This book is a guide to the extraordinarily diverse literature of the Hellenistic period. - A guide to the literature of the Hellenistic age, from the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC - Provides overviews of the social, political, intellectual and literary historical contexts in which Hellenistic literature was produced - Introduces the major writers and genres of the period - Provides information about style, meter and languages to aid readers with no prior knowledge of the language in understanding technical aspects of literary Greek - Distinctive in its coverage of current issues in Hellenistic criticism, including audience reception, the political and social background, and Hellenistic theories of literature

Table of Contents

• List of Figures
• List of Maps
• Preface
• 1 History and Culture
• 1.1 The Successors
• 1.2 Macedonia and Greece
• 1.3 Seleucid Asia
• 1.4 Attalid Pergamum
• 1.5 Ptolemaic Egypt
• 2 Aesthetics and Style
• 2.1 Aesthetic Principles
• 2.2 Meter, Dialect, and Diction
• 2.3 Literature as Artefact
• 3 Authors and Genres
• 3.1 Menander
• 3.2 Callimachus
• 3.3 Apollonius of Rhodes
• 3.4 Theocritus and the Other Bucolic Poets
• 3.5 Didactic Poetry
• 3.6 Epigrams
• 3.7 Dramatic Poetry
• 3.8 Parodic and Philosophical Literature
• 3.9 Polybius
• 3.10 Technical Prose Writing
• 4 Topics in Hellenistic Literature
• 4.1 Learning and Innovation
• 4.2 Book Culture and Performance
• 4.3 Social and Political Background
• 4.4 The Critical Impulse in Literature and Art
• 4.5 Reception in Rome
• Chronological Tables
• Suggested Reading
• Bibliography