William D. Furley and Jan Maarten Bremer provide the reader with as full a picture as possible of ancient Greek religious hymns which were sung either at religious services or in literary contexts imitating such services. The emphasis is laid on the edition of the Greek texts, both those which excavations of such sites as Delphi, Epidauros and Athens have produced from the 4th century BC on, and those which have been transmitted through the manuscript tradition or on papyri. The authors aim to provide full editorial assistance to the interpretation of the originals which are presented with textual variant readings, metrical analyses, general comment on the context - both historical and literary - of the texts, and then detailed line-by-line commentary. The material is divided into two volumes. The first offers, after a general introduction, all hymns in verse translation, each followed by a general discussion situating the text in the context of Greek worship. This volume as a whole is perfectly accessible to the Greekless reader; Greek citations are translated throughout. The second gives the Greek texts, apparatus criticus, metrical analysis and line-by-line commentary on language and content. Both volumes contain a bibliography and an index. Taken together, they present a 'reconstruction'of the composite genre of Greek lyric hymns, which many have lamented is hopelessly lost. The twofold approach of combining epigraphic and literary texts permits a fuller appreciation of the range of surviving texts than has hitherto been possible.
About the Author: William D. Furley, Born 1953; studied Classics at University College, London; 1979 Ph.D. Cambridge (Trinity College); 1979-80 Assistant at the University of Tubingen, 1980-83 at the University of Heidelberg; since 1983 tenured position at the Department of Classics, University of Heidelberg; 1989 'Habilitation'; since 1989 'Privatdozent' at the Department of Classics, University of Heidelberg.Jan M. Bremer, Born 1932; studied Classics at Amsterdam and at Cambridge (Jesus College); 1969 Ph.D. Amsterdam. From 1968 Assistant Professor, 1976-1996 full Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Amsterdam. From 1986-99 member, then chairman of the comite scientifique of the Fondation Hardt, Geneva. Guest professorships in the USA (Brown, Providence; Columbia, New York), in Hungary (Budapest) and Poland (Lublin).