Ainoi, Logoi, Mythoi: Fables in Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek Literature with a Study of the Theory and Terminology of the Genre

Title
en_US Ainoi, Logoi, Mythoi: Fables in Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic Greek Literature with a Study of the Theory and Terminology of the Genre
en_US Mnemosyne Supplements, Vol. 166
Description
en_US This is a hardbound book (hard cover)
en_US Gert-Jan van Dijk
Creator
en_US No Author
Date
2016-01-25T20:15:57Z
en_US 1998-02
en_US 1997
Date Available
2016-01-25T20:15:57Z
Date Issued
en_US 1997
Abstract
en_US This is a wonderful gift from a good friend. The book represents a marvelous achievement. It is an essential resource book for anyone working with ancient Greek and Latin fable. Let me quote at some length the beginning of Laura Gibbs' review of the book in Bryn Mawr Classical Review (98.5.18): Van Dijk's new book on the Aesopic fables in Greek literary sources is a notable achievement, surely the most important book to be published in Aesopic scholarship since Perry's Aesopica in 1952. Unlike this century's other major effort in Aesopic research (Rodriguez-Adrados's rambling and chaotic Historia de la fabula greco-latina), van Dijk has set himself a very specific and clear task: to inventory and analyze the evidence for Aesopic fables in extant Greek literature of the archaic, classical and Hellenistic periods, together with a survey of the terminology associated with the fable over a much longer period of time, extending through late antiquity. As a resource book, van Dijk's book is invaluable, providing copious primary texts and translations, a thorough bibliography and useful review of the literature, along with indexes and cross-reference tables linking his materials to the numeration system in Perry's Aesopica. Approximately half of the book's considerable bulk is devoted to this collection of primary sources and reference materials. The book is an essential starting point for the study of any Aesopic fable that is cited or alluded to in a work of Greek literature (although it must be noted, there are somewhat less than 100 such fables, only a fraction of the corpus of ancient Aesopica). In terms of his coverage of individual fables, van Dijk is meticulous in reporting primary sources for the fable, along with all relevant ancient testimony. But while van Dijk devotes careful attention to each and every one of these literary sources and ancient testimonies, his coverage of the Aesopic fable as a genre is less comprehensive. By focusing exclusively on the literary aspects of the Aesopic fable, van Dijk neglects to make any observations on the Aesopic fable as a folkloristic or extra-literary phenomenon. This is a considerable limitation on the theoretical portion of his argument, and it hampers any conclusions he would offer about the genre as a whole. Amen to the praise and to the acknowledgement that van Dijk does not set out here to reconcile his sense of the classical Greek and Roman fable with what contemporary folklore studies might show. This is a treasured gift!
Identifier
en_US 9789004107472 (cloth : acid-free paper)
en_US 8241 (Access ID)
uri
http://hdl.handle.net/10504/83481
Language
en_US eng
Publisher
en_US Brill
en_US Leiden
Subject
en_US PA3247.D55 1997
en_US Secondary
en_US Title Page Scanned
Type
en_US Book, Whole
Item sets
Carlson Fable Collection Books