Wandering in ancient Greek culture

Summary:"From the Archaic period to the Greco-Roman age, the figure of the wanderer held great significance in ancient Greece. In the first comprehensive study devoted to this theme, Wandering in Ancient Greek Culture unearths the many meanings attached to this practice over the centuries. Employing a broad range of literary and philosophical texts, Silvia Montiglio demonstrates how wandering has been conceptualized from Homer's Odysseus - the hero "who wandered much"--In the eighth century B.C.E. to pagan sages of the early Roman Empire." "Examining the act of wandering through many lenses, Wandering in Ancient Greek Culture addresses questions such as: Why did the Greeks associate the figure of the wanderer with the condition of exile? How was the expansion of the world under Rome reflected in the connotations of wandering? Does a person learn by wandering, or is wandering a deviation from the truth? In the end, this matchless volume shows how the transformations that affected the figure of the wanderer coincided with new perceptions of the world and of travel, and invites us to consider its definition and import today."--Jacket

Genre:Criticism, interpretation, etc

Physical Description:290 pages ; 24 cm

ISBN:

9780226534978, 0226534979

OCLC Number / Unique Identifier:57406042

Contents:

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

(6)

Wandering in Space and Time

(17)

On the Deep, at the Edges

At the Beginning

Transition and Crisis

Pains and Privations of Wandering

(18)

``For Mortals, Nothing Is Worse than Wandering''

The Exile as Wanderer

Madness: Wandering with No Return

Wandering and the Human Condition

(20)

Homo Viator: Before Philosophy

The ``Fault'' of Odysseus

Do Not Forget Your Wanderings: Odysseus under Circe's Spell

To Judge and to Deceive: The Wandering of the Gods

(29)

Wandering and Divine Power

Demeter's Destructive Wandering

Dionysus, the Wanderer

Wandering Enfants Terribles: Eros and Hermes

Itinerant Sages in Archaic and Classical Greece

(27)

Wandering, Lying, and Poetry

The Aura of Wandering: Xenophanes and Empedocles

Wandering for the Sake of Profit: From Homer to the Sophists

Choosing to Be Odysseus: Herodotus and Ionian Theoria

118

(29)

The Excitement of Theoria in Fifth-Century Athens

Wanderers Discover the World

To Observe and to Collect

Wandering Writing and Truthfulness in Herodotus's Histories

Wandering Along the Journey to Truth: From Parmenides to Plato

147

(33)

Parmenides' ``Unwandering'' Journey to Being

In Search of Wisdom: Plato's Presentation of Socrates' Wandering

Plato on Traveling and Wisdom

Between Ascent and Navigation

Walking, Sitting, and Standing

In Praise of Homeless Wandering: The Cynics

180

(24)

Diogenes, the Outcast of Tragedy

Cynic Wandering in Greco-Roman Literature

Dio Chrysostom's Self-Presentation as a Wandering Philosopher

The World as Home: Cosmic Citizens and Godlike Travelers

204

(17)

Stay Where You Are Stationed, Go Where You Are Sent: The Stoics on Wandering

The Godlike Wanderings of Apollonius of Tyana in Philostratus's Life of Apollonius

Wandering in the Greek Novel

221

(42)

Ignorance and Alienation

The Meaning of ``Home'' in One's Journey: From Apollonius's Argonautica to the Novel

Love and Philosophy

The Ruler of Wandering: Fortune or Providence?

Wandering, Fiction, and Storytelling

Epilogue: What Greek Wanderers Did Not Do

263

(6)

Bibliography

269

(16)

Index

285

More Information:

Table of contents

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description

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