The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism: Volume 1, Classical Criticism

Surveying the beginnings of critical consciousness in Greece and proceeding to the writings of Aristophanes, Plato, Aristotle, and Hellenistic and Roman authors, this volume is not only for classicists but for those with no Greek or Latin who are interested in the origins of literary history, theory, and criticism.

• The definitive history of this major subject • An indispensable work of reference for students and scholars and an informative survey for the general literate reader • First volume in an important long-running series

1. Early Greek views of poets and poetry Gregory Nagy; 2. Language and meaning in Archaic and Classical Greece George A. Kennedy; 3. Plato and poetry G. R. F. Ferrari; 4. Aristotle’s poetics Stephen Halliwell; 5. The evolution of a theory of artistic prose George A. Kennedy; 6. Hellenistic literary and philosophical scholarship George A. Kennedy and Doreen C. Innes; 7. The growth of literature and criticism at Rome Elaine Fantham; 8. Augustan critics Doreen C. Innes; 9. Latin criticism of the Early Empire Elaine Fantham; 10. Greek criticism of the Empire Donald A. Russell; 11. Christianity and criticism George A. Kennedy.

‘Literary criticism matters because ... it is concerned not simply with the narrow issue of how we should read specific texts, but with larger and more fundamental questions about the nature and function of literature. The new Cambridge History of Literary Criticism, which aims to provide a comprehensive and authoritative treatment of the subject from classical antiquity to the present day, is therefore a welcome prospect. Volume One, the first of a projected nine volumes, covers the whole field of ancient criticism up to the early fourth century AD and provides the sort of thorough and judicious account that we would expect from a standard work of reference.’

– Times Higher Education Supplement