Includes bibliographical references (p. 640-676) and indexes.
Contents:
1. Introduction -- 2. Hesiod and Homer: Virgilian beginnings -- 3. Virgil's Fama -- 4. Fame and defamation in the Aeneid: the Council of Latins -- 5. Fama in Ovid's Metamorphoses -- 6. Later imperial epic -- 7. Fama and the historians I: Livy -- 8. Fama and the historians II: Tacitus, Pliny the Younger and Martial -- 9. The love of fame and the fame of love -- 10. Fame and blame, fame and envy: Spenserian personifications of the word -- 11. Christian conversions of Fama -- 12. Fama in Petrarch: Trionfi and Africa -- 13. Fama in early modern England: Shakespeare and Jonson -- 14. Fama and Milton: Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes -- 15. Chaucer's House of Fame and Pope's Temple of Fame -- 16. Visual representations of Fama.
Summary:
"The Latin word fama means 'rumour', 'report', 'tradition', as well as modern English 'fame' or 'renown'. This magisterial and groundbreaking study in the literary and cultural history of rumour and renown, by one of the most influential living critics of Latin poetry, examines the intricate dynamics of their representations from Homer to Alexander Pope, with a focus on the power struggles played out within attempts to control the word, both spoken and written. Central are the personifications of Fama in Virgil and Ovid and the rich progeny spawned by them, but the book focuses on a wide range of genres other than epic, and on a variety of modes of narrating, dramatising, critiquing, and illustrating fama. Authors given detailed readings include Livy, Tacitus, Petrarch, Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Milton"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.