Scrinium Classical Antiquity

DINTER, M.T., The Cambridge Companion to Roman Comedy. Cambridge University Press, 2019. XXX,412p. Paperback. Series: Cambridge Companions to Literature. 'The volume under review comes during an exciting wave of recent publications on Roman Comedy. (...) it differentiates itself in its aim to study the comoedia palliata as a distinctly Roman genre, thereby shifting the focus from the palliata’s relationship with its Hellenistic originals to the complexity and impact of the plays as theatrical and literary phenomena. (...) The companion contains 22 chapters that are organized into four main sections: Part I, The World of Roman Comedy, Part II, The Fabric of Roman Comedy, Part III, The Sociology of Roman Comedy, and Part IV, The Reception of Roman Comedy. The structure naturally begins with an examination of the palliata within its numerous contexts, then shifts to the technical elements of the genre; next, it addresses social readings before concluding with the study of its reception. The essays themselves range from informative introductions to specific perspectives that reflect the advances in their respective areas of Roman comic study. The selection of contributors includes leading scholars who have shaped the field of Roman Comedy in recent decades, and whose chapters in this volume are representative of their influential work on the subject. The outcome, therefore, is a high-quality and thorough companion that is accessible to scholars both new to and familiar with the Roman comic corpus. (...) The well-balanced mixture of specialized studies and sophisticated surveys is both stimulating and encourages scholars and students alike to investigate and critique the plays themselves.' (CASSANDRA TRAN in BMCR 2020.05.17). € 32.80 (New)

DIRKSEN, H.-J., Die aischyleische Gestalt des Orest und ihre Bedeutung für die Interpretation der Eumeniden. Carl, Nürnberg, 1965. XII,148p. Sewn. Series: Erlanger Beiträge zur Sprach- und Kunstwissenschaft, Band 22. € 26.50 (Antiquarian)

DITTMAR, H., Aischines von Sphettos. Studien zur Literaturgeschichte der Sokratiker. Arno Press, New York, 1976. Photomechanical reprint ed.1912. XII,328p. Cloth. Small personal library mark and name on free endpaper. Series: History of Ideas in Ancient Greece. From the library of the late Sir Kenneth James Dover. € 55.00 (Antiquarian)

DOBLHOFER, E., Horaz in der Forschung nach 1957. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, n.d.(>1992). XIII,205p. Paperback. corners front cover slightly dog's eared. Signature and date on half title. Some erasable pencil markings, underlinings and annotations from a reviewer. Series: Erträge der Forschung, 279. € 10.00 (Antiquarian)

DODDS, E.R., The Ancient Concept of Progress and other Essays on Greek Literature and Belief. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1973. VI,218p. Original blue cloth with dust wrps. Signature on free endpaper. Dust wrps to spine as well as small part of the back bit discoloured. Still a nice copy. This collection brings together ten essays all originally delivered as lectures at various points in a period of over forty years. (...) Scholars will be glad to have so many notable articles in a single volume, especially the two surveys of 'concepts which have shifted their ground and their meaning': the 1969 Frazer Lecture on 'The Ancient Concept of Progress' and 'Supernormal Phenomena in Classical antiquity', a long account of the evidence handled with masterly objectivity. (...) Perhaps the most striking feature of all is not the quality of the author's scholarship, which one has learnt to take for granted, nor his dry wit, but his continuing awareness (...) of contemporary trends and their effect on the study of antiquity. (...) The old Chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times!' (says Dodds in 'The Prometheus Vinctus and the the Progress of Scholarship'-ND) has descended on us with a vengeance', is Dodds's wry comment in that first post-war year (1946). 'It is inevitable that we should ask ourselves what future there is for those studies of Classical Antiquity. (...) Ought they indeed to have any future? Can we afford it? Typically, he attempts no direct answer; but he has two things to say which sum up the beliefs on which all his great contributions to the study of the past have been founded. First, we can not afford it to lose contact with the ancient world and so let slip the tradition which is our common cultural inheritance. Secondly, 'a cultural tradition cannot be transmitted passively. Unless new minds are always at work on it, so that it is continuously reinterpreted and revalued by and for the new generations, it becomes a dead thing, an encumbrance, a pedant's burden... The condition of life is growth; a study which has ceased to progress ceases to attract enterprising minds, and therefore ceases to live.' (H.C. BALDRY in The Classical Review (New Series), 1976, pp.55-56). € 45.00 (Antiquarian)

DOLEN, H. van, Toneel in de Oudheid. Jubileumboek ter gelegenheid van het 75-jarig bestaan van het Nederlands Klassiek Verbond (1938-2013). Nederlands Klassiek Verbond, 2013. 120p. Richly ills. Sewn. wA.o.: HEIN van DOLEN: Het Atheense toneel: tragedie en komedie (pp.8-50); W.D.C. de MELO (pp.85-96); P. GOUW: Het Romeinse theaterleven in de late Republiek (pp.97-106); J.J.L. SMOLENAARS: De tragedies van Seneca (pp.107-118). € 10.00 (Antiquarian)

DONNE, W.B., Tacitus. William Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh/London, 1878. 194p. Cloth. € 13.50 (Antiquarian)

DÖPP, S., Werke Ovids. Eine Einführung. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, München, 1992. 168p. Paperback. Name and date to inside front cover. Pages a bit yellowed, due to paper quality. € 8.00 (Antiquarian)

DÖPP, S., Zeitgeschichte in Dichtungen Claudians. Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden, 1980. XII,281p. Nice privately green cloth rebinding. Spine gilt titled. Series: Hermes, Einzelschriften, Heft 43. 'On the considerable number of monographs, commentaries and papers that have in recent years occupied themselves with Claudian as a poet writing on contemporary themes, the present volume is in my view arguably the best. 'From bias free of very kind', it attempts an investigation of the manner in which C.'s poems respond to the various historical situations which prompted their composition, and in its honesty and sobriety of judgement it deserves every commendation. (...) Three introductory chapters survey the history of research on C. as, first, man of letters, then historical source, then 'official propagandist'; discuss the political character of C.'s poetry; and examine the vexed subject of C.'s religious allegiance and, as a corollary, the role of the pagan elements in his work. The core of the book is sequence of paired chapters, in which the first sketches the historical background to a particular poem or group of poems, while the second provides an analysis of the structure of the poem(s) in question and an assessment of how each responds to the circumstances in which it was composed. A short closing summary draws together the main general points that have emerged in the course of the detailed discussions preceding.' (J.B. HALL in The Classical Review (New Series), 1985, p.291). € 35.00 (Antiquarian)

DOREY, T.A., (ed.), Latin Biography. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1968. Reprint 1st ed.1966. XIII,194p. Original blue cloth with dust wrps. Spine gilt titled. Series: Studies in Latin Literature and its Influence. Contents: EDNA JENKINSON: Nepos - An Introduction to Latin biography (pp.1-17); E.I. MCQUEEN: Quintus Curtius Rufus (pp.17-45); A.J. GOSSAGE: Plutarch (pp.45-79); G.B. TOWNEND: Suetonius and his Influence (pp.79-113); A.R. BIRLEY: The Augustan History (pp.113-139); T.A. DOREY: William of Poitiers: Gesta Guillelmi (pp.139-157); D.H. FARMER: Two Biographies by William of Malmesbury (pp.157-177); ROSALIND BROOKE: The Lives of St. Francis (pp.177-203). € 25.00 (Antiquarian)