Tradition and Innovation in Hellenistic Poetry

Hellenistic poets of the third and second centuries BC were concerned with the need both to mark their continuity with the classical past and to demonstrate their independence from it. In this revised and expanded translation of Muse e modelli: la poesia ellenistica da Alessandro Magno ad Augusto, Greek poetry of the third and second centuries BC and its reception and influence at Rome are explored allowing both sides of this literary practice to be appreciated. Genres as diverse as epic and epigram are considered from a historical perspective, in the full range of their deep-level structures, providing a different perspective on the poetry and its influence at Rome. Some of the most famous poetry of the age such as Callimachus' Aitia and Apollonius' Argonautica is examined. In addition, full attention is paid to the poetry of encomium, in particular the newly published epigrams of Posidippus, and Hellenistic poetics, notably Philodemus.

1. Performance and genre; 2. The aetiology of Callimachus' Aitia; 3. The Argonautica of Apollonius and epic tradition; 4. Theocritus and the bucolic genre; 5. Epic in a minor key; 6. The style of Hellenistic epic; 7. The epigram; 8. The languages of praise; 9. Hellenistic drama; 10. Roman epilogue.