culmination of the classical period: Aeschylus, Sophocles, other forms of poetry, Damon and the theory of music, Herodotus, other historians and philosophy. The second, on the enlightenment and its opponents, covers the Sophists and the beginnings of rhetoric, Euripides and other tragic writers, other poetry, political comedy, political writings, Thucydides, the sciences and Socrates. The third, on the fourth century up to Alexander, covers Plato and the Academy, Aristotle and the Peripatos, the art of rhetoric, historiography, drama and other forms of poetry.

VI: The Hellenistic Age

The first section follows Athens, with New Comedy, Attic prose and the philosophical systems. The second turns to the new centres, with general characteristics, Callimachus, Theocritus, Apollonius, epigram, drama, other poetry, historiography, the sciences, pseudo-Pythagorean literature and Jewish-Hellenistic literature.

VII: The Empire

The final chapter covers literature under the Roman empire, in two parts: poetry, and prose. The prose section includes Plutarch, the second Sophistic, historiographers and periegetes, prose romance and epistolography, the second Sophistic in the later era, philosophy and the sciences.

Key Concepts

Chapters I–IV

  • Transmission: how ancient texts were preserved and handed on, the basis for all later judgement.
  • The Homeric epic and the epic cycle: the earliest large body of Greek poetry and the poems associated with it.
  • Archaic lyric: the early lyric poetry treated in Chapter IV, including choral lyric, the epigram and the scolion.
  • Beginnings of drama: the origins of the genres treated in Chapter V.

Chapters V–VI

  • Classical drama and historiography: tragedy, comedy and the writing of history in Athens.
  • Sophists and rhetoric: the intellectual movement that links education, argument and the theory of speech.
  • The Hellenistic age: the period after the classical city state, with Athens and the new centres, in which the contents place Callimachus, Theocritus and Apollonius.

Chapter VII

  • The second Sophistic: the rhetorical culture of the Roman empire.
  • Prose romance: the novel-like prose narratives that the contents place with epistolography.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

  • Continuous coverage in one volume. The contents run from the transmission of the texts through Homer, the archaic and classical ages and the Hellenistic period to the Roman empire, which makes it possible to follow authors and genres through a single account.
  • Summaries of works. According to the publisher, the book gives careful summaries of the works it discusses, which suits a reader who has not read every text.
  • Scholarly controversies set out. The publisher also notes judicious accounts of scholarly controversy on the more hotly debated points, so the reader learns where the evidence is contested.
  • Recognised standing. Moses Hadas, in The Classical World, wrote that if a student of Greek literature has room on the shelf for only one volume besides texts, lexica and grammar, that book should be Lesky. Saturday Review called it a masterwork.

Limitations

  • A mid-twentieth-century work. The English text derives from the 1963 German edition and the 1966 translation, and the 1996 Hackett edition is a reprint. Later scholarship is not reflected, and readers will need more recent sources for it.
  • A period scheme. Because the book is arranged by period and then by author, a reader who wants one genre, such as tragedy or historiography, must follow it across several chapters.
  • Size and detail. At about 920 pages with detailed summaries, it is a reference to be consulted more than a first introduction.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the classical literature books, Lesky is the large authoritative history of the Greek side. Allan's Classical Literature: A Very Short Introduction and Rutherford's Classical Literature: A Concise History are shorter surveys of Greek and Roman literature, and either is a better first read; Rutherford arranges his book by genre rather than period and quotes extensively in English. Latin Literature: A History is the corresponding full history on the Roman side, and with Lesky it covers both literatures at length.

The Iliad and the Odyssey in the list are among the works that Lesky's Chapter III summarises and discusses; the Aeneid belongs to the Roman side. Read a short survey first, then the relevant primary text, and then the corresponding section of Lesky.

How to Use This Book

The book suits students of classics and comparative literature who read major Greek texts in translation and have a general knowledge of ancient history. Greek is helpful but not required.

Do not read it straight through at first. Use the chapter and section headings as a reference: read Chapter III with the Iliad and the Odyssey, the archaic sections beside lyric selections, and Chapter V beside the tragedies, comedies and histories being studied. Read Chapters I and II early for the background on how the literature survived. Use the summaries to place works you have not yet read, and the discussions of controversy to find the questions that later scholarship takes up.