EBOOK Idea of Iambos

The Idea of Iambos is a long overdue study of the genre of Greek iambic poetry        from the perspective provided by ancient testimonies. Andrea Rotstein places        research on iambos in the framework of a new methodological approach to ancient        genres based on the cognitive sciences, offering an unprecedented study of ancient        theories of genres and the way they affected ancient scholarship. Rotstein also        examines the possibility of musical performance of iambic poetry as well asthe        various occasions of public performance, particularly at musical contests and        rhapsodic recitals. Finally, she argues that, from the Archaic to the Classical        period, there was a shift from the notion of literary class depending primarily on        rhythm and on its archetypical representative, Archilochus, towardsiambos as a genre        defined mainly by invective as its dominant feature.