Describing Greece: Landscape and Literature in the Periegesis of Pausanias

Description

The Periegesis Hellados (Description of Greece) by Pausanias is the most important example of non-fictional travel literature in ancient Greek. With this work Professor Hutton examines Pausanias' arrangement and expression of his material and evaluates his authorial choices in light of the contemporary literary currents of the day and in light of the cultural milieu of the Roman empire in the time of Hadrian and the Antonines. The descriptions offered in the Periegesis Hellados are also examined in the context of the archaeological evidence available for the places Pausanias visited. This study reveals Pausanias to be a surprisingly sophisticated literary craftsman and a unique witness to Greek identity at a time when that identity was never more conflicted.

William Hutton is Assistant Professor of Classical Studies at the College of William & Mary, Virginia. He has published articles on classical studies in Minos and Ancient History Bulletin.

From the hardback review: 'Other writers await the kind of sophisticated and coherent treatment that Hutton has given Pausanias.' Times Literary Supplement From the hardback review: 'Hutton's attempt to see Pausanias whole, as a man of letters as well as a thinker, constitutes the mostimportant advance in the study of elusive personality since Christian Habicht's searching analysis in 1985.' Times Literary Supplement From the hardback review: '[Hutton] demonstrates the variety of design for the description of both territories and cities.' Journal of Classics Teaching