Author: John Ray File Type: pdf Spanning more than two millennia, Reflections of Osiris opens a small window into a timeless world, capturing the flavor of life in ancient Egypt through vivid profiles of eleven actual people and the god Osiris.Some of the figures profiled here are famous. Ray discusses Imhotep, whom he calls Egypts Leonardo--the royal architect of the Step Pyramid, high priest of the sun cult, and a man of great medical skill. We meet Hatshepsut, a rare female Pharaoh, who had herself depicted as a male figure in temple scenes, ceremonial beard and all. Horemheb, who rose from local politician to general and finally to king. And the legendary magician, Pharaoh Nectanebo II, the greatest builder of temples. Equally intriguing are the lives of everyday Egyptians who are also resurrected here. There is Heqanakhte, a cantankerous peasant farmer who has problems with his sons--and they with their stepmother. And Petiese, a scribe whose petition to the authorities preserves a feud stretching back over generations. Most fascinating of all are the people of the Serapeum a Greek recluse, his brother (a rootless adolescent and police informer), two temple dancers with financial difficulties, and a temple scribe. All of whom we come to know intimately--even their dreams. Last comes the god Osiris, judge of the netherworld, creator of the land of Egypt, before whom all would appear at the end of their lives.Reflections of Osiris captures the full spectrum of life in ancient Egypt. With more than twenty halftones and several maps, this superb volume will fascinate anyone interested in an inside look at the great ancient civilization of the Nile.From BooklistBy means of a dozen mini-biographies, this Egyptologist lends a fascinatingly vivifying touch to pharaonic civilization. So fragmentary are its records and ruins that it would seem impossible to glimpse the persons behind the pharaohs glory-be-to-me monumentalism, but Ray more than meets the challenge. One approach he takes is to map out a monarchs political considerations, which inherently involved the Egyptian pantheon. Not only did a ruler depend on divine sanction, he needed to be divine himself. Ray plausibly conjectures on this cultural necessity, which was especially important when the would-be pharaoh flouted tradition, as Hatshepsut, a rare female pharaoh, did in about 1473 B.C.E. Immersing the reader in this theological element of ancient Egypt, Ray displays its influence not just on the god-kings but on ordinary people. By extraordinary flukes, there are surviving letters by a farmer, a temple scribe, and a temple hermit, whom Ray portrays with psychological resonance, especially aided by the latters recording of his dreams about a friends twin daughters. A writer with a wry streak, Ray provides an exciting introduction to Egyptology. Gilbert Taylor American Library Association. ltReviewA writer with a wry streak, Ray provides an exciting introduction to Egyptology.... By means of a dozen mini-biographies, this Egyptologist lends a fascinatingly vivifying touch to pharaonic civilization. So fragmentary are its records and ruins that it would seem impossible to glimpse the persons behind the pharaohs glory-be-to-me monumentalism, but Ray more than meets the challenge.--Booklist

Author: Michael Fontaine File Type: pdf In recent decades literary approaches to drama have multiplied new historical, intertextual, political, performative and metatheatrical, socio-linguistic, gender-driven, transgenre-driven. New information has been amassed, sometimes by re-examination of extant literary texts and material artifacts, at other times from new discoveries from the fields of archaeology, epigraphy, art history, and literary studies. The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy marks the first comprehensive introduction to and reference work for the unified study of ancient comedy. From the birth of comedy in Greece to its end in Rome, from the Hellenistic diffusion of performances after the death of Menander to its artistic, scholarly, and literary receptions in the later Roman Empire, no topic is neglected. 41 essays spread across Greek Comedy, Roman Comedy, and the transmission and reception of Ancient comedy by an international team of experts offer cutting-edge guides through the immense terrain of the field, while an expert introduction surveys the major trends and shifts in scholarly study of comedy from the 1960s to today. The Handbook includes two detailed appendices that provide invaluable research tools for both scholars and students. The result offers Hellenists an excellent overview of the earliest reception and creative reuse of Greek New Comedy, Latinists a broad perspective of the evolution of Roman Comedy, and scholars and students of classics an excellent resource and tipping point for future interdisciplinary research. **Review Fontaine (Cornell) and Scafuro (Brown) have created a handbook that is a model of its kind and a mine of information. The essays, written by experts from many countries besides the US and UK, cover all the central topics of ancient comedy, and in a way that makes the volume a true handbook. Readers will appreciate this volume for its clear guidance and abundant information on (among other topics) meter, performance, individual dramatists, the historical development of ancient comedy, the role of comedy in ancient society, and Greek comic papyri discovered in the last 40 years... Highly recommended. --Choice About the Author Michael Fontaine is Associate Professor of Classics and Associate Dean of the Faculty at Cornell University. He has published widely on Latin literature, especially Roman Comedy, and is the author of Funny Words in Plautine Comedy (Oxford University Press 2010). Adele C. Scafuro is Professor of Classics at Brown University. She has published numerous essays on Greek law, epigraphy, and drama, and is the author of The Forensic Stage. Settling Disputes in Graeco-Roman New Comedy (CUP 1997) and most recently, a translation, Demosthenes. Speeches 39-49 (U. of Texas 2011).