Awards

• Winner of Winner of The Charles J. Goodwin Award of Merit.

Overview

The On Poems by Philodemus (c. 110-35 BC), the Epicurean philosopher and poet who taught Virgil and influenced Horace, is our main source for Hellenistic literary theory. In Book 1 Philodemus summarizes a survey of previously unknown poetic and aesthetic theories. Compiled by Crates of Mallos this survey reviews the critical theories of earlier Epicureans, Peripatetics, and Stoics, who argued in some way that sound is the source of poetic excellence, and that the ear, unaided by the mind, can judge it. Philodemus led the reaction against this invasion of Hellenistic literary criticism by musical theory, arguing that form and content are interrelated, and that substantive content, not pretty sound, is what makes poetry worthwhile. The 200 fragments of Book 1 were entirely jumbled after its discovery at the site of Vesuvius' destruction of Herculaneum. This edition reconstitutes their original sequence, according to a new method, while exploiting previously unknown manuscript sources and new techniques for reading the extant pieces. In thus restoring this important aesthetic treatise from antiquity, it makes a major addition to the corpus of classical literature.

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9780198150411

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Reviews

`impressive ... marks a major step forward for those working in the field.' TLS

`impressive ... marks a major step forward for those working in the field.' TLS

Janko's book is part of an extraordinary and very valuable resurgence of scholarship on Philodemus and the Herculaneum papyri ... Janko's decision to attempt the work is one of outstanding bravery. Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review Janko has done sterling service for scholarship and his reconstruction and editing of the papyrus ranks as an outstanding feat of scholarship. Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review Janko has produced from remarkably difficult and randomly fragmented material, after nine years labour and employing a polymathic range of knowledge and skills, an extremely valuable addition to scholarship on Hellenistic philosophy and poetic theory. Hermathena: A Trinity College Dublin Review A whole new world of literary criticism is being opened up by Janko and, in time, the entire Philodemus project David Sider, Bryn Mawr Classical Review A work of impressively painstaking scholarship Greece & Rome Impressive ... marks a major step forward for those working in the field Richard Janko, Times Literary Supplement

Author Information

Richard Janko, Professor of Greek at University College, London, and co-directs the Philodemus Translation Project. He was formerly Professor of Classics at the University of California, Los Angeles.

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