Description
This book is an introduction to the ancient novel and it offers the latest research findings in the field. It was written by Niklas Holzberg and it was published in 1986. The book is divided into three parts and the first part is about the definition of the ancient novel. The second part is about the chronological order of the ancient novels and the third part is about the contents of the ancient novels.
This widely acclaimed book offers an introduction to the ancient novel and presents the latest research findings in the field. For this English translation, Professor Holzberg has substantially updated and expanded the German edition of 1986.Niklas Holzberg considers the ancient novel as encompassing idealistic and comic realistic narratives with the central themes of love and adventure. He develops his definition of the genre and offers explanations for why this literary form was so popular during the Hellenistic period. He goes on to examine the individual texts in chronological order, providing a summary of the contents of each, relevant background information and interpretative pointers.