Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy

Alan Cameron

New versions of earlier articles present a nuanced and more sophisticated picture of early Byzantine literary culture
Presents bold and controversial arguments regarding the epigrammatist Palladas and the foundation of Constantinople

Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy

Alan Cameron

Description

This book presents a substantially revised version of some of the most important and innovative articles published by Alan Cameron in the field of late antique Greek poetry and philosophy. Much new material has been added to the account of the "Wandering Poets" from early Byzantine Egypt, and earlier judgment on their paganism is nuanced. The story of Cyrus of Panopolis and the empress Eudocia takes into account important recent work on the poetry of Eudocia. Several chapters discuss the date and identity of the influential poet Nonnus. The longest chapter reviews the celebrated story of the so-called closing of the Academy of Athens and the trip of its seven remaining philosophers to the court of the Persian king Chosroes, rejecting the fashionable current idea that they set up a new school at Harran on the Persian border. An entirely new chapter discusses a recently published papyrus containing poems of the Alexandrian epigrammatist Palladas, rejecting the editor's claim that Palladas wrote almost a century earlier than hitherto believed. A concluding chapter, never before published, reinvestigates the evidence for paganism in sixth-century Byzantium. Boldly and persuasively argued, and drawing on a profound knowledge of the period, the volume as a whole deepens our knowledge of the rich intellectual traditions of the late antique Hellenic world.

Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy

Alan Cameron

Preface

1. Wandering Poets: A Literary Movement in Byzantine Egypt

2. The Empress and the Poet

3. The Poet, the Bishop and the Harlot

4. Palladas: New Poems, New Date?

5. Claudian

6. Claudian Revisited

7. Poets and Pagans in Byzantine Egypt

8. Poetry and Literary Culture in Late Antiquity

9. Hypatia: Life, Death and Works

10. The Last Days of the Academy at Athens

11. Oracles and Earthquakes

12. Accusations of Paganism in Sixth-Century Byzantium

Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy

Alan Cameron

Author Information

Alan Cameron is Charles Anthon Professor Emeritus of Latin at Columbia University. His previous books include Claudian, Porphyrius the Charioteer, Circus Factions, The Greek Anthology, Callimachus and his Critics, Greek Mythography in the Roman World, and The Last Pagans of Rome. He was awarded the Kenyon Medal for classical studies and archaeology by the British Academy in 2013.

Wandering Poets and Other Essays on Late Greek Literature and Philosophy

Alan Cameron

Reviews and Awards

"...Cameron's superb sensitivity as a literary reader shines through. As a whole, then, this volume stands as a historical, cultural and literary overview that is consistent in the themes addressed and rather unified...As a whole, these chapters work well together and ultimately offer a dense, richly documented, and accessible literary and cultural history of late antiquity, filled with nuanced and sophisticated arguments from a half-century of scholarly devotion to the period. As such, the collection presents the strengths and excellence of Alan Cameron's scholarly contributions to the study of late antiquity, specifically, and Greek and Latin literature and culture, in general. In many respects, the lines of inquiry and methodologies exhibited in this collection provide a model for future scholars and the larger picture that emerges will be a boon, such as was not available before Cameron began to publish in this field in 1965." --Lawrence Kowerski, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"By reprinting, with revisions, his most important articles on late antique Greek literature and philosophy, beginning with the classic 'Wandering Poets,' Alan Cameron confirms his seminal role in the contemporary revival of interest in Greek authors from Constantine to Justinian. The present volume includes two hitherto unpublished papers (one on Palladas and the other on late paganism) that meticulously correct the work of others with Cameron's customary erudition, verve, and good sense. They make an already valuable collection indispensable." --G. W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

"For half a century, Alan Cameron has been at the forefront of scholars tearing down arbitrary boundaries that separated the study of Christian and Pagan, Greece and Rome, literature and history, prose and poetry. This book contains chapters essential to a full understanding of what Late Antiquity was all about." --H. A. Drake, University of California, Santa Barbara

"This volume highlights once again Alan Cameron's extraordinary gifts as a reader and writer. Cameron's exquisitely nuanced pieces insert Late Antique and Byzantine authors into a vivid and compelling historical context." --Susanna Elm, University of California, Berkeley