Classical Literary Criticism

This anthology features landmarks in ancient literary criticism with simple translations that help readers understand literature in a better way.In her introduction to Classical Literary Criticism (Penguin Classics) the translator Penelope Murray compares and looks into the perspectives of various notable critics throughout history. These critics include Plato Aristotle Horace and Longinus.The reissue edition of Classical Literary Criticism (Penguin Classics) was published by Penguin UK in 2001. It is available in paperback format.Key FeaturesThe book is a useful source of reference to classicists students writers and anyone interested in further understanding literature.The works in this book have to a great extent moulded the history of literary criticism in the Western world and created much of the literary terminology that is still in use today.|Plato (c.427-347BC) - philosopher whose thinking has shaped Western intellectual tradition. Aristotle (384-322BC) - influential and prolific author of the Ethics and the Politics. Horace (c.65-8BC) - a Latin lyric poet and satirist. Longinus - an unknown Greek author writing mid 1ADT. S. Dorsch was Professor of English at the University of Durham. He died in 1991.Penelope Murray is Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Warwick.|The works collected in this volume have profoundly shaped the history of criticism in the Western world: they created much of the terminology still in use today and formulated enduring questions about the nature and function of literature. In Ion Plato examines the god-like power of poets to evoke feelings such as pleasure or fear yet he went on to attack this manipulation of emotions and banished poets from his ideal Republic. Aristotle defends the value of art in his Poetics and his analysis of tragedy has influenced generations of critics from the Renaissance onwards. In the Art of Poetry Horace promotes a style of poetic craftsmanship rooted in wisdom ethical insight and decorum while Longinus' On the Sublime explores the nature of inspiration in poetry and prose.