The Spell of Hypnos: Sleep and Sleeplessness in Ancient Greek Literature

$38.65

Description

Silvia Montiglio’s imaginative study of sleep in Greek literature illuminates the various ways in which writers in antiquity used sleep to deal with major aspects of plot and character development. The author shows that sleeplessness, carries great weight in classical literature. Doom hangs by a thread as Agamemnon – in Iphigenia in Aulis – paces, restless and sleepless, while around him everyone else dozes on. Or as Penelope slumbers happily through Odysseus’ vengeful slaughter of her suitors.

Exploring recurring themes of somnolence and wakefulness in the Iliad, the Odyssey, Athenian drama, the Argonautica and ancient novels by Chariton, Xenophon, Heliodorus and Achilles Tatius, this is a unique contribution to better understandings of ancient Greek writing.


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