The edges of the earth in ancient thought : geography, exploration, and fiction
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The edges of the earth in ancient thought : geography, exploration, and fiction
（Princeton paperbacks）
Princeton University Press, 1994, c1992
- : pbk
Available at / 10 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
For the Greeks and Romans the earth's farthest perimeter was a realm radically different from what they perceived as central and human. The alien qualities of these "edges of the earth" became the basis of a literary tradition that endured throughout antiquity and into the Renaissance, despite the growing challenges of emerging scientific perspectives. Here James Romm surveys this tradition, revealing that the Greeks, and to a somewhat lesser extent the Romans, saw geography not as a branch of physical science but as an important literary genre.
Table of Contents
AcknowledgmentsWorks Frequently CitedIntroduction: Geography as a Literary Tradition31The Boundaries of Earth9Boundaries and the Boundless11Ocean and Cosmic Disorder20Roads around the World26Herodotus and the Changing World Picture32Aristotle and After412Ethiopian and Hyperborean45The Blameless Ethiopians49The Fortunate Hyperboreans60Arimaspians and Scythians67The Kunokephaloi773Wonders of the East82Before Alexander83Marvel-Collectors and Critics94The Late Romance Tradition1094Ultima Thule and Beyond121Antipodal Ambition124The North Sea Coast140The Headwaters of the Nile149The Atlantic Horizon1565Geography and Fiction172Ocean and Poetry176The Voyage of Odysseus183Pytheas, Euhemerus, and Others196The Fiction Election202Epilogue: After Columbus215Index223
by "Nielsen BookData"