A New Sublime: Ten Timeless Lessons on the Classics

(Re)discover the timeless beauty of ancient literature “Piero Boitani’s Ten Lessons teach us an additional one, the most important: that the classics are alive within us.” “As bewitching and as entertaining as a novel . . . Boitani uncovers the unexpected, extraordinary modernity of the classics.” “A remarkable book. The stories collected by Boitani, written centuries ago, still speak to us.”

“[It] will move you across the globe and back in time.” - Library Journal

Europa Compass series – new format and covers

For the readers of Mary Beard and Bethany Hughes

(Re)discover the timeless beauty of ancient literature

The classics “never exhaust what they have to say”. Informed by this belief, linguistic expert Piero Boitani invites the reader to explore the wisdom of the works of literature underpinning Western culture, and highlights their profound and sometimes surprising connection to the present.

The themes explored in this book are as wide-ranging as they are enduringly relevant. They include the Iliad’s depiction of power and war, as well as its invocation of compassion as one of the necessary foundations of society; the Odyssey as the world’s first novel; Lucretius and the way he transformed Greek scientific thought into sublime poetry; Virgil’s celebration of the history of Rome, from small village to world capital, as well as Tacitus’ denunciation of the imperialistic nature of Roman power; and Ovid’s Metamorphoses—a poem about incessant change the first postmodern classic.

• | Author: Piero Boitani, Ann Goldstein
• | Publisher: Europa Editions (UK) Ltd
• | Publication Date: Feb 13, 2020
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language: eng
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9781787701816
• | ISBN-10: 1787701816