Theocritus and Things - (Ancient Cultures, New Materialisms) by Lilah Grace Canevaro (Hardcover)

About the Book

Foregrounds underrepresented agents (women, nature and the nonhuman) in and through the poetry of Theocritus.

Book Synopsis

This book contributes to the literary-theoretical field of Material Ecocriticism, expanding its chronological remit, and is the first to apply it to Classics. Material Ecocriticism has been described as an exercise in listening - and it is to a series of underrepresented agents (women, nature, the nonhuman) in the poetry of Theocritus that this book urges us to listen. This 'from below' reading that allows nature and materiality their agency, that sees objects and the labour behind them, gives a new way in to the paradoxes of Hellenistic pastoral poetry: the urban backdrop to bucolic poetry, the artifice of the locus amoenus. This book reveals a detailed picture of material agency and a diverse cast of characters human and nonhuman in Theocritus' Idylls, showing that while the poetry might be paradoxical it is not rarefied. And through a dark-ecological reading it highlights the darkness that undercuts the idyll.

From the Back Cover

Reconsidering the ancient world through the lens of New Materialism From archaeological sites to papyri and manuscripts, we experience the ancient world through its material remains. This materiality may be tangible: from vases to votive offerings and statues to spearheads. It might be the text as object or the object in the text. The New Materialisms have transformed the way we conceive of the material world - but how and to what extent - might they be applied to ancient cultures? Books in this series will showcase the potential applications of New Materialism within Classics, giving us a new way to look at ancient texts, ancient objects and ancient world-views.

Review Quotes

A brilliant reading of Theocritus that puts his poetry in conversation with new materialism, object-oriented ontology and material ecocriticism. Canevaro hears things in ancient pastoral that haven't been heard before and she voices them wonderfully well. This is a thoughtful, thought-provoking and beautifully written book that everyone working on ancient poetry should read.--Mark Payne, University of Chicago

About the Author

Lilah Grace Canevaro is Senior Lecturer in Greek in the Department of Classics at the University of Edinburgh. Her previous publications include Women of Substance in Homeric Epic: Objects, Gender, Agency (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Hesiod's Works and Days: How to Teach Self-Sufficiency (Oxford University Press, 2015).