latest research in classical scholarship,providing a comprehensive, sophisticated and accessible account ofliterature from Homer to late antiquity.Whitmarsh offers new readings of some of the best-known and mostinfluential authors of Greek antiquity, including Sophocles,Euripides, Herodotus, Aristophanes and Plato, as well asintroducing many lesser-known figures. Unlike conventionalnarrative histories, this volume focuses on the profoundeffects of literature within Greek society. Whitmarsh showsthat literature, distributed via a range of social institutions,such as festivals, theatres, symposia and book production, playedan important role in the legitimization – and challenging– of ideologies of gender, class and cultural identity. Thevolume also addresses the legacy of Greek literature: how theVictorian cult of Hellenism and its successors have structured thereception of ancient texts, and how and why the modern West hasadopted the Greeks as its ancestors.This book will be important reading for undergraduates, in theirfirst year and above, of ancient Greek literature and culture. Alltexts in the volume are translated, and no knowledge of ancientGreek literature is assumed.

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