Antike Epic

Jörg Rüpke and Sofia Bianchi Mancini
Antike Epik
Eine Einführung in hexametrische Großdichtung
(Ancient Epic Poetry // An introduction to large-scale hexametric poetry)
3rd, completely revised and updated edition
(series: Nova Classica. Marburger Fundus für Studium und Forschung in der Altertumswissenschaft)
Tectum publishing house, 2023
ISBN 978-3-8288-4923-5
258 pages
24 EUR
(also available as an e-book)

With the new publication "Antike Epik", which is part of the series "Nova Classica – Marburger Fundus für Studium und Forschung in der Altertumswissenschaft", Jörg Rüpke (Vice Director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg of the university of Erfurt) and Sofia Bianchi Mancini (Junior Fellow at the Max-Weber-Kolleg) present an impressive introduction to hexametric epic poetry.

Hexameter is the classic verse metre of epics. Epics, which are the oldest written major texts in many languages, claim to depict fundamental events and aim to emphasise their version of events through formal design. In their introductory volume, Rüpke and Bianchi Mancini provide a vivid overview of the Greek and Latin epics from Homer to late antiquity and address specific questions like: How were they made audible? Who wanted to read or hear them? How did this change the texts?

The professionalisation of these epics brought with it competitive thinking and a striving to outdo, but also led to parody or condensation of the texts. For the first time, this book presents a broad overview consistently from such a perspective.