The third edition of The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature is the complete and authoritative reference guide to the classical world and its literary heritage. It not only presents the reader with all the essential facts about the authors, tales, and characters from ancient myths and literature, but it also places these details in the wider contexts of the history and society of the Greek and Roman worlds. With an extensive web of cross-references and a useful chronological table and location maps (all of which have been brought fully up to date), this volume traces the development of literary forms and the classical allusions which have become embedded in our Western culture. Extensively revised and updated, the Companion includes more thematic entries - medicine, friendship, science, the concept of freedom, and sexuality. These topical entries provide an excellent starting point to the exploration of their subjects in classical literature. The Companion contains extensive biographies of classical literary figures from Aeschylus to Zeno; entries on a multitude of literary styles from biography and rhetoric to lyric poetry and epic, and character entries and plot summaries for the major figures and myths in the classical canon. It is the ideal guide for students in Classics, and for all who are passionate about the vast and varied literary tradition bequeathed to us from the classical world.

About the Author
Margaret Howatson was for many years Fellow and Tutor in Classics at St Anne's College, Oxford. She is now retired.

Reviews
Review from previous edition 'useful and enjoyable... a miniature encyclopedia of the Graeco-Roman world' * Listener *
a standard reference book for the forseeable future * Contemporary Review *
a volume for all seasons... indispensable * Times Educational Supplement *
will be the vade mecum of schoolchildren and undergraduates for generations to come * Sunday Telegraph *
A necessity for any seriously literary household. * History Today *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199548552
Author M.C. Howatson
Format Paperback
Page Count 640
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 466g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 142mm * 37mm