Dreams and Suicides: The Greek Novel From Antiquity to the Byzantine Empire

Routledge
Suzanne MacAlister
ISBN: 0415070058
price: $95.00   hardcover

This study discusses the Greek novel through the ages, from the genre's flowering in late Antiquity to its learned revival in twelfth-century Byzantium. Its unique feature is its full coverage of the Byzantine novels, demonstrating that they both depend upon and reacted against the ancient novel, and can only be understood against the backdrop of ancient Greek literature. Dreams and Suicides analyzes the cultural symptoms and attitudes portrayed or implied in the novels, thus rooting them in a social rather than merely a literary context. For all students of ancient culture, this book provides important and original insights intot he genre of ancient literature.