Books published by publisher Bristol Classical Pr

Two thousand years ago the Roman poet Virgil related the adventures of a hero called Aeneas. He was a man who escaped from the burning ruins of Troy and, 'driven by Fate', led his people to a new home in a distant land.The story of Aeneas and the founding of Rome has excitement and adventure, magic and romance, humour and sadness. Emily Frenkel's retelling is fresh and direct. Simon Weller's illustrations are fabulous. Enter the ancient world of Aeneas. You will never want to leave.

The first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses contains an interesting variety of material. It begins with myths related to the creation of the world and man, decline from the golden age, the flood and the story of Deucalion and Pyrrha. In the second half it deals primarily with two main metamorphosis myths - Apollo's love for Daphne and the story of Io. Guy Lee's edition, first published by CUP in 1952, supplies a detailed commentary of explanatory notes (with useful index) and, separately, a number of critical notes on the readings adopted by his text. the substantial introduction deals with Ovid himself, with the Metamorphoses and Ovid's other works; there is also a practical section on the Ovidian hexameter and (as one might expect from an editor who is himself a consummate translator of Latin poetry) a sensitive section on translations of the Metamorphoses, in particular Golding, Sandys and Dryden.

The energy devoted by the ancient Egyptians to their tombs is legendary. The pyramids of Gizeh and the tomb of Tutankhamun are just two very spectacular examples, but no previous book has sought to use the tens of thousands of tombs excavated in Egypt, dating from 5000 Bc to Ad 200, across all classes of society, to build up a broad picture of burial as practised across the millennia. In this fascinating treatment, Wolfram Grajetzki sets out to remove some widespread misconceptions. Many imagine that few tombs survived undisturbed into modern times, but this is simply not true. In addition to the richest finds, there are numerous other tombs, devoid of gold and precious objects, which are key sources for reconstructing burial customs and Eygptian culture as a whole. This book sets the record straight, presenting evidence from each of the periods covered of poorer and average graves alongside the more famous wealthy tombs. The book is accessibly written, complete with over 150 illustrations, many specially prepared by the author.

This edition of Iliad I provides an admirable introduction to a first reading of Homer. The book deals with the origin of Achilles' wrath which gives rise to the poem's main plot, which introduces principal characters such as Odysseus and Nestor and adumbrates the role the gods are to play in the story. This edition provides text with notes on facing pages, an introduction to Homer's poetry, bibliography, vocabulary, glossary of proper names and short appendices on Homeric dialect forms, prepositional usages, formulaic composition and the dactylic hexameter – everything needed by the student tackling Homeric epic for the first time.

This text sets out to bring to life the Greek and Roman plays and their staging, evoking the visual and emotional character of performances and dramatic festivals and offering a clear account of the plays and their writers. It attempts to re-create the excitement of the competitions and analyses the practical challenges faced by the playwrights and actors in staging the plays, whether tragedies or comedies. It also aims to bring to life the costumes, masks, stage and scenery, as well as the audience's reactions to the experience. The book gives clear summaries of well-known Greek and Roman plays and their authors, and explores in depth some of the best-known, particularly "Antigone" and "The Clouds". There are many suggestions for further study, including additional reading for both the teachers and pupils, topics for discussion, subjects to write about, and activities for individuals and groups.

The Greek Way of Life is a survey of the major life experiences which constituted the social reality of classical Greece, broken down into the general topics of conception and pregnancy, birth, childhood, coming of age, early adulthood, and elders and the elderly. What emerges is a conception of the human being as a social animal par excellence whose nature was largely realised in the attainment of paradigmatic social roles: military service for men and childbearing for women. Among the subtopics are Greek medical ideas, the roles of women and children, marriage, care of the elderly, and the role of religious ideas. An engaging narrative and a useful sourcebook, this will appeal to both general readers and scholars.

This is an authoritative and clearly written account of the mainissues involved in the study of Greek slavery from Homeric times to thefourth century BC. It provides valuable insights into the fundamentalplace of slavery in the economies and social life of classical Greece,and includes penetrating analyses of the widely-held ancientideological justifications of slavery. A wide range of topics iscovered, including the development of slavery from Homer to theclassical period, the peculiar form of community slaves (the helots)found in Sparta, economic functions and the treatment of slaves inAthens, and the evidence for slaves' resistance. Throughout the authorshows how political and economic systems, ideas of national identity,work and gender, and indeed the fundamental nature of Greekcivilisation itself, were all profoundly affected by the fact that manyof the Greek city-states were slave societies. With 12 illustrations.

Aimed at advanced school students, this classic collection - first published in 1964 - contains forty passages, coherent in themselves, illustrating Cicero's thinking on government, religion, law and ethics. This book fills a gap, as most students are only familiar with Cicero's speeches and letters, knowing little of his philosophical works, through which many of our ideas of civilisation have come down to us.The introduction gives the essential background, including a brief outline of Greek philosophy. There are practical notes on the texts, observations on Cicero's style and a select vocabulary.

Ewan Whyte has done a remarkable job in providing us with a current and contemporary translation of one of the greatest writers/poets of all time. Bawdy, crude, passionate, venomous, satirical...this is a poet who is always vital and current. Why a bilingual edition? Because modern readers will love to read the Latin text out loud! And, Latin is experiencing a global 'comeback'. Radio Finland broadcasts a program in Latin and even TIME Magazine has stated that Latin is coming-back. Here is a book to get on the wave' with!

This book provides a detailed commentary on the shortest, but also one of the most dramatic of the dialogues of Plato. Socrates' old friend, Crito, enters the Athenian prison, where Socrates is awaiting execution and tries to persuade him to escape. Socrates counters Crito's arguments drawn from Athenian popular citizen values with his own particular philosophical arguments about justice and obligations which, perhaps surprisingly lead him to conclude that he must obey the decision of the court and face death by the drinking of hemlock. While this new edition of Crito is the first English commentary of the Greek text for seventy-five years, the dialogue has long been prominent in philosophical and political debate on Ancient Greek social and political ideas. At the same time, Plato's reasonably straightforward language makes Crito a popular text for comparatively inexperienced readers of Greek at school and university level. This edition combines detailed linguistic help with a full explanation of the contextual issues – dramatic structure, literary style and philosophical ideas. It provides an up-to-date literary and philosophical analysis suitable for a wide range of readers, including those with post-beginners Greek. It represents an ideal introduction to the personality of one of its greatest thinkers.