The Christian Invention of Time: Temporality and the Literature of Late Antiquity

Description

Time is integral to human culture. Over the last two centuries people's relationship with time has been transformed through industrialisation, trade and technology. But the first such life-changing transformation - under Christianity's influence - happened in late antiquity. It was then that time began to be conceptualised in new ways, with discussion of eternity, life after death and the end of days. Individuals also began to experience time differently: from the seven-day week to the order of daily prayer and the festal calendar of Christmas and Easter. With trademark flair and versatility, world-renowned classicist Simon Goldhill uncovers this change in thinking. He explores how it took shape in the literary writing of late antiquity and how it resonates even today. His bold new cultural history will appeal to scholars and students of classics, cultural history, literary studies, and early Christianity alike.

Simon Goldhill is a Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College, as well as the Foreign Secretary of the British Academy. He is one of the best-known classicists of his generation who has lectured all over the world, and he has appeared on TV and radio from Canada to Australia. His books have been translated into ten languages and have won three international prizes.