The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature : Volume 1: 800-1558

The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature ( OHCREL ) is designed to offer a comprehensive investigation of the numerous and diverse ways in which literary texts of the classical world have stimulated responses and refashioning by English writers. Covering the full range of English literature from the early Middle Ages to the present day, OHCREL both synthesizes existing scholarship and presents cutting-edge new research, employing an international team of expert contributors for each of the five volumes. OHCREL endeavours to interrogate, rather than inertly reiterate, conventional assumptions about literary 'periods', the processes of canon-formation, and the relations between literary and non-literary discourse. It conceives of 'reception' as a complex process of dialogic exchange and, rather than offering large cultural generalizations, it engages in close critical analysis of literary texts. It explores in detail the ways in which English writers' engagement with classical literature casts as much light on the classical originals as it does on the English writers' own cultural context. This first volume, and fourth to appear in the series, covers the years c .800-1558, and surveys the reception and transformation of classical literary culture in England from the Anglo-Saxon period up to the Henrician era. Chapters on the classics in the medieval curriculum, the trivium and quadrivium, medieval libraries, and medieval mythography provide context for medieval reception. The reception of specific classical authors and traditions is represented in chapters on Virgil, Ovid, Lucan, Statius, the matter of Troy, Boethius, moral philosophy, historiography, biblical epics, English learning in the twelfth century, and the role of antiquity in medieval alliterative poetry. The medieval section includes coverage of Chaucer, Gower, and Lydgate, while the part of the volume dedicated to the later period explores early English humanism, humanist education, and libraries in the Henrician era, and includes chapters that focus on the classicism of Skelton, Douglas, Wyatt, and Surrey. Cover The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature: Volume 1 (800–1558) Copyright Contents List of Figures List of Abbreviations List of Contributors Note to Readers on The Conventions Followed in This Volume Chapter 1: Introduction: England and the Classics from the Early Middle Ages to Early Humanism Medieval Classicism, from the Old English Period to the Later Middle Ages Early Humanists and the Classics Notes Chapter 2: The Curricular Classics in the Middle Ages Notes Chapter 3: Experiencing the Classics in Medieval Education Notes Chapter 4: The Trivium and the Classics Grammar and Rhetoric Dialectic Notes Chapter 5: The Quadrivium and Natural Sciences The Quadrivium in England Alexander Neckam in a Transitional Age Natural Philosophy and Aristotelian Science Medicine Ancillary Sciences Conclusion Notes Chapter 6: The Transmission and Circulation of Classical Literaturev Notes Chapter 7: Mythography and Mythographical Collections Philosophical and Textual Perspectives on Classical Myth Medieval Mythologies up to c. 1300 Ovid’s Metamorphoses as Mythology Developments in the Mythographical Collection Myth in Medieval Narrative Poetry Images and Idols Notes Chapter 8: Academic Prologues to Authors Notes Chapter 9: Virgil Notes Chapter 10: Ovid and Ovidianism Medieval Metamorphoses Arts of Love and Dead Letters Notes Chapter 11: Lucan Dissemination Poet, Historian; Poet-Historian ‘Familiaris Noster’ Voice and Power Lucan Mediated Notes Chapter 12: Statius The Thebaid The Achilleid Statius in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages The Roman de Thèbes Statius in Dante Boccaccio and Chaucer: Theseus and the Teseida Chaucer and Thebes: Anelida and Arcite, Troilus and Criseyde, the ‘Knight’s Tale’ Gower and the Achilleid Lydgate’s Siege of Thebes Notes Chapter 13: Trojan Itineraries and the Matter of Troy Notes Chapter 14: Boethius’ De consolatione philosophiae Notes Chapter 15: Moral Philosophy and Wisdom Literature Notes Chapter 16: Historiography and Biography from the Period of Gildas to Gerald of Wales Models of Classical Historiography and Biography Memories of Classical Historiography and Biography Manipulations of Classical Historiography and Biography Conclusions Notes Chapter 17: Prudentius and the Late Classical Biblical Epics of Juvencus, Proba, Sedulius, Arator, and Avitus Juvencus Proba Sedulius Arator Avitus Latin and Vernacular Versifications of the Bible Prudentius Notes Chapter 18: John of Salisbury, Academic Scepticism, and Ciceronian Rhetoric Notes Chapter 19: Alliterative Poetry and the Time of Antiquity Introduction ‘Old Livers’ Trajan Judaea capta Notes Chapter 20: Other Worlds: Chaucer’s Classicism Notes Chapter 21: Gower’s Ovids Gower’s Ovidian Debut Dialogues Among the Ruins of Antiquity: The Confessio amantis An End to Conversations with Antiquity? Notes Chapter 22: John Lydgate and the Remaking of Classical Epic Epic Traditions Lydgate’s Epic Project Authorial Fictions Doubleness Epic Contingency Prudence Epic Reprised Remaking and Reception Notes Chapter 23: Early Humanism in England Classical Inheritances New Acquisitions Political Reading Grammatical Reading New Writing Grammatical Translation Political Transferral Notes Chapter 24: Survey of Henrician Humanism Introduction The New Learning: Revised Models for Teaching the Classics Education of the Nobility Reception: A Case Study. Henry VIII and the French Connection Conclusion: The Role of English Notes Chapter 25: John Skelton Notes Chapter 26: Gavin Douglas’s Eneados Life and Historical Contexts Education and Intellectual Circles Nature of the Text The Prologues The Translation of Virgil The Thirteenth Book Circulation and Transmission Notes Chapter 27: Finding a Vernacular Voice: The Classical Translations of Sir Thomas Wyatt Notes Chapter 28: The Aeneid Translations of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey: The Exiled Reader’s Presence Late Medieval English Reception of Virgil’s Aeneid: Chaucer, Caxton, Douglas The Aeneid Translations of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Surrey’s Aeneid Translations: Absence as Exile Notes Select Bibliography of Ancient Sources (including late antiquity and early Christian writings) General Reference Works forReception: Libraries, Textual Transmission, Historical Sources Studies on Ancient Authorsand Classical Reception Medieval: Primary Sources Medieval: Secondary Sources Early Humanism: Primary Sources Early Humanism: Secondary Sources Index The Oxford history of classical receptio'n in English Literature (OHCREL) is designed to offer a comprehensive investigation of the numerous and diverse ways in which literary texts of the classical world have stimulated responses and refashioning by English writers. Covering the full range of English literature from the early Middle Ages to the present day, OHCREL both synthesizes existing scholarship and presents cutting-edge new research, employing an international team of expert contributors for each of the five volumes. 00OHCREL endeavours to interrogate, rather than inertly reiterate, conventional assumptions about literary 'periods', the processes of canon-formation, and the relations between literary and non-literary discourse. It conceives of 'reception' as a complex process of dialogic exchange and, rather than offering large cultural generalizations, it engages in close critical analysis of literary texts. It explores in detail the ways in which English writers' engagement with classical literature casts as much light on the classical originals as it does on the English writers' own cultural context. 00This first volume, and fourth to appear in the series, covers the years c.800-1558, and surveys the reception and transformation of classical literary culture in England from the Anglo-Saxon period up to the Henrician era The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature (OHCREL) is designed to offer a comprehensive investigation of the numerous and diverse ways in which literary texts of the classical world have stimulated responses and refashioning by English writers. This fifth and final volume in the series covers the years from 1880 onwards. __The Oxford History of Classical Reception in English Literature____OHCREL____OHCREL____OHCREL____c__