The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism - Volume 1 - Classical Criticism

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Noah

The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism presents a scholarly overview of literary criticism from antiquity through major classical traditions. Volume 1 focuses on classical criticism, tracing early Greek views of poets and poetry, language and meaning in archaic and classical Greece, and key works by Plato and Aristotle. The volume further develops later developments across Hellenistic scholarship, Roman criticism, and Greek and Latin critical approaches across the empire, concluding with Christianity and the transformation of interpretive practices.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages388

Reading Time9 h 58 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Contents

1 Early Greek views of poets and poetry

2 Language and meaning in Archaic and Classical Greece

3 Plato and poetry

4 Aristotle's poetics

5 The evolution of a theory of artistic prose

Sections 1-7

Section 8

7 The growth of literature and criticism at Rome

8 Philodemus

9 Latin criticism of the Early Empire

10 Greek criticism of the Empire

11 Christianity and criticism

Bibliography

Index

# THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY 0PLITERARY CRITIC1SM v例 CLA551CAL CRITICISM #### THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OFLITERARY CRITICISM VOLUME 1:CLASSICAL CRITICISM #### THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OFLITERARY CRITICISM EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL BOARD Professor Peter Brooks Yale University Professor H.B.Nisbet University of Cambridge Professor Claude Rawson Yale University THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OFLITERARY CRITICISM ## VOLUME 1Classical Criticism EDITED BYGEORGE A.KENNEDY ## CAMBRIDGEUNIVERSITY PRESS Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of CambridgeThe Pitt Building,Trumpington Street,Cambridge CB2 IRP40 West 20th Street,New York,NY 10011-4211,USA10 Stamford Road,Oakleigh,Melbourne 3166,Australia Cambridge University Press 1989 First published 1989First paperback edition 1993 British Library cataloguing in publication data The Cambridge history of literary criticismVol.1,Classical criticism 1.Literature.Criticism,to 1988 I.Kennedy,George A.(George Alexander),1928-801'.95'09 Library of Congress calaloguing in publication data The Cambridge history of literary criticism.Bibliography.Includes index. Contents:v.1.Classical criticism. I.Criticism-History.I.Kennedy,George Alexander,1928-PN86.C271989801'.95'0998-901 ISBN0521300061(hardback)ISBN0521317177(paperback) Transferred to digital printing 2003 CONTENTS PrefaceList of abbreviations 1 Early Greek views of poets and poetryBY GREGORY NAGY,Harvard University 1 Poetry,myth,and ritual 2 Poetry and song 3 Occasion and authority 4 The poet as artisan 5 Poetry and inspiration 6 Myth,truth,and pan-Hellenic poetics 7 The poet as author 8 The poetics of singing 9 Mimesis 10 The singer as author 11 Iambic and comic poets as critics 12 Poetry as education 2 Language and meaning in Archaic andClassical Greece BY GEORGE A.KENNEDY,University of NorthCarolina 1 Early Greek hermeneutics 2 Sophistry 3 Allegorical interpretation 4 Etymology:Plato's Cratylus 5 The oral and the written word 6 Aristotle on interpretation and topics 3 Plato and poetry BY G.R.F.FERRARI,University of California,Berkeley 1 2 4 8 18 24 29 35 39 47 52 63 69 78 78 82 85 86 87 89 92 page ix xvii Contents 1 Poetry as performance:the example of Ion 92 2 Poetry and the professors99 3 The Dionysian chorus103 108 4 The Republic:a poetic training 120 5 The Republic:poetry overcome 6 Plato as poet 141 4 Aristotle's poetics 149 BY STEPHEN HALLIWELL,University of Birmingham 149 1 On Poets and Homeric Problems 2 Theoretical components of the Poetics 151 3 Aristotle on tragedy165 4 Aristotle on epic175 5 Aristotle on comedy179 5 The evolution of a theory of artistic prose184BY GEORGE A.KENNEDY 1 Sophists and rhetorical handbooks1852 Isocrates1853 Plato on rhetoric1884 Aristotle's Rhetoric1905 Theophrastus1946 Demetrius,On Style1967 Hellenistic rhetoric198 6 Hellenistic literary and philosophical scholarship200SECTIONS 1-7 BY GEORGE A.KENNEDY1 The Alexandrian Museum and Library2012 Callimachus and Alexandrianism2013 Neoptolemus of Parium2044 The Peripatetics and biographical criticism2055 Alexandrian philology2056 The criticism of the Stoics2107 Epicurean language theory214SECTION 8 BY DOREEN C.INNES,St Hilda's College,Oxford8 Philodemus215 7 The growth of literature and criticism at Rome220BY ELAINE FANTHAM,Princeton University 1 Livius Andronicus,Naevius,and Ennius220 2 Plautus and Terence223 3 Lucilius 227 4 Rhetoric at Rome227 5 Cicero's dialogue On the Orator230 6 Cicero's Brutus and Orator235 7 Grammatical scholarship in the Late Republic 241 8 Augustan critics 245 BY DOREEN C.INNES 1 Tradition,originality,and the Callimacheanlegacy in Latin poetry246 2 Horace 254 3 Dionysius of Halicarnassus267 4 Minor figures272 9 Latin criticism of the Early Empire274BY ELAINE FANTHAM 1 Velleius Paterculus and Seneca the Elder2752 S

FAQs

What scope does Volume 1 cover in The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism?

Volume 1 covers classical criticism, beginning with early Greek views of poets and poetry and extending through major developments in Greek and Roman critical thought, including Christianity and criticism.

Which major authors and works are highlighted in the volume’s early sections?

The contents emphasize Plato and Aristotle, including topics such as language and meaning, interpretation, poetry as performance, tragedy, and epic, alongside references to related Greek discussions.

How is the volume structured after the early Greek material?

After the Greek sections, it moves through Hellenistic scholarship and then to Roman criticism, followed by sections on Greek criticism of the empire and on Christianity and the shift in interpretive approaches.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Noah