Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
The "Posthomerica of Quintus of Smyrna" is the only surviving Greek epic that gives a full narrative to the Trojan War between the Iliad and the Odyssey. Book V covers the contest between Ajax and Odysseus over the armour of Achilles, leading to Ajax's madness, suicide and funeral. This is a full-length commentary on the book. It aims to give balanced treatment to matters of text, language, literary qualities and sources. The volume's major areas of interest are: influence of the Homeric epics; Quintus's use of later sources, the Trojan War in Greek and Latin literature; and Greek cultural history under the Roman Empire. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quintus of Smyrna: and the Re-Classicizing, Post-Homeric Epic Recalling the Heroic Age
Quintus of Smyrna, writing sometime around the later part of the 3rd century AD, penned his 'Fall of Troy' [mss. 'Post-Homerica'] to fill the interlude between the narrative of the 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey.'Truly, tales of the ensuing events between the two major epics had already been told, centuries before Quintus' time, in the 'Epic Cycle', which had by then had fallen into disuse, or the texts were all lost and hence fell into relative oblivion.Thus, Quintus of Smyrna's efforts were of great service to the Greek-speaking world of his time, as his 'Fall of Troy' must have re-vitalized the old classical spirit of the by-gone heroic age.

In all likely-hood, Quintus of Smyrna was a fully Hellenized-Asiatic sophist and grammarian, characterized by extremely traditional sensibilities that allowed himself to be figured in with the ancient bards he so emulated and adored.Quintus of Smyrna even went at length to compose this epic in archaic Greek verse, the time-honored dactylic hexameter, so that he could follow as meticulously as possible all the rules that applied to the classical epic genre; and in conjunction with his invocation of the Muses, Quintus of Smyrna sealed his fate as a poet of high-repute among the ancients and immortalized his name for all posterity.

Some of the major tales in the 'Fall of Troy' are: 1.) How the Amazonian Queen, Penthesileia, Died for Troy, 2.) the Death of Memnon, 3.) How Apollo Slayed Achilles, 4.) the Death of Paris, 5.) and four books vividly describing the Siege of Troy, the Ruse of the Trojan Horse and the Burning of Troy.

Overall, this uncelebrated epic poem, written by an author so obscure and elusive as to be an enigma, deserves more publicity than has been his lot.The sad misfortune of this bold and innovative poet, is that his name and his epic have virtually been stripped and blotted out from the canon of classical poets, for it is probable that only specialists or the most adept readers are the only individuals who have ever heard of Quintus of Smyrna; and their really is no solid justification for this, other than that he has been stereo-typically labeled with the stigma of his existence in the post-classical age. Yet, considering the slight, but general, deficiencies of the intellectual and cultural context of his time, Quintus of Smyrna certainly was himself a bright-spot in the midst of some small glowing pocket of genuine, classicizing Hellenism that was, in all probability, a small circle, or 'scholia,' of 'pagan'-intelligentsia, which from East to West, cropped up now and then in an Empire shifting more towards Christianization.

It must be asserted, however, that with Barnes and Nobles re-print edition of the original Loeb version (1913), Quintus of Smyrna's 'Fall of Troy' will enjoy a wider audience, of the type that he deserves. ... Read more

Product Description

Composed in the third century A.D., the Trojan Epic is the earliest surviving literary evidence for many of the traditions of the Trojan War passed down from ancient Greece. Also known as the Posthomerica, or "sequel to Homer," the Trojan Epic chronicles the course of the war after the burial of Troy's greatest hero, Hektor.

Quintus, believed to have been an educated Greek living in Roman Asia Minor, included some of the war's most legendary events: the death of Achilles, the Trojan Horse, and the destruction of Troy. But because Quintus deliberately imitated Homer's language and style, his work has been dismissed by many scholars as pastiche.

A vivid and entertaining story in its own right, the Trojan Epic is also particularly significant for what it reveals about its sources -- the much older, now lost Greek epics about the Trojan War known collectively as the Epic Cycle. Written in the Homeric era, these poems recounted events not included in the Iliad or the Odyssey. As Alan James makes clear in this vibrant and faithful new translation, Quintus's work deserves attention for its literary-historical importance and its narrative power. James's line-by-line verse translation in English reveals the original as an exciting and eloquent tale of gods and heroes, bravery and cunning, hubris and brutality. James includes a substantial introduction which places the work in its literary and historical context, a detailed and annotated book-by-book summary of the epic, a commentary dealing mainly with sources, and an explanatory index of proper names. Brilliantly revitalized by James, the Trojan Epic will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in Greek mythology and the legend of Troy.

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Virgil or Homer but OK
Quintus was no Homer and no Virgil, but a good read just the same.Alan James translation into early 21st century English is excellent and makes the story readable for enjoyment not just as a literary duty.If you are tired of reading your classics in 18th and 19th century style this will be refreshing. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Homer, Irenaeus, Polycarp, Bion of Smyrna, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Theon of Smyrna, Hermippus of Smyrna, Andeolus, Nymphidianus of Smyrna, Onomastus of Smyrna, Lollius Bassus, Maximus of Smyrna. Excerpt:Saint Andeolus Andeolus or Andéol was born in Smyrna in the 2nd century. A subdeacon , he was sent by Polycarp , along with Benignus , to evangelize southern Gaul . He went to the Vivarais . Septimius Severus , passing through that region, had him put to death; his head was stabbed with a gladius on May 1, 208, at Bergoiata, a Gallic settlement on a rocky peak over the Rhône River which would be later known as Bourg-Saint-Andéol . The body, thrown into the Rhone, was later found and placed in a sarcophagus by a rich Roman woman, Anycia or Amycia Eucheria Tullia (Blessed Tullie), daughter of senator Eucherius Valerianus (Eucherius of Lyon ). His sarcophagus was rediscovered in 1865 during excavations in the St. Polycarp chapel of the eleventh century church of in Bourg-Saint-Andéol (Ardèche ). Websites (URLs online) A hyperlinked version of this chapter is at Bion (Greek : , gen.: ), Greek bucolic poet , was a native of the city of Smyrna and flourished about 100 BC. Most of his work is lost. There remain 17 fragments (preserved in ancient anthologies) and the "Epitaph on Adonis," a mythological poem on the death of Adonis and the lament of Aphrodite (preserved in several late medieval manuscripts of bucolic poetry). Some of the fragments show the pastoral themes that were typical of ancient Greek bucolic poetry, while others attest the broader thematic interpretation of the bucolic form that prevailed in the later Hellenistic period. They are often concerned with love, mainly homosexual. Besides Adonis, other myths that appear in his work are those of Hyacinthus and the Cyclops ; to... ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A story with no heroes
First the obvious:This is not as lyrical as the Iliad; it lacks the adventure of the Odyssey; and the use of the metaphors will KILL you if you don't steel yourself (a really sadistic English teacher could assign this and make you try and come up with some unifying theme).

So why 4 stars?Because Quintus shows the war and the Greek "heroes" in an accurate light.His most vivid section (and that with the fewest metaphors) comes at the end in the sack of Troy.He graphically describes the murder of the men, even the elderly.Neoptolemus, Achilles son, lacks any of the heroism or even pity Achilles had when he happily kills Priam.The most heartbreaking scene in the entire book is when the Greek soldiers throw Astyanax, the infant son of the dead Hector from the walls of Troy.I spent the entire book dreading this passage, but I still wasn't prepared for the cruelty of it.

Helen, not the most sympathetic character in the history of story telling, is made even worse here.It is stated in the Iliad and implied here that she was Paris' willing paramour.However, when Menelaus takes her back, she claims that she was an unwilling victim who tried to end her own life rather than endure her new fate.When Paris dies, she weeps, but more for herself than for her dead lover.Quintus doesn't give a clear explanation for why no one thought to turn her over to Menelaus after Paris' death.

The biggest flaw of the characters in this book is the over-emphasis on Fate.Every character suffers when those words come out of his or her mouth.I believe Quintus was trying to make a point when people excused their actions through fate.We may be tempted- however briefly- to buy into it when someone as clever (but not very eloquent here) as Odysseus argues his way out of blame through the device of Fate, but when we hear Paris use the same excuse, we know we're being hoodwinked.Fate here is an excuse for the weak-willed, selfish, jealous or bad-tempered.

After the Iliad, before the Odyssey
In the time of Homer, the story of the Trojan War was common knowledge.Therefore, when Homer composed the Iliad, he didn't worry that his audience might be left hanging by the poem's "abrupt" ending, which occurs directly after the funeral games for Patroclos, with Hector recently dead and Achilles still alive.Homer's audiences knew all that would happen, and weren't concerned that he left out the death of Achilles, the Trojan horse gambit, and even the fall of Troy itself.Likewise, his audience wasn't troubled by the fact that the Odyssey begins ten years later, with Odysseus long gone from Troy, and the War but a memory.Homer's audiences knew all of that, they just wanted to hear a good story.

But we need more than that.It goes without saying that the happenings of the Trojan War are no longer public knowledge; they had even slipped from the public consciousness by the time of Quintus of Smyrna, roughly around the 3rd Century A.D.A poet of medium talent, Quintus took up the noble task of writing an epic that would bridge the events in the Iliad with those of the Odyssey, hence the title of this work, "What Homer Didn't Tell."

Besides Quintus' annoying, overly-consistent usage of metaphors, there are a few problems with this epic.For one, there is no central character to identify with.Whereas the Iliad told the story of Achilles' wrath and the Odyssey tells the story of Odysseus' craftiness in overcoming his many challenges, this story has no central theme, other than constant battle and the eventual fall of Troy.Several new champions arrive to help the Trojans, kill a bunch of Greeks, and then are killed themselves.This is the usual pattern for the first few hundred pages; soon after, Odysseus and Diomedes enlist the aid of Achilles' son, who provides the impetus (along with the infamous horse) for Troy's fall.The funny thing is, Achilles' son is basically Achilles himself, in power, ability, and charisma.Quintus went a little overboard with this character: he's just as superhuman as his father, and, reading the book, you can't even tell the difference between him and Achilles.

As for the characters who appeared in the Iliad, all of their stories are tied up in this.Odysseus doesn't take that great of a part in the book, other than his contest with Aias and his idea for the horse.Nestor provides his usal wisdom, we see the ending to the triangle of Paris, Helen, and Menalous, and we see how morbid and joyless Priam has become, now that his son Hector is dead.Diomedes appears and disappears throughout the book, though, sometimes aiding the Greeks greatly, other times nowhere to be seen: he's set up as almost superhuman in the Iliad, but Quintus diminishes his powers somewhat, so the new heroes he introduces can take the spotlight.

All in all, a useful addition to your library if you're into Homer's work, if at least to fill the gap between the Iliad and the Odyssey.Just understand that Quintus is not nearly the poet that Homer was, and this is through no fault of the translator, who provides his own critical judgement of Quintus' skill in the foreword.If Quintus had tightened the plot with a lead character, cut out some of his rambling metaphors, and written the events in a manner that made them seem less repetitive, then maybe this book would still be in print and also be better known. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Homer, Teichoscopy, Bion of Smyrna, Margites, Anacreon, Aoidos, Contest of Homer and Hesiod, Quintus Smyrnaeus, Homeric Hymns, Homeridae, the Apotheosis of Homer, Rediscovering Homer, Cyclic Poets, Batrachomyomachia, Sortes Homericae, Thallus, Antimachus of Teos, Phocais. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 73. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Homer (Ancient Greek: , Hómros) is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The ancient Greeks generally believed that Homer was an historical individual, but modern scholars are skeptical: no reliable biographical information has been handed down from classical antiquity, and the poems themselves manifestly represent the culmination of many centuries of oral story-telling and a well-developed "formulaic" system of poetic composition. According to Martin West, "Homer" is "not the name of a historical poet, but a fictitious or constructed name." The date of Homer's existence was controversial in antiquity and is no less so today. Herodotus said that Homer lived 400 years before his own time, which would place him at around 850 BC; but other ancient sources gave dates much closer to the supposed time of the Trojan War. The date of the Trojan War was given as 11941184 BC by Eratosthenes, who strove to establish a scientific chronology of events and this date is gaining support because of recent archaeological research. For modern scholarship, "the date of Homer" refers to the date of the poems' conception as much as to the lifetime of an individual. The scholarly consensus is that "the Iliad and the Odyssey date from the extreme end of the 9th century BC or from the 8th, the Iliad being anterior to the Odyssey, perhaps by some decades", i.e., somewhat earlier than...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=13633 ... Read more

Product Description
"In Greek mythology, Helen, better known as Helen of Sparta or Helen of Troy, was daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of king Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor, Polydeuces and Clytemnestra. Her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War. Helen was described as having the face that launched a thousand ships. Helen or Helene is probably derived from the Greek word meaning "torch" or "corposant" or might be related to "selene" meaning "moon"."

-----------------------------------------------------------------
** Check Out More Great Titles From Penny Books **
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Simply click on "Penny Books (Editor)" under the title to see a full list of all of our great discounted books!!

New titles are being added daily, so be sure to check back often to find more great discounted books!!

**Check outPennyBooksPublishing.com to get more information about Penny Books, learn how to follow us on Twitter, and look at all of our great titles!! ... Read more