Linguistics into interpretation : speeches of war in Herodotus VII 5 and 8-18 /
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This volume is a sustained exercise in the genre of secondary literature which aims at explaining a literary work as much as possible in and through the author's own words. A crucial passage in direct speech by different speakers from the History of Herodotus, the earliest long Greek prose text, has been made the object of a systematic effort to distill and analyse the linguistic characteristics relevant to its interpretation, by confronting it with the rest of the work as well as with earlier and contemporary writings. This is done with the primary aim of placing the interpretation of a major author on the firmest ground available, the author's inches per secondissimi verba . The result, made accessible by full indexes, will prove helpful to readers of any part of Herodotus' History .
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1 online resource (xlv, 325 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references and index. :
9789004351264 :
0169-0985 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
The language of the freedmen in Petronius' Cena Trimalchionis /
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Realistic representation of the speech of the lower classes in ancient literature is largely confined to the comic genres, and Petronius' realism in this area is more thorough-going than that of any other ancient author. A vast scholarly literature has grown up around the question of how faithfully the speeches of Petronius' freedmen reflect characteristics of actual popular speech; this literature is reviewed and evaluated. A survey of the phonological, morphological, lexical, and syntactic peculiarities in these speeches is then undertaken, in which they are compared with other 'vulgar' Latin sources such as the Pompeian inscriptions; Petronius is in fact one of our most important early sources for the study of popular Latin. The way in which Petronius used specific varieties of non-standard Latin to characterize different freedmen speakers is explored: Petronius has subtly modulated his freedmen's speeches to reflect differing emotional states and the different attitudes of the speakers toward their social position. The present study is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject undertaken in over forty years in any language and the only one in English.
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1 online resource (113 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 103-108) and index. :
9789004329133 :
0169-8958 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.
Narrative in drama : the art of the Euripidean messenger-speech /
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This book, consisting of three self-contained studies, deals with the Euripidean messenger-speech. The first study concerns the form of the messenger-speech, which is that of a first-person narrative, and the consequences of this form. The second study analyses the messenger's style of presentation. In the third study the place and function of the messenger-speech within the play is discussed. Although scholars have dealt with the messenger-speech before, there is no single, up-to-date work of reference available. The present study aims at filling this void, while making use of analytical tools deriving from narratology and drama-theory. Eight appendices are added, which provide the reader with complete lists of phenomena discussed in the main text. Often considered transparent and self-explanatory, the messenger-speeches are now shown to be both complex and subtle texts.
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1 online resource (ix, 214 pages) :
Includes bibliographical references (p. 203-208) and index. :
9789004329126 :
0169-8958 ; :
Available to subscribing member institutions only.