'Dialogue' was invented as a written form in democratic Athens and made a celebrated and popular literary and philosophical style by Plato. Yet it almost completely disappeared in the Christian empire of late antiquity. This book, a general and systematic study of the genre in antiquity, asks: who wrote dialogues and why? Why did dialogue no longer attract writers in the later period in the same way? Investigating dialogue goes to the heart of the central issues of power, authority, openness and playfulness in changing cultural contexts. This book analyses the relationship between literary form and cultural authority in a new and exciting way, and encourages closer reflection about the purpose of dialogue in its wider social, cultural and religious contexts in today's world.

This book is a general and systematic study of the genre of dialogue in antiquity, investigating why dialogue matters.

About the Author
Simon Goldhill is Professor of Greek at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of King's College. He has published widely on many aspects of Greek literature, including Reading Greek Tragedy (1986), Foucault's Virginity (1995), Who Needs Greek? (2002), and How to Stage Greek Tragedy Today (2007). He is in demand as a lecturer all over the world and is a regular broadcaster on radio and television.

Reviews
"The book's scope--from Thucydides and Plato, to Cicero and late sympotic literature, to the rabbinic tales and the Church Fathers--is wondrous. --BMCR



Book Information
ISBN 9781108823845
Author Simon Goldhill
Format Paperback
Page Count 274
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 410g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 151mm * 15mm