Ancient Greek Texts and Modern Narrative Theory: Towards a Critical Dialogue

Description

The taxonomies of narratology have proven valuable tools for the analysis of ancient literature, but, since they were mostly forged in the analysis of modern novels, they have also occluded the distinct quality of ancient narrative and its understanding in antiquity. Ancient Greek Texts and Modern Narrative Theory paves the way for a new approach to ancient narrative that investigates its specific logic. Jonas Grethlein's sophisticated discussion of a wide range of literary texts in conjunction with works of criticism sheds new light on such central issues as fictionality, voice, Theory of Mind and narrative motivation. The book provides classicists with an introduction to ancient views of narrative but is also a major contribution to a historically sensitive theory of narrative.

Jonas Grethlein is Professor of Greek at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat Heidelberg and a member of the Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften. His most recent books include Aesthetic Experiences and Classical Antiquity (Cambridge, 2017) and The Ancient Aesthetics of Deception (Cambridge, 2021).