"The Greeks, in Dr. Johnson's phrase, 'shock the mind by ascribing effects to non-entity'. The culture of ancient Greece was thronged with personifications. In poetry and the visual arts, personified figures of what might seem abstractions claim our attention. This study examine…
"Allegorical readings always being as counter-readings, starting with denial or negation: "You have read the text this way, but I will read it differently." But allegory may do more than merely challenge the literal sense--it may also revise prevailing cultural ideals and social…
Here is the first survey of the surviving evidence for the growth, development, and influence of the Neoplatonist allegorical reading of the Iliad and Odyssey. Professor Lamberton argues that this tradition of reading was to create new demands on subsequent epic and thereby alte…