Lykophron: Alexandra (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780198863342)

Traditionally ascribed to the early third-century BCE tragedian Lykophron, the Alexandra is a powerful Greek poem by an unknown author, probably written c. 190, when Rome had defeated Hannibal and the Carthaginians and was poised to humble the Seleukid king Antiochos III. The poem is an ingeniously constructed masterpiece, a generic mix with elements of tragedy, epic, and history.

Priam's beautiful daughter, the prophetic Kassandra, foresees her rape in Athena's temple by the hateful Greek warrior Ajax after Troy's fall, and warns of disastrous returns (nostoi) for all the Greek 'heroes'. But Troy will rise again as Rome, founded by Trojan refugees. Alexandra (another name for Kassandra), narrates these Mediterranean foundation myths, adopting a bitterly disillusioned female perspective, but culminating in prophecies of Roman rule over land and sea.

Author: Lykophron, Simon Hornblower
ISBN-10: 0198863349
ISBN-13: 9780198863342
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 02/03/2023
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.32lbs
Size: 7.75h x 5.15w x 0.35d