Author(s): Peter Constantine

Poetry

This landmark volume captures three millennia of Greek poetry - more than 1,000 poems and 200 poets. From the epics of Homeric Greece to the historical and erotic ironies of Cavafy, from the romances, hymns and bawdy rhymes of Byzantium to the innovative voices of the twentieth century, this essential companion to the Western literary tradition brings together the diverse strands of the Greek poetic tradition. The favorites are all here but "The Greek Poets" also presents neglected eras from the rise of Constantinople to the end of the Ottoman occupation. The editors present canonical poets such as Sappho and Pindar and modern Nobel laureates Seferis and Elytis. Presenting their own translations, they include the work of past masters such as Robert Fagles and W.S. Merwin along with a younger generation of translators including Anne Carson and Paul Muldoon. It includes an introduction by Robert Hass.