Paideia at Play: Learning and Wit in Apuleius.

Beschreibung:

Barkhuis, Eelde, 2008. XXI,302p. Hardcover. The idea of education and learning (paideia) was central to ancient Greek thought. With the incorporation of the Greek East into the Roman Empire, the concept of paideia underwent profound changes and by the second century CE, the so-called age of the Second Sophistic, paideia embodied Greek civilization and culture. The Latin orator and author Apuleius of Madauros adapted the Greek concept of paideia and conveyed it to a Latin audience in his main works, the only extant Latin court speech of the Roman Empire (the Apology) and the only Latin novel that is completely preserved, the Metamorphoses. The contributors to this volume have undertaken the task of discerning the specific forms of paideia and its varying functions in both works. Interpreting these literary masterpieces from a literary and historical perspective as well as in close correlation to each other, the authors argue that a significant unifying factor characterizes both speech and nov el: the playful nature of Apuleius' paideia. The traditional literary technique of blending serious with comic elements reached new heights during the second century CE, since for authors of the Second Sophistic learning and wit were often intertwined. In Apuleius' writings in particular, reflexivity and entertainment go hand in hand, with paideia almost always bound up with wit and humor. This programmatic combination serving specifically Apuleian ends testifies to Apuleius' highly self-conscious and innovative treatment of Greek paideia. With contributions of (a.o.): St.J. Harrison, W. Riess, V. Hunink, M. Zimmermann, R.E. Vander Poppen, D.P.C. Carlisle. Antiquarian. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 21767

Diesen Artikel melden

Inhaltsangabe:

Reseña del editor: Paidea, the yearning for, and display of knowledge, reached its' height as a cultural concept in the works of the Second Sophistic, an elite literary and philosophical movement seeking to ape the style and achievements of the 5th and 4th centuries BC. A crucial element in the display of paidea was an ability to mix the witty and playful with the serious and instructive. The Second Sophistic is known as a Greek phenomenon, but these essays ask how the Latin author Apuleius fitted into this framework, and created a distinctively latin expression of paidea, focusing on the elements of playfulness at its heart.