Didactic (and) Epic

Kneebone, Emily

Abstract

This chapter examines the interplay and boundaries between ancient heroic and didactic epic poetry, particularly in the Hellenistic and imperial periods, treating didactic poets such as Aratus, Nicander, Dionysius the Periegete, Oppian, ps.-Oppian, and ps.-Manetho, whose poems are rooted in the early didactic epic tradition associated with Hesiod. Emphasising that didactic poetry was widely deemed a subset of the epic genre by ancient literary critics, the chapter examines didactic epic as both a controversial form of verse and a perceived vehicle for cultural prestige and wider cosmic truths in the ancient world. Setting didactic poetry against prose literature, heroic epic poems and allegorical readings of the Homeric epics, Kneebone draws attention to the rich and assimilative traditions of post-classical didactic epics.

Citation

Kneebone, E. (2024). Didactic (and) Epic. In E. Greensmith (Ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Epic (58-78). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009086585.005

• Publication Date: Nov 28, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Pages: 58-78
• Book Title: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Epic
• Chapter Number: 3
• ISBN: 9781009087377
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009086585.005
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/43948179
• Publisher URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-companion-to-ancient-greek-epic/didactic-and-epic/B7002C290259C31D56A841D70D7F741C