Fiction as history : Nero to Julian
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Fiction as history : Nero to Julian
(Sather classical lectures, v. 58)
University of California Press, 1997
- : pbk
Available at 2 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Bibliography: p. 161-167
Includes indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Using pagan fiction produced in Greek and Latin during the early Christian era, this text investigates the complex relationship between "historical" and "fictional" truths. This relationship preoccupied writers of the 2nd century, a time when apparent fictions about both past and present were proliferating at an astonishing rate and history was being invented all over again. Here, the author illuminates social attitudes of this period and persuasively argues that its fiction was influenced by the emerging Christian Gospel narratives. While pagan and Christian themes are frequently interwoven here, what makes Bowersock's book particularly effective is its concentration on secular literature and his reconstruction of the social contexts of certain literary motifs. Material from the pagan novels - less familiar to most readers - leads into the familiar Christian material, casting new light on the latter. One is able to see how educated pagans both resisted and assimilated Christian narratives.
by "Nielsen BookData"