Preposterous Poetics: The Politics and Aesthetics of Form in Late Antiquity (Greek Culture in the Roman World)

"How does literary form change as Christianity and rabbinic Judaism take shape? What is the impact of literary tradition and the new pressures of religious thinking? Tracing a journey over the first millennium that includes works in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, this book changes our understanding of late antiquity and how its literary productions make a significant contribution to the cultural changes that have shaped western Europe"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half-title Series information Title page Copyright information Contents Preface Acknowledgements Chapter 1 Forms of Attention: Time and Narrative in Ecphrasis I II III IV Chapter 2 When Size Matters: Erotics, the Epyllion and Colluthus' Rape of Helen I II III IV Chapter 3 In the Beginning I II Chapter 4 Preposterous Poetics and the Erotics of Death I Preposterous Poetics II The Erotics of Death III Chapter 5 Strange Dogs: Joseph and Aseneth and the Dynamics of Transformation I II III IV V Chapter 6 Life Forms: Biography and Rabbinical Writing I II III IV V VI Coda References General Index Locorum Index Explores how literary form changes when Christianity and rabbinic Judaism take shape. By reading little-known but hugely influential texts, this book opens a new and exciting vision of how the literature of the first millennium shaped culture.