Ancient Memory: Remembrance and Commemoration in Graeco-Roman Literature

Description

Although the recent 'memory boom' has led to increasing interdisciplinary interest, there is a significant gap relating to the examination of this topic in Classics. In particular, there is need for a systematic exploration of ancient memory and its use as a critical and methodological tool for delving into ancient literature. The present volume provides just such an approach, theorising the use and role of memory in Graeco-Roman thought and literature, and building on the background of memory studies. The volume's contributors apply theoretical models such as memoryscapes, civic and cultural memory, and memory loss to a range of authors, from Homeric epic to Senecan drama, and from historiography to Cicero's recollections of performances. The chapters are divided into four sections according to the main perspective taken. These are: 1) the Mechanics of Memory, 2) Collective memory, 3) Female Memory, and 4) Oblivion. This modern approach to ancient memory will be useful for scholars working across the range of Greek and Roman literature, as well as for students, and a broader interdisciplinary audience interested in the intersection of memory studies and Classics. Preface Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: The Mechanics of Memory Taking a Walk through Rome…: Comedic Itineraries and Early Republican Spatial Memory Quoting from Memory? Shared Knowledge in Cicero’s Book Fragments of Accius’ Atreus Part II: Collective Memory Memories of Glory: Poetry, Prose, and Commemoration in the Heraclidae Ovid’s Poetics of Memory and Oblivion in his Exilic Poetry The Memory of Marcus Regulus and Cannae in Plautus’ Captivi Divine Memories and the Shaping of Olympus in the Iliad Part III: Female Memory The Manipulation of Memory in Apollonius’ Argonautica Bound to Break Boundaries: Memory and Identity in Seneca’s Medea Audita mente notaui: (Meta)memory, Gender, and Pastoral Impersonation in the Speech of Ovid’s Galatea Part IV: Oblivion Ovid’s Labyrinthine Ars: Pasiphae and the Dangers of Poetic Memory in the Metamorphoses Divine Memory, Mortal Forgetfulness and Human Misfortune Forgetfulness as a Narrative Device in Herodotus’ Histories Part V: Further Thoughts Memory and its Discontents in Ancient Literature List of Contributors Index Rerum et Nominum Index Locorum